Frankinlens ?

klop · Apr 3, 2015

I had asked a question about lens coatings on the Zeiss Jena Sonnar f2 Contax mount lenses.... I thought my lens looked like it is coated because of the light, but no matter where I inspect it, it looks like the elements are coated..... Frankinlens maybe???? See attached picture.... From what I have read this lens should be from 1936.... They had not coped this collapsible lens in the Soviet Union. What you think??? :munch:

E. von Hoegh · Apr 3, 2015

klop said:
I had asked a question about lens coatings on the Zeiss Jena Sonnar f2 Contax mount lenses.... I thought my lens looked like it is coated because of the light, but no matter where I inspect it, it looks like the elements are coated..... Frankinlens maybe???? See attached picture.... From what I have read this lens should be from 1936.... They had not coped this collapsible lens in the Soviet Union. What you think??? :munch:

Looks coated, probably aftermarket.

Trask · Apr 3, 2015

I've been reading about how the Contax camera machinery was moved to the Soviet Union, starting with some Contax-based cameras being assembled in East Germany prior to the machinery being moved east. And the lenses were sourced from Zeiss in Jena, and marked as yours is. This was in the early post-war years, but perhaps at a time when coatings were first being applied. (I got into this because someone was selling a black "Contax II" which is most likely a Kiev faked as a Zeiss camera, though it can be hard to know if it's a fake or not without getting into the shutter mechanism, or so I read.) It would be interesting to know the extent to which well-to-do camera buyers who could afford Contax cameras actually sent their lenses off to be coated, something that very, very few photographers would do today.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Apr 3, 2015

I love uncoated Lenses more , you can see how glass looks like a pearl sheen.

macfred · Apr 3, 2015

How to avoid ZEISS SONNAR fakes

Maybe an interesting read for you : http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Zeiss_Fakes.html

E. von Hoegh · Apr 3, 2015

Trask said:
I've been reading about how the Contax camera machinery was moved to the Soviet Union, starting with some Contax-based cameras being assembled in East Germany prior to the machinery being moved east. And the lenses were sourced from Zeiss in Jena, and marked as yours is. This was in the early post-war years, but perhaps at a time when coatings were first being applied. (I got into this because someone was selling a black "Contax II" which is most likely a Kiev faked as a Zeiss camera, though it can be hard to know if it's a fake or not without getting into the shutter mechanism, or so I read.) It would be interesting to know the extent to which well-to-do camera buyers who could afford Contax cameras actually sent their lenses off to be coated, something that very, very few photographers would do today.

Be careful what you read, as well as how you read it. The early Kiev lenses were not marked as the OP's lens is. Nor are the fakes.

Almost all post WWII lenses are coated. Quite a lot of people sent earlier lenses off to be coated; also a Contax II was half the price of a new Ford coupe in 1937 - do you think anyone other than well off people and professionals bought one?
The OP's lens is a real prewar Sonnar that just might have been factory coated - but is likely an aftermarket job.

E. von Hoegh · Apr 3, 2015

macfred said:
Maybe an interesting read for you : http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Zeiss_Fakes.html

Do you think that's ( the OP's lens) a fake?? I have it's twin, without the coating, sitting in front of me. I assure you it's an echte Sonnar.

macfred · Apr 3, 2015

E. von Hoegh said:
Do you think that's ( the OP's lens) a fake?? I have it's twin, without the coating, sitting in front of me. I assure you it's an echte Sonnar.

I really don't know - I found the site I linked above, when I was searching for the different colored coatings of the Sonnar types.

Quote : ``Truly a fake , coating seems to look more blue than purple... ´´

E. von Hoegh · Apr 4, 2015

macfred said:
I really don't know - I found the site I linked above, when I was searching for the different colored coatings of the Sonnar types.

Quote : ``Truly a fake , coating seems to look more blue than purple... ´´

Here.
http://www.sovietcams.com/index.php?-1090910983

As I pointed out, there were many lenses coated by independent shops post WWII. The OP's lens is likely one of them.

Ian Grant · Apr 4, 2015

Early Zeiss coatings were quite blue, even in the early 1950's very different to the Kodak Lumenising, Ross coatings etc.

Assuming it's a genuine Zeiss lens the OP's lens has most likely been coated later, quite a few top end lenses were. I have a 12" Dagor (AM Opt) that the original owner had coated after WWII.

All the early Zeiss coated lenses I've seen had the T marking, even pre-WWII.

Ian

klop · Apr 5, 2015

The 1936 lens has a blue tint, brassing on the heavy metal and the T lens has a purple tint with lighter metal.....

Frankinlens ?

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