The Bertele Sonnar 5cm F2 Picture Thread.

That is a yummy lens. Funny how a formula/prescription almost 100 years old is still such a good one. Bertele knew what he was doing as do Skyllaney and their advisors/consultants. From what you have posted this could be a popular lens. It will get the notice of all the CZJ and Jupiter 8 fans. I just hope the price is not so high as to make the J8's that much more a good buy and good keepers. If the quality gap between a good J8 and the SB is not too subtle and the price difference not to great they could have a good, long production run. This SB lens could keep the lights on for a long time, it could be a cash cow and the foundation for their business expansion. I sure hope so. All this research, testing and work has been done and it would be great to see it well rewarded.

And your posted photos are sweet. The Dafs, the southern name, Jonquils, is a much nicer sounding one. And like a rose they smell as sweet by any name. You and the SB, you are worse than a dope peddler. LOL
 
I like this lens a lot. I find the sharp-edeged blur in the OOF areas wide open a little distracting (yeah, that makes no sense, but dont know what else to call it.). Kinda reminiscent of the J3+ without going overboard. Nice and sharp within the shallow DOF, lots of texture and detail in the daffy-doodles, beautiful colors. I have signed up with Skyllaney expressing interest in this lens
 
Skyllaney is eager to get their 5cm to market and we are eager to receive it. A French friend describes this waiting as "waiting for love, it is delicious." And so it is, the anticipation and this is not an instance of the anticipation being greater than the realization as we have seen how this lens works. Skyllaney, send me one to test! I will be glad to see it come onto the market and hope it is affordable as my well is running dry. And I have as much use for another 50 as a hog does for roller skates, but . . . It could very well be the last 50 I need to buy. "Need" ROTFLMAO
 
That Skyllaney Bertele and the LLL Speed Panchro. I have two good, one quite good actually, J8 and a very good Cooke Amotal so I am covered for Sonnars and the "Cooke Look." Yet there is that awful temptation in each case. I may have to start selling grandchildren. ;o) When will the Bertele come to market?
 
With the same lack of restraint as a sailor on shore leave after four months at sea I am posting the first view image from my brand new Bertele. The lens fairy dropped it off today. It is superbly made with excellent fit and finish. I mean really well made. I ran a quick series of test shots at 1.3 meters from f/2.0 to f/22 stopping at every stop and it is sharp throughout the range. I have read that the Sonnars in general and the Bertele in particular make the colors stronger and brighter. That makes them sound too much like recent CV and other computer aided aspherical designs. As a fellow with a non-technical education long on words and short on measurement I would opt for the colors "bloom."

I am exhausted from sleepless nights waiting for a 5cm CZJ 272nnn f/1.5 and then the 5cm Bertele f/2.0 to arrive. With the two fine J8's I am all set for Sonnars. I think I am all set for 50's, too.

But, here is another trite shot from my back door. I am focused on the mast of the blue-hulled ship in the distance, not at infinity. The bright sun had me at f/8.0. JPG, SOOC. UV/IR filter attached. And as in Spinal Tap, this lens turns it up to 11.

Cheers


L1002944.JPG
 
That looks good to me. As noted- this lens is an optical/mechanical work of art.

And I think you are all set for 50s. The best 50/2 Sonnar ever made, and the 272 batch of CZJ 5cm F1.5 Sonnars were the peak of production at Jena.
 
Guys, count me as very grateful. Skyllaney was marvelous to deal with, Chris and Vita. Really nice folks who just happen to make an incredibly good lens. They could not have been better.

Until you hold it in your hands it is hard to appreciate the quality. And Brian's Bertele thread as well as the Skyllaney Bertele thread lay out in detail what it is all about. I have reading disability so I have to reread both, and have several times, to digest the whole thing. That aside, slap it on an M9 and try it out. My pinhead's view of all this is that vintage lenses go very well on the M8 series and the M9.

Random shots tomorrow and then Saturday the CZJ f/1.5 272nnn alongside the Bertele. Sonnar heaven.
 
FWIW to the tech-savvy crowd, the lens has the six digit Leica lens ID coding of black and white dabs on the back of the lens where it attaches to the camera. I checked the coding (black-white-white-white-white-black, 100001 for nerds) and it is the coding for the Leica Summicron-M, versions IV and V. I tested it unread and read. It works read. No surprise there.
 
Last edited:
nikki_train_ride_son255_f15.jpg


Carl Zeiss Jena 5cm F1.5 Sonnar "T", 1938 "255" Batch. Perfect Glass, all coated optics. I converted this one to LTM ~2010.
There are many more F1.5 Sonnars with near mint glass compared with the F2 Sonnar. This is one reason that Skyllaney chose the F2 lens to produce. I've seen many F1.5 Sonnars with glass in near-perfect condition, but very-very few F2 Sonnars. The color rendition from the Sonnars with clean glass is amazing.
 
Really nice photos, Brian! Gotta say, I love the 50/2.0 Sonnar; I’ve got both the post war West German versions in 1.5 and 2.0, and the colors pop on the 2.0. The Skyllaney f2.0 looks brilliant.

Here are a couple with the Zeiss Opton Sonnar 5cm f2.0 on film:

Rainy weekend by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr

Spring Morning by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
 
Bingley said:
Really nice photos, Brian! Gotta say, I love the 50/2.0 Sonnar; I’ve got both the post war West German versions in 1.5 and 2.0, and the colors pop on the 2.0. The Skyllaney f2.0 looks brilliant.

Here are a couple with the Zeiss Opton Sonnar 5cm f2.0 on film:

Rainy weekend by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr

Spring Morning by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
Click to expand...
Beautiful images. Love them.

When I started looking into a Nikkor Sonnar, Brian advised me to get a 50/2 if I wanted a lens to _use_ rather than the 50/1.4 and it's a glorious lens. I may end up with a 50/1.5 again (see my comments about the Canon above) but I don't have any urge to get the Nikkor 50/1.4 because the 50/2 is so insanely great.
 
I have one Zeiss Sonnar 5cm 2 ltm, and it is clean. Mine was "put together" [not by Brian] who knows when, and they used the barrel of an Elmar and the glass of the Sonnar. The 50 2 are best found in Contax mount.


1688141714407.png
1688141757631.png
1688141788658.png
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top