Leica Users: Rigid 50/2 Summicron or Nikkor 50/1.4 Sonnar?

[lens_hacker]

> I'm slow on the uptake (what's new ?)

The Flickr shots are just a set taken with the CZJ Sonnar showing close-up to infinity is good in the LTM mount. If I've posted that link before, apologies. I'm uploading more taken with the 5cm F1.5 lens. Similar results from close-up to infinity.

Recently, I was sent a cobbled together lens made from a mix of German and Russian parts. It looked like at an early attempt to copy the German LTM mount and optics block, using left-overs and mimicking missing parts. German glass in an aluminum mount. The focus action was as good as a J-3, but the machining was lower quality than either the German LTM lens or later J-3. It had the look of a one-off prototype. The middle group was uncoated and the cement was fogged, a real disaster. I replaced it with coated German optics, replaced some of the mimicked parts with German parts, and collimated it. It worked out quite well.

[Rolleiflexible]

Originally Posted by André E.C.

Funny, nobody mentioned the legendary Zeiss Sonnar Opton 50mm f/1.5. ...
IMHO, it´s superior to newer similar product offers by Nikon, I've
used Nikkors 1.8 and 1.4 and prefer the rendition of the older Opton.André

André, can you be more specific? What do you see in the Zeiss,
that leads you to prefer it over the Nikkor 50/1.4 Sonnars?

Sanders

[Rolleiflexible]

Originally Posted by lens_hacker

It did not require any shoe-horning to fit a pre-war 5cm F1.5 Carl Zeiss Jena into an LTM J-3 mount. Basically, unscrew the optics module and screw it in. The shims are interchangeable between the CZJ 5cm F1.5 and the J-3. Collimated the lens to work wide-open and close-up. Infinity is best when stopped down a little, where the Sonnar Focus-Shift works in your favor. The Zeiss-Optpn will not fit into a J-3 mount.

Is it really as simple as swapping out the lens elements?
Is this something I can do at home? Do you know of any
lens hackers who might take on this sort of project for
a simple guy like me?

Interesting. :-)

[Rolleiflexible]

I picked up a coated Summitar with a
round aperture this week -- interesting
lens, to be sure. I liked its look on this
roll of film. (Attachment shot at f/2.8,
on a Leica IIIa.) Based on only this roll,
it seems that this Summitar resolves
detail a bit more finely at the focal plane
than my Summar does, while still giving
a kind of "painterly" (I hate that phrase)
look to the out-of-focus areas. I am
guessing that the Summicron would give
a more literal rendition in the out-of-focus
areas. Maybe this Summitar is a good
compromise between the two.

Too many lenses, too little time. Alas.

[André E.C.]

Originally Posted by Rolleiflexible

André, can you be more specific? What do you see in the Zeiss,
that leads you to prefer it over the Nikkor 50/1.4 Sonnars?

Sanders

A much smother out of focus areas rendition, I compared with images of a friend using the Nikkor, I recognize the Nikkor is sharper, yet harsher out of the center, IMHO.

And I'm a Zeiss user, therefore, I prefer the look they deliver.


PS- Nothing against Nikkors, I had several and still own two 50's, they're great optics.




André

[lens_hacker]

Originally Posted by Rolleiflexible

Is it really as simple as swapping out the lens elements?
Is this something I can do at home? Do you know of any
lens hackers who might take on this sort of project for
a simple guy like me?

Interesting. :-)

The most difficult part of this is collimating the lens. I found a through-the-lens viewer for LTM lenses, but it is not necessary. You can mount yor camera on a tripod, set the shutter to "T" or "B", and use the image formed at the film gate.

Kim Coxon hosts the instructions that I wrote for the J-3:

http://pentax-manuals.com/repairs/j3service.pdf

My Canon 7 is used in the illustrations for collimating the optics. Teh same method works for the CZJ Sonnar to J-3 conversion.

The tools necessary are some fine screwdrivers for the small set screws. Getting the parts, a J-3 in LTM and the CZJ Sonnar are the most time-consuming. And sometimes risky- a friend of mine found a Collapsible Sonnar and I had to break the news that the rear group was "wrong", the lens would not form an image, and the optics module was glued into the barrel. I replaced the incorrect group with that from a 1961 J-8 and collimated it by unscrewing the latch (term?) on the collapsible mount out.

[asp dk]

Dear Leica friends
I am looking for a silent camera, which will produce fine tones in shadow and highlights with lens wide open. F2 or bigger aperture..Only daylight and candles are used, (old churches). I am looking at the M6, since I years ago had it for a year and liked the negatives in the darkroom. Could anyone guide me to a good 50 and 35 lens among the many well reputated? Can the R-series work silent also? Advices for film are also welcome - they should be as good to highlights as previa, but maybe faster..Grains like the old Tmax are too hard for this assignment.
I have worked b-w years ago, and now I am going back to analog, since the digital does not give the same at all, when it comes to real sharpness and resolution..The pictures I am going to take, are to tell a story, not only prove that I was there...
Kind regards, Claus

[eddym]

Originally Posted by Rolleiflexible

I picked up a coated Summitar with a
round aperture this week -- interesting
lens, to be sure. I liked its look on this
roll of film. (Attachment shot at f/2.8,
on a Leica IIIa.) .

Sanders... give her cake.

[Rolleiflexible]

Or -- what? Death?! :-)

[eddym]

Originally Posted by Rolleiflexible

Or -- what? Death?! :-)

Hey, it's her shirt. The choice seems easy to me.