Tessar coating

SalveSlog · Nov 19, 2015

I have the chance to buy a camera with a Jena Tessar with serial number 2034591 and a red T.
Would the serial number indicate that it's made before the war, and the T that it is coated? Is that possible?
(I'm not able to see any color reflections from the lens in the picture of the camera.)

Ian Grant · Nov 19, 2015

The red T indicates the lens is T coated, often quite bluish with earlt CZJ coatings but very effective. I have a 1953/4 T coated CZJ 150mm f4.5 Tessar and it's very flare resistant.

The serial number should be 1937 would be very early CZJ coating around the time of its introduction, I've seen a 150mm Tessar of that age T coated though and some Sonnars as well, but only top of the range lenses/cameras.

Ian

Dali · Nov 19, 2015

what lens is it exactly?

SalveSlog · Nov 20, 2015

On a Super Ikonta B with Compur Rapid.

jimjm · Nov 20, 2015

Very interesting that your lens appears to be coated (indicated by the "T") and is serial #2034591, which would indicate a production date of 1937. I had thought all pre-War Super-Ikontas used uncoated lenses.

I have a 1938 Super Ikonta B 532/16 with an uncoated Tessar 80/2.8 #2303182, which seems to be a later lens than yours. I suppose it's possible that the lens was replaced at some point, but the serial numbers seem to indicate not. What is the serial number of the body - located on the back door? Mine is H9692. Also, is it a combined VF/RF eyepiece, or separate windows? It's a 530/16 if separate windows, and 532/16 with combined VF/RF.

In any case, these are great cameras and my uncoated Tessar has been very sharp and not had any problems with flare or low contrast. I had it serviced by Jurgen at Certo6 a few years ago and it's been a great camera to use.

Ian Grant · Nov 20, 2015

Somewhere I have an advert (or it may have been in a review of new products( for Carl Zeiss which indicates that a small number of lenses sold for or with their higher end cameras were coated 1937/8 there was an Ikonta camera among them.

Ian

jochen · Nov 20, 2015

Hello,
the anti reflection coating has been developped incidentally and simultaneously by Kodak and Zeiss about 1937. On both sides of the atlantic the patents immediately were declared as a military secret. Civil lenses were not coated until the end of the war, Zeiss and Leitz used the coating from about 1948. Maybe this lens has been coated afterwards.

Dali · Nov 20, 2015

jochen said:
Hello,
the anti reflection coating has been developped incidentally and simultaneously by Kodak and Zeiss about 1937. On both sides of the atlantic the patents immediately were declared as a military secret. Civil lenses were not coated until the end of the war, Zeiss and Leitz used the coating from about 1948. Maybe this lens has been coated afterwards.

Exactly what I thought but it does not explain the "T"...

Ian Grant · Nov 20, 2015

jochen said:
Hello,
the anti reflection coating has been developped incidentally and simultaneously by Kodak and Zeiss about 1937. On both sides of the atlantic the patents immediately were declared as a military secret. Civil lenses were not coated until the end of the war, Zeiss and Leitz used the coating from about 1948. Maybe this lens has been coated afterwards.

That's simply not true because CZJ were advertising and selling a very small number of T coated lenses before WWII, I've seen them they exist and they weren't for military use. What was almost certainly kept secret was the way they were coating and newer materials and techniques and the fact that they quickly used more than one coating layer.

TTH Cooke were more advanced in research term on coatings earlier than Zeiss and that may well have been kept as a military secret. Kodak's early coated lenses weren't anywhere near the standard (in terms of coating) of even pre-WWII CZJ T coated lenses.

Ian

pbromaghin · Oct 27, 2016

I just bought a very nice 6.45 Super Ikonta. Can anybody direct me to a list of serial numbers so I can get an age for the camera?

Ian Grant · Oct 28, 2016

This is one source.

Ian

anfenglin · Oct 28, 2016

Or this:
http://www.europa.com/~telscope/zeissbin.txt
Some time in the 80s, Zeiss Jena started introducing new serials with four digits. I have no idea how these fit in the timeline of if the old ones were kept.

onre · Oct 28, 2016

Latter list is for binoculars, not camera lenses. AFAIK CZJ serial number reset happened around 1981. First with four, then with five digits. My Pentacon Six lenses are all of the four-digit era.

pbromaghin · Oct 28, 2016

Hey, thanks all. It turns out it was made in 1937. Nice to know!

anfenglin · Oct 29, 2016

Oh, oops, I never noticed that -_-

Tessar coating

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