Leica Carl Zeiss Jena 5cm f/2 Sonnar T (1941 coated)

asiafish

All-Pro
Location
Bakersfield, CA
Name
Andrew
So I bought this lens from Brian about a-year-ago and haven't used it much. Not sure why, perhaps because of the all of the marks on the rear element (he sold it as something to the effect of "not pretty", though in reality it doesn't look too bad. My guess is that the marks won't do anything other than slightly reduce contrast at wide apertures, and I really don't bother with Sonnars stopped down as I prefer the Summicron from f/5.6 and smaller.

I usually shoot with my modern Summicron (if 1979 design can be called modern) or my more exotic f/1.5 Sonnars, but today for whatever reason I mounted the f/2 to my Monochrom and left for work about an hour early and took a bit of a detour.

In all, I think I underestimated this little lens. Images look quite sharp to me, with very pleasing rendering and bokeh that are distinct and different from anything else in my arsenal. I think this one will be seeing more use from now on.

All images captured with the Leica M Monochrom at ISO 320. Most shot wide-open at f/2, with orange filter and mild post processing in LR5 (mostly pulls on the black slider and boosts to clarity.


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Last edited by a moderator:
I also tend to ignore the 5cm F2 "Little Brother" of the F1.5 Sonnar.

Then I got the M Monochrom.

Wide-Open, ISO320, Orange filter.

full


this one is from 1934.
 
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