Review Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 is a legendary lens. It is very much appreciated by professional photographers.

TTX Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8:
System: medium format, Pentacon Six (Bayonet type "B")
Optical design: 5 elements in 3 groups
Focal length: 180 mm
Aperture Limits: F2.8-F22
Number of aperture blades: 8
Minimum Focus Distance: 2.2
The weight: approximately 1.4 kg
Filter Diameter: 86 mm

Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180mm f / 2.8 P6

Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180mm f / 2.8 P6

A bit of history. It all started with the creation of the legendary Sonnar scheme in 30 codes of the last century. Back in 1936, a 180mm fast lens was created for the Berlin Olympics. Title "Sonnar" comes from the German word "Sonne", meaning the Sun, in fact in those years aperture of 2.8 for such focal lengths was rare.

Sample photo on Sonnar 180 2.8

Sample photo on Sonnar 180 2.8

It is believed that the first lenses were the very best in quality. Further, the optical scheme was repeatedly copied, for example, to create a Soviet lens Jupiter 6. There are different versions of Sonnar 180 2.8 - these are old "zebras”, Newer - black without MS enlightenment, and black with MS enlightenment. Also, the circuit has visited many systems and mounts. Please note that there are lenses Carl Zeiss Sonnar 180 / 2.8 C / Y (Contax Yashica mount), which actually have not Sonnar optical scheme, but its modification Ernstar... You can watch the review with the Zebra frame option - Carl Zeiss Jena DDR Sonnar 180 2.8

Photo by Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

Photo by Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

Actually, The instance presented in this review is the CZJ Sonnar 2.8 / 180 for Pentacon six.

Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180mm f2.8 size comparison

Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180mm f2.8 size comparison

Features of the CZJ Sonnar 2.8 / 180 lens for Pentacon six:

1. 180mm focal length for medium format allows you to take great photos. Due to the fact that the angle of view for medium format is different for the same focal length as for 35mm film, sonnar is used on medium format as an excellent portrait. When used on 35mm film or on full-frame CZKs, the lens will have the same 180mm focal length with the appropriate viewing angle. On cropped cameras, the viewing angle will be narrower, and EGF will 270mm for Nikon DX cameras and 288mm for Canon cameras with a crop of 1.6x.

Super bokeh on Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

Super bokeh on Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

2. Very large aperture F2.8 for such a focal length. The lens is very easy achieve blurring the foreground and foreground. This allows you to use the lens as a great portrait lens.

Fabulous picture on Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

Fabulous picture on Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

3. The weightwhich is quite large and makes you tinker with the lens. Holding a camera with such a lens and focusing at the same time is quite difficult. It is not very pleasant to focus, as the lens is “plump”. The best option is to use CZJ Sonnar 2.8 / 180 on a tripod.

Photo by Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

Photo by Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

4. Excellent lens hood, which really helps to keep side and back light. The hood is removable and very large. Also worth mentioning lens mount for tripod or monopod. The mount can rotate and lock in place. The diameter of the mounting hole is non-standard for modern cameras. So, I failed to install on a regular monopod from a modern camera. I encountered the same problem when using the Tair-3 lens. But the legendary Helios-40-2 has a conventional tripod thread on the clamp.

Photo by Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

Photograph by Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six. Very shallow depth of field

5. The diaphragm setting ring nicely switches the diaphragm while gently snapping.

Photo by Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

Photo by Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

6. On trifles: Sonnar is all metal, with all the necessary indicators of distances, depth of field, aperture, which is very important for a manual lens.

Photo by Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

Photo by Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

7. The lens gives a wonderful picture quality, about which below.

Photo by Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

Photo by Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

About the picture

It is difficult to judge the quality, since I used a lens on a cropped matrix, and this is not even a full frame. The resulting picture will lose from the picture in the medium format at times. But still, what happened to the cropped matrix makes us praise the lens. It's sharp enough for portraits at F2.8 full aperture. The contrast is excellent. The back grip is rather weak, but still better than many other lenses. The color rendering is slightly yellow. The picture is very flexible, smooth, smooth with beautiful bokeh. The blur of the background is "Sonnar's", which is distinguished from other schemes by its softness. Thanks to the large focal length and high aperture, it makes incredible artistic photographs. HA on the open one they are almost invisible, sometimes it nevertheless breaks through small details to violet halos. Probably for a portrait one of the best lenses and so far one of the best that I happened to shoot.

Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six Lens Bokeh

Photo on the lens Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

How to use Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 from a medium format with modern digital SLR cameras?

Using the lens is not at all difficult. The lens is mounted on Nikon D90 using adapter Pentacon 6 / Nikon (KP-6). Focusing on infinity is maintained. For information on how to better configure the camera, read the section Soviet optics... On my Nikon D90, the lens with its large mass feels great. The high mass helps to avoid wiggle when shooting handheld. It's not worth worrying about ripping out the mount, the camera holds it perfectly. But still, you need to be quite careful with such an installation. On the camera, the lens looks worse than Tair-3. How to use CZJ Sonnar 2.8 / 180 on Canon you can read in the section old lenses at canon.

Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180mm f2.8 on the D40

Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180mm f2.8 on the D40

For publicity: If you are interested in Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar F2.8 180mm and have a desire to buy it - contact the contacts in the manual optics section.

Photo by Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

Photo by Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

Catalog of modern Carl Zeiss lenses can look at this link.

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Personal impressions:

It is difficult to work with the lens due to its large mass and huge dimensions. You can also see examples of photos taken on the cropped matrix of my D90. Of course, these are far from those photos that can be obtained in a medium format.

Conclusion:

Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six is ​​a truly legendary lens with a flawless picture. It can serve as an excellent portrait lens on full-frame CZK. On cropped cameras, I do not recommend using it.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram

Add a comment: BB

 

 

Comments: 53, on the topic: Review of Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180 2.8 Pentacon Six

  • Eugene

    Good day, as I understand it, confirmation of the correct focus on Nikon will not work?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Will be. Details here https://radojuva.com.ua/2011/04/optika-na-nikon/#how-focusing

    • BB

      How much can you?
      Nikon's Always and absolutely with Any glass (up to f / 8) focus confirmation will work with a green (or white) circle in the lower left corner of the viewfinder.
      ... I'm surprised at Arkady's patience :)

      • Serg57

        For the dynamics of the site requires a controlled conflict (well, in addition to discussing the topic, of course). Scheme: a good cop-an evil cop is almost immortal.
        Arkady is multifaceted, as is the discussion on the site. He is good, then evil. And we (you) are sometimes good, sometimes evil. :) :) :)

  • anonym

    I ask you to answer which version of this sonnara is better: zedra or black. THX.

  • anonym

    In-in! Especially "zedra"

  • Novel

    “When used on a 35mm film or on a full-frame CZK, the lens will have the same 180mm focal length with the corresponding viewing angle.”

    Arkady, I believe that the medium format Znnar on a camera with a 24x36 matrix will still have a crop factor. After all, it is designed to form an image circle with a diameter of as much as 9 cm.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      EGF will be 180mm without any options. That is, that the lens under 24 * 36, that this Sonnar at full frame will have the same viewing angle.

  • Leonid

    Adding tse sklo.
    Winikli Pitannya:
    1. On the body there are two steps (one is like a zoosum, for fixing the camera's "portrait" and "landscape"), and for the other, I cannot see.
    2.Transferring Pentacon -Ai by standing, and yak take a de-fixator.
    Dyakuyu that hto help you rozibratis.

  • Denis Korzun

    Arkady, hello!
    I'm thinking about purchasing Jena MC Sonnar 180 2.8 (their latest version), or Jupiter 6-2 - which is better in your opinion?

    • Rodion

      Jupiter 6 is definitely no better. He chromatites more, the contrast is worse, the diaphragm, although 10 babbles, is “curved”. MC Zonnar will definitely be better. In addition, it has a universal P6 mount, you can use it with shift and tilt-shift adapters, boosters and other interesting accessories.

  • Leonid

    It's easy to drive the Nikon D800, є dosvid. Dyakuyu hto give information.

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