Leica Zeiss Tessar 5cm 2.8 adapted to ltm

[Raid]

I used my M8 with the old Tessar. I decided not to do any PS at all so that the lower contrast Tessar look will show clearly. Any lack of sharpness is due to me focusing.



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Here, I removed the colors, and I added a little amount of contrast:

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[Brian]

It looks good- what vintage is this one?

 

[Raid]

It is a Tessar that originally was made as M42. I can post a photo of the lens.

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Marc Small wrote me in 2008 the following:

The serial number is 4176854. This is part of a run of 5,000 such lenses made in M42 and completed on 5 MAY 1954. Note the red "T" indicating coating -- a marking soon thereafter abandoned -- and the qualitätsmark, a sign of production in the DDR.

This lens is a one-off modification. As I noted previously, there are wartime Zeiss modifications of Contax RF BM 2.8/5cm Tessars in LTM but these
would have serial numbers in the 2,8xx,xxx or 2,9xx,xxx range. These lenses would have been marked in cm while the lens shown in the above link is marked in mm.

 

[Brian]

Now I remember it- that was a nice conversion job. I converted one of these years ago, the Tessar has a lot of space between the rear element and film- think I used an I61 mount for the job.

 

[Raid]

I bought it on ebay for $200 or so. You encouraged me to get it.

 

[Brian]

I remember- I think it is a unique bargain at that price.

I use the pre-war 5cm F2.8 Tessars with an adapter on the M9. I converted a couple of post-war Exakta mount 5cm F3.5's to Contax RF and S-Mount.

 

[Raid]

I should try out my old Zeiss lenses (for the Contax) with an Amedeo adapter on the M8 or M9.

 

[ChrisBail]

I should try out my old Zeiss lenses (for the Contax) with an Amedeo adapter on the M8 or M9.

You should! I'd like to see those shots. I've been shooting my Nikon-S lenses on the M9, and really liking the results.

 

[Raid]

I will try out my old Zeiss lenses on the M9 or M8. Yesterday, I used the Tessar 5cm on the M9 for sunset photos. The lower contratstworks very well with muted colors and cloudy sky.

 

[Raid]

I took these photos yesterday on Pensacola Beach. The sky was clouded up, so I chose the low contrast Tessar 5cm for the sunset. I knew beforehand there would be no rich colors present, but I wanted to capture the muted colors. I took 15 photos, and these are the first five that I took. I switched back and forth between M8 with Tessar 5cm and M9 with 35 Summilux.
Here are the Tessar images 1-5.

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[ChrisBail]

The photos are lovely Raid. Great composition, and I like your choice of a close focal point with the background figures and horizon out of focus. Well done.

 

[Raid]

Thanks. The lens needs some shimming though. The RF is slightly off for infinity. I focused on objects that were about 10 yards away from me to get the distant people OOF.

 

[Brian]

Shoot a test on something that we can measure the error. The Tessar is built to the Zeiss standard, so it might be fine close-up but front focus at infinity.

Does the RF cam move (rotate) with the focus ring?

 

[Raid]

The lens is way off. I used the M9 with the Lux first to get the correct distance, followed by focusing on same distance with the M8 with Tessar.

Lux ...........................Tessar
0.9m ....................... 1.15m
2.2m......................... 4.2m
4.9m......................... >15m

I do not see anything rotating on the Tessar.

 

[Brian]

Pull it out next time I am down... If the optics unscrew, should be a way to shim it. It needs about 0.5mm. Hard to understand how some people modify lenses and do not bother setting the RF and focus to agree. I see a lot of that.

 

[Raid]

Thanks. I can handle things until then.
If you shoot at small apertures, there is no problem with the shimming.

 

[radi(c)al_cam]

Marc Small wrote me in 2008 the following:

The serial number is 4176854. This is part of a run of 5,000 such lenses made in M42 and completed on 5 MAY 1954. Note the red "T" indicating coating -- a marking soon thereafter abandoned -- and the qualitätsmark, a sign of production in the DDR.

My copy has serial # 3922053 — apparently 2,548 items before yours was made, Raid

This is one of my Tessars where I'm considering a conversion, since I've used it a bit with an adapter, but some sort of RF-coupling would be a huge improvement.


edit: my insinuated hypothesis above — that the last two figures could indicate East German production years — is totally nonsensical. That Raid's red T M42 small aluminium preset Tessar lens, made in 1954, and mine, probably made in 1953, have «54» respectively «53» as last figures, is just happenstance.

 

[carlb]

A sweet lens, Raid! Beach shots have me wistful on a gray Sunday morning, heh.

 

[Raid]

Thank you Carl. We have many days of sunshine in Pensacola each year.