Review Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 T

Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 T Objective Lens has provided Chmuzh Leo.

Review Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 T

Review Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 T


There are many modifications of the Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar F / 2 58mm lens. The copy in this review has serial number 3647757, a white metal body, and a 12 blade diaphragm. This Biotar 2/58 T is much larger than the earlier modification - Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 1: 2 f = 5,8cm T... The 'White' Biotar 2/58 looks very similar to its Soviet clones - Helios-44 2/58  (white, with 13 aperture diaphragm) and on Helios-44 2/58 (white, with 8 blade aperture).

Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 T Lens Rear View

Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 T Lens Rear View

Focus ring metal, rotates 360 degrees. When focusing, the front lens does not rotate, focusing on sharpness is very convenient. The minimum focusing distance is 50 cm. The lens has an aperture control ring, which is also a preset ring. To preset the aperture, press the aperture ring towards the rear lens and set the desired value. The aperture is set smoothly, without fixed values ​​from F / 2.0 to F / 22.0. The diameter of the front lens is 49mm.

Enlightenment of the lens Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 T

Enlightenment of the lens Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 T

The lens has a special 'T'-coating, but nevertheless the lens turns yellow.

Lens aperture blades

Lens aperture blades

Sample Photos

The lens showed good sharpness, contrast and almost even circles in the blur zone on closed apertures. In fact, I expected a bit more from the CZJ Biotar 2/58 T.

The parameters of the photo in the review:

All shot on Canon EOS 350D. On-camera JPEG L, high quality. Noise reduction at slow shutter speeds was turned off. Parameters: contrast correction - 0, sharpness - 0, saturation - 0, tone color - 0. Used white balance: 'Daylight' and 'Shadow'. Photos have been scaled down to 1620px by 1080px (roughly 2MP) using FastStone Photo Resizer 3.0, and data from EXIF. When reducing the size of the photos, quality equal to 85% of the original was used, the compression method was Lanczos3.

How to use with modern cameras?

Lenses with mounting thread M42 (M42 X 1 / 45.5), such as the lens from this review, are very easy to use on almost any modern digital camera (both SLR and mirrorless), for this it is enough to choose the right adapter (adapter). You do not need to carry out any additional steps to modify the lens.

The cheapest adapters can be found at Aliexpress.com... There are adapters (adapters) with a chip that provide more convenience during shooting, usually chips are used to confirm focus and / or metering exposure, and form the correct EXIF. The chip does not affect the image quality in any way.

For some SLR cameras (for example, with the Nikon F-mount), you need to use adapters with a corrective lens, which allows you to focus correctly at all focusing distances. For any mirrorless cameras, such a lens is not needed, and the adapter is a simple decorated hollow metal tube with an appropriate mount.

For SLR cameras

  1. Canon: For cameras Canon EOS with bayonet mount EF / EF-S need an M42-Canon EOS adapter, such an adapter with a chip can be found herewithout chip here.
  2. NIKON: For cameras Nikon DX / FXas well as for cameras Fujifilm и Kodak with a Nikon F mount, you need an M42-Nikon F adapter, you can buy such an adapter without a lens and a chip here, with a lens without a chip herewith chip without lens here, with lens and chip here. Why a lens? Why chip?
  3. PENTAX: For Pentax cameras with K mount, you need an M42-Pentax K adapter, you can buy such an adapter here.
  4. SONY/MINOLTA: For cameras with a Sony / Minolta A mount, you need the M42-Sony A adapter, you can find such an adapter without a chip at this linkwith a chip at this link.
  5. OLYMPUS/PANASONIC/LEICA: For cameras with a 4/3 bayonet mount (not to be confused with Micro 4/3!) You need an M42-4 / 3 adapter, you can buy such an adapter here.

For mirrorless cameras

  1. SONY: For cameras with 'E'/'FE' mount series SonyNEX и Sony Alpha you need an adapter M42-Sony E (aka M42-Sony Nex), you can find it at this link. An autofocus adapter is also available for these cameras. Techart PRO Leica M - Sony E Autofocus Adapterwhich can be found at this link.
  2. OLYMPUS / PANASONIC / KODAK / XIAOMI: For cameras with a bayonet mount Micro 4/3 (Micro 4:3) you need an adapter M42-Micro 4/3, you can find it at this link.
  3. CANON M: For cameras with Canon EF-M mount need adapter M42-Canon M, it can be found at this link.
  4. CANON R and RF-S: For cameras with Canon RF mount need adapter M42-Canon R, it can be found at this link.
  5. Nikon 1: For cameras Nikon 1 Series need adapter M42-Nikon 1, you can find it at this link.
  6. Nikon Z: For cameras Nikon Z series (FX/DX) need an adapter M42-Nikon Z, it can be found at this link.
  7. FUJIFILM X: For cameras with mount X need an M42-Fuji X adapter, you can find it at this link.
  8. FUJIFILM GFX: For medium format cameras G-mount need M42-Fuji GFX adapter, you can find it at this link.
  9. SAMSUNG: For cameras with NX mount, you need an M42-Samsung NX adapter, you can find it at this link. There are no adapters for the NX mini camera yet.
  10. PENTAX: For Q-mount cameras, you need an M42-Pentax Q adapter, you can find it at this link.
  11. SIGMA / PANASONIC / LEICA: For cameras with L mount you need an M42-Leica L adapter, you can find it at this link.
  12. LEICA: For cameras with a bayonet mount Leica M need adapter M42-L / M, you can find it at this link.

If you have any questions on compatibility and adapters - ask in the comments (comments do not require any registration at all).

View of Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 T on the ZK

View of Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 T on the ZK

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

Comments on this post do not require registration. Anyone can leave a comment. Many different photographic equipment can be found on AliExpress.

Conclusions

Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 T is a good old 58mm fast prime. The lens is interesting with a 12-blade diaphragm and smooth focusing. Can be used for leisurely portraits. There are a huge number, including Soviet, different modifications of the lens with the same optical design. Considering the price of the old Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 T, from a practical point of view I would prefer to use the Soviet Helios series 44m-X.

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

Add a comment: Edvin

 

 

Comments: 11, on the topic: Review Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 T

  • Evgeny*

    Arkady, where is such beauty, where was it filmed?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Crimea. Fiolent in different places, Balaclava, Chersonese. even there is the village of Peredovoye, where it often brings me.

  • a lion

    My native Crimean landscapes;)))))))))))))))) beauty

  • Sergei

    Oh, native penates)
    It turns out that you are here too ... Excellent photos of familiar places, thanks for the review.

  • Edvin

    Anonymous, it’s foolish to be proud of the tragedy of a divided people.
    Crimea belongs to everyone whose ancestors poured blood over it for centuries.
    Let's not drag discords here, they are enough without us.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Offtop.

  • Sergey Pavlovich

    To relatives painfully how much there is drunk and shot!

  • Filipp

    Hello Arkady!
    About Carl Zeiss Alu Biotar 2/58, what can you say?

  • Andrei

    I think it’s really better to use helios, in fact the same thing, but if it’s better not to give so much money for it.

    • anonym

      Yes, which is HUGE then? Andrey, have you seen the price for it? Well, if a little more expensive G-44. I took mine on eBee for $ 27. Is that HUGE money?

  • Vasa

    This is how our Soviet klutzes copied it, and the resulting lens is much more interesting than the original in terms of pictures. About the klutz, if that's sarcasm. I have already tried many lenses, there were Elks and Artov Sigmas, but Soviet optics still pleases the eye with its atmospheric picture. I consider the race to improve the quality of lenses to be exactly the same as the race for megapixels. Manufacturers should chase, but we don’t need to.

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