5 Comments

    1. Loved this as I had one on my Exakta in 1963. Decent lens exceeded by the f2 Pancolar. Used at f8 it gives results indistinguishable from modern optics in an A3 print viewed at 1.5x the diameter of the print. At full aperture quite soft but great bokeh. Fond memories before i went Leica.

    2. Nice Glass, nice work. of course for many years Zeiss Jena was the way more affordable East German alternative to the equally outstanding Carl Zeiss (W.Germany) In fact the East Germans produced a lot of outstanding and highly affordable cameras, lenses and Film, Praktika Cameras were an afffordable entry into SLR cameras and I believe ORWO film has been recently revived.

    3. I have been a big fan of the Tessar type lenses for a long time, I own a copy of this lens but have not shot with it yet. Many of the Tessar lenses I own are early un-coated versions. They work great with a yellow filter with black and white film. Tessars are under-rated as the Planars get the love. Your Sears 55 1.4 lens is a 6 element Planar based formula lens, that's why it's so good. Another issue with the Tessars is the lens design limitation of a max aperture of about f2.8. Modern fast films (and sensors) now make this "slow" lens a great affordable option.

    4. I just love almost every M42 lens that is out there. These Jena lenses are no exception either. What glorious photos you got on this day. Thanks for taking us along!!!👍📸

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