Carl Zeiss Jena 5cm F2 Sonnar "T" in LTM

This is a 1940 CZJ 5cm F2 Sonnar in a 1962 J-8 focus mount. Shimmed to perform best wide-open and close-up, infinity is good stopped down a little.

The lens on my Canon P



Close-up and Wide-Open



Focus is spot-on.



Strong back-light,




This lens was originally in a collapsible Contax mount, and the coating is in remarkably good condition. This is one of the first coated lens brought to market. The 5cm F2 Nikkor is very close in rendition to this lens, the Nikkor has slightly more contrast. I'll have to do a side-by-side comparison this Fall.

I have the pre WW11, uncoated f 1.5 Sonnar on a Contax 11, and the thing I notice manly is the difference in contrast with the images to more modern optics, I think the actual sharpness of the images are not much different, but what adds to the apparent sharpness is the increased contrast, something that lens manufacturers have discovered since.
These pictures of beautiful young girls have a lovely gentle contrast that is particularly appropriate for this sort of subject.

What lens hood for this lens?

I put together one of these this past summer using a 1930's vintage CZJ collapsible sonnar and a, probably 80's vintage black J-8. I really like the rendering of this lens. The color really surprised me. It has, as one might expect, a tendency towards flaring. Anybody have an idea what to use for a hood?


Reala wide open at close focus distance


Tri-x in HC110 wide open at close focus distance


Tri-x in HC110 wide open at close focus distance

You can go with the "Heavystar" 40.5mm vented hood, works well. Readily available on Ebay.

I use the Hood from a Nikkorex 35-2, which had a 50mm F2.5 lens. It has 40.5mm filter ring like the Sonnar. That is the hood used for these pictures.