Jumat, 06 April 2012

Simple RF : choosing my ultimate Sonnar

For a reason i can' understand, i really like sonnar. I have ever tested planar, heliar, tessar, but at the end it goes back to sonnar.

My first sonnar (and my first RF lens), was 40mm HFT Sonnar f2.8, from Rollei. I sell it by mistake(before i scan the roll) and regret it soo much.
My 2nd sonnar lens is a jupiter 8, it was sharp and contrasty, yet gave me butterly smooth bokeh. I paint it black and sell it, built quality is nothing to be desired.
3rd sonnar lens, 85mm f2 CZJ in contax mount, this is an investment, as i was about to get contax to ltm adapter. Never regret to have this lens.
4th lens,Rigid CZ 50mm f2 (with contax IIa), sell it as it can not be cleaned up
5th, and 6th lens, jupiter 8 pre 1950 (with focus knob, attached on Zorki 3M), and another jupiter 8 from 1962. Optic were scratched, so this is a good candidate for real sonnar transplant project.
7th, collapsible CZJ 50mm f2 pre war (with contax II), remounted on pre war jupiter 8, really like the short focus throw, but what can you expect from russian build quality. Sell it for a huge benefit.
8th, CZJ 50mm f1.5, pre war uncoated in contax mount, one of the best sonnar i have, never going to let it go.
9th, CZJ 50mm f2, post war coated from enlarger lens (really a bell&howel enlarger), remounted on collapsible body of the 7th lens. During cleaning up, i broke one of it's aperture blade, lucky that jupiter 8 blade are match for this. Still being use
10th, CZJ 135mm f4 in contax mount, really hard to focus on rd1, but image quality are top notch.

So, how much still i have now?
2 50mms, 1 85mm, 1 135mm, all CZJ, in contax mount, use with amedeo contax to ltm adapter.
Pretty weird that i need to adjust the focus for all contax lenses i have, this mean i can' use it with contax RF body anymore.

So, is that enough? I really like wide sonnar, if available. But the one exist is not in ltm/m mount. It is fixed in Contax T body, a 38mm f2.8 sonnar. I like the idea of compactness (it's a RF, titanium body!) and sonnar-ness of Contax T, but pricewise just can't be justified. And then another option was to get Rollei 35S/SE. Indeed, i grab it when i had a chance, and as per my test result, the sonnar lens really shine eventhough i need to scale focus.

So what is missing?
Having 50mm classic sonnar in contax mount + amedeo adapter is really nice, but as well pain in the finger. It has maybe 359degree rotation from minimum focus (1m) to infinity. Really slow to focus. I really like the idea of jupiter 8 body implant, but need brass to make it perfect. Then come a canon/nikon ltm variant in my mind, that ones are expensive, and rare, maybe half of the cost of the new zeiss M sonnar. Canon f1.5, nikkor f1.4 and nikkor hc f2. Lucky last night i see an auction on ebay, a nice NHC f2 for 180$, quickly grabbed it without thinking twice. Why?

Because, it is a sonnar (+1) 50mm in brass body (+1), with short focus throw (+1), and focus knob (+1), ltm mount (+1), coated element (+1), short minimum focus distance 18inch (+1), hard lens element (+1), and is cheaper than used summicron.. I hope this will be my last sonnar.

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