Is this Carl Zeiss Jena an old enlarger lens??

aca · Apr 27, 2020

I got a box with some old photography equipment and I can't find the same lens when I do the google

specs: Carl Zeiss Jena 7(5) cm Ic
18 blades

Is this an enlarger lens or for a projector perhaps? And any idea on the value?

AgX · Apr 27, 2020

One might ask oneself:
-) why does it lack an aperture scale ( was there a additional further mechanism?)
-) why is the aperture at its end (is there a further group missing?)
-) how was it mounted?
-) what is its basic design (number of groups)
etc.

Zeiss was a major optical firm, busy at all fields of optics, thus it could be from any field...

aca · Apr 27, 2020

@AgX, true .......but I was also hoping some of photrio members would recognize this item

It really reminds me of a lens enlarger because of the base. But, indeed there are not any aperture marks. And because of the lack of aperture marks and it's quite heavy (maybe bakelite ). The lever works smoothly:

opening and closing

railwayman3 · Apr 27, 2020

It looks very much like a lens from a microscope condenser (this fitted below the "stage" of a microscope, where the subject slide was held), and concentrated and adjusted the light. I have simliar condensers on my own kit, and, as AgX says, Carl Zeiss Jena produced many optical equipments from way back into the late 1800, particularly microscopes.
Example - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condenser_(optics)#/media/File:Kondenzor.jpg

aca · Apr 27, 2020

@railwayman3 thank you, you both have way more knowledge about this........going to search for Microscope Condensers and see if I can date and value this piece of Carl Zeiss
Cheers

railwayman3 · Apr 27, 2020

aca said:
@railwayman3 thank you, you both have way more knowledge about this........going to search for Microscope Condensers and see if I can date and value this piece of Carl Zeiss
Cheers

Excellent......let us know what you find.

Agulliver · Apr 27, 2020

Yes it looks a lot like a microscope condenser lens for light microscopes. We still use them in school laboratories, though only one is Zeiss and I don't currently have access to my work. The lever and the presence of so many blades and no f-numbers strongly suggest this function for the lens.

aca · May 8, 2020

@Agulliver thank you for answer......I have narrowed my search but a simple google image search didn't do the trick. I haven't found the exact condenser...I am going to search different fora/forums......

is the closest so far
Stay safe, Stay healthy

railwayman3 · May 8, 2020

aca said:
@Agulliver thank you for answer......I have narrowed my search but a simple google image search didn't do the trick. I haven't found the exact condenser...I am going to search different fora/forums......

View attachment 245647
is the closest so far
Stay safe, Stay healthy

The part of that microscope which you are showing in your picture is actually the main "body" part of the instrument, The "condenser" would be under the "stage" where the microscope slide (holding whatever you're looking at) sits. The light comes in at the bottom of the scope and through the optical system, then out through the eyepiece at the top. There's quite a good diagram on http://www.biologydiscussion.com/mi...roscope-structure-and-working-principles/5822 (see Figure 1.4),

I think that your picture shows a microscope from 1956 (from the serial number) when the Winkel company had become part of the West German Zeiss group. Your "Carl Zeiss Jena" item would be from the original Zeiss company in Jena, East Germany,either pre-war or post-war when that part became a GDR state company "VEB Carl Zeiss Jena".

aca · May 8, 2020

railwayman3 said:
The part of that microscope which you are showing in your picture is actually the main "body" part of the instrument, The "condenser" would be under the "stage" where the microscope slide (holding whatever you're looking at) sits. The light comes in at the bottom of the scope and through the optical system, then out through the eyepiece at the top. There's quite a good diagram on http://www.biologydiscussion.com/mi...roscope-structure-and-working-principles/5822 (see Figure 1.4),

I think that your picture shows a microscope from 1956 (from the serial number) when the Winkel company had become part of the West German Zeiss group. Your "Carl Zeiss Jena" item would be from the original Zeiss company in Jena, East Germany,either pre-war or post-war when that part became a GDR state company "VEB Carl Zeiss Jena".

Wow, valuable information......now I can narrow my search period wise......

Stay safe, stay healthy

JensH · May 8, 2020

Hi,

just guessing myself...

Ok, I would say something from the illumination path of a pre-war Carl Zeiss Jena microscope.

First idea:
It looks like an optic between lamp and condenser on one of the large pre-war Zeiss microscopes.
Like the "Hilfslinse 1" on the first Ultraphot?

Second idea:
The imprint says: Ic 7(5) cm.
7cm is a quite long focal lengh for a microscope condenser.
It could also correspond to a matching objective...
There were condensers to be used with Mikrotar objectives, but no 7cm Mikrotar.
The inscribtion is unusual for a condenser (upside down).

I tend to the first one...

Best
Jens

ic-racer · May 8, 2020

aca said:
I got a box with some old photography equipment... And any idea on the value?

If one knew the contents of the box and its price, one could estimate the what the lens cost you.

railwayman3 · May 13, 2020

ic-racer said:
If one knew the contents of the box and its price, one could estimate the what the lens cost you.

TBH, while very old microscopes can be very collectable, odd bits of microscope gear don't have much value, while more modern used microscopes, even Leitz and Zeiss, also don't seem to have the same value as photographic kit by the same makers. . Perhaps because used microscopes have often had a hard life in research or industrial labs, while there is less amateur interest in serious microscopy than in photography.

Is this Carl Zeiss Jena an old enlarger lens??

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