In praise of old lenses #12 - Carl Zeiss 50mm Pancolar
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Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm F1.8 (Zebra)
Well it would be impolite not to include at least one Carl Zeiss lens given their reputation for outstanding optical quality. Carl Zeiss Pancolar 50mm lenses were the premium standard lenses manufactured in the Carl Zeiss Jena factory in East Germany for Praktica 35mm SLR cameras. Pancolar lenses are therefore easy to find with the 42mm screw thread, which is easily adaptable to many modern digital cameras.
This particular Carl Zeiss Pancolar 50mm F1.8 Zebra lens dating from the late 1960s or early 1970s is splendid in terms of optical performance, but the build quality looks and feels somewhat short of that of a Nikkor or Super Takumar lens from the same period. My Pancolar has particular issues with dried lubrication leading to what I can only describe as lumpy focussing, a problem that appears to be very common in both Pancolar and Tessar Zebra lenses. The lens has six aperture blades, but there is an earlier version with eight aperture blades which is more highly sought after.
Good examples of Carl Zeiss 50mm F1.8 Pancolar zebra lenses seem to sell on auction sites at between £50 and £70. I think this a little bit on the high side given that it is still possible to find 55mm F1.8 SMC Takumar lenses for under £40. I would say the Pancolar is well worth buying if you can find one in good condition at £40 or less.
The lens does produce very pleasing bokeh at wide apertures and is extremely sharp at any aperture smaller than F2.8. The shot of the small purple flowers (sorry don’t know what they are) was shot at an aperture of F1.8 and the B&W shot of the Highland cattle was taken at an aperture of F4. In both cases, the lens was mounted on my full frame Pentax K1. The image of the lens gives a clue on how it came by the “zebra” name.
Well it would be impolite not to include at least one Carl Zeiss lens given their reputation for outstanding optical quality. Carl Zeiss Pancolar 50mm lenses were the premium standard lenses manufactured in the Carl Zeiss Jena factory in East Germany for Praktica 35mm SLR cameras. Pancolar lenses are therefore easy to find with the 42mm screw thread, which is easily adaptable to many modern digital cameras.
This particular Carl Zeiss Pancolar 50mm F1.8 Zebra lens dating from the late 1960s or early 1970s is splendid in terms of optical performance, but the build quality looks and feels somewhat short of that of a Nikkor or Super Takumar lens from the same period. My Pancolar has particular issues with dried lubrication leading to what I can only describe as lumpy focussing, a problem that appears to be very common in both Pancolar and Tessar Zebra lenses. The lens has six aperture blades, but there is an earlier version with eight aperture blades which is more highly sought after.
Good examples of Carl Zeiss 50mm F1.8 Pancolar zebra lenses seem to sell on auction sites at between £50 and £70. I think this a little bit on the high side given that it is still possible to find 55mm F1.8 SMC Takumar lenses for under £40. I would say the Pancolar is well worth buying if you can find one in good condition at £40 or less.
The lens does produce very pleasing bokeh at wide apertures and is extremely sharp at any aperture smaller than F2.8. The shot of the small purple flowers (sorry don’t know what they are) was shot at an aperture of F1.8 and the B&W shot of the Highland cattle was taken at an aperture of F4. In both cases, the lens was mounted on my full frame Pentax K1. The image of the lens gives a clue on how it came by the “zebra” name.