Many thanks to Alexander for the opportunity to review the MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR lens. As an advertisement - this lens can be found on the contacts from the manual optics section.
MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR review
TTX MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR Focal length: 135mm Diaphragm: F / 3.5-f / 22 Number of aperture blades: 6 pieces The weight: 430g Front Filter Diameter: 49mm MDF: 1m Thread: M42
There are many lens modifications.
- CZ Sonnar T * 2,8 / 135 Contax / Yashica - the optical scheme is slightly different, the so-called Ernostar
- Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR - older version, does not have MC, frame is made in zebra style.
- Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 4/135 - white case frame
- MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR - version with MC, with built-in hood. This particular lens is presented in this review.
View of the MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR lens, front view with the hood down.
The lens uses the pre-war optical design Sonnar ['Sonnar' means 'Sunny' in German]. The optical design is famous for its simplicity of execution, in this case, only 4 lenses in 3 groups, and excellent quality of the formed image. There are many modifications based on the Sonnar circuit that are used not only in Carl Zeiss lenses. Soviet lenses Jupiter brands also have a Carl Zeiss Sonnar scheme. For example, an almost complete copy of this MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR is MS Jupiter-37A 135mm F3.5
Jupiter-37A [not MS version] with a hood, a KP-A \ N shank and a light filter and MS CZJ DDR Sonnar 135 / 3,5
The MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR lens has a very nice focus. The focusing ring is metal, rotates almost 360 degrees, the minimum focusing distance is quite pleasant, and is only 1 meter. Focusing on the lens is very pleasant; when focusing, the trunk of the lens lengthens by approximately 3 cm, while the front lens does not rotate.
MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR rear view. Visible M42 thread and diaphragm pusher
The lens has a red-white coloration of the depth of field indicators, aperture, and focus distance. GRIP indicated for F / 8, 16, 22. The aperture ring has only fixed values, on the lens you can find the 'M / A' aperture control switch. Aperture 'M' mode makes it easy to use the MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR on modern digital cameras.
MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR view on a modern camera
The assembly at the lens is excellent. This MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR was manufactured a long time ago, but still works fine, and this is not only the merit of the Carl Zeiss Jena DDR inscription on the body, but the implementation of the simple and reliable mechanical part of the lens. This MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR has integrated telescopic hood, which helps to avoid hares and a drop in contrast with strong sources of backlight.
Sample photo on MC Sonnar 135 3.5
Image quality
The lens is sharp at all aperture values, especially in the center. Aberrations are well corrected, good contrast and color reproduction. The lens normally tolerates backlight. The bokeh of the lens is quite good, the lack of distortion and the large focal length make this MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR an excellent portrait lens. In general, image quality is on top.
Sample photo on MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR
Sample photos on MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR
All sample photos in this review were made on Nikon D80 with adapter M42-Nikon without lens. Photos without processing, only reduced to 3MP and imprinted data from EXIF. On a cropped Nikon DX camera EGF lens becomes 202,5mm [135*1.5].
How to use on modern cameras
The Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR has a very popular M42 lens mount thread. Almost all mounts have their own adapters. For example, for Nikon I used the M42-Nikon adapter, for more details on how to use old manual lenses with M42 thread on Nikon cameras, see Soviet lenses. For Canon owners there will be a useful article about old lenses at canon.
Sample photo on MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR
Personal experience
I really love Sonnaras, their bokeh, sharpness and contrast make for great shots. However, instead of this MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR I use its analogue - the Olympic Jupiter-37A is not the MC version. If you choose a lens like this, then both Jupiter and Sonnar will be very good lenses. MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR gives slightly better contrast than my Jupiter-37A due to the presence of Multi-Enlightenment.
Sample photo on MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR
Catalog of modern Carl Zeiss lenses can look at this link.
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Conclusions
The MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR is an excellent short tele prime lens with the legendary Sonnar optical design. The lens provides excellent image quality, in particular, a pleasant background blur, which makes it a good portrait lens.
Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram