Carl Zeiss Jena Info

have recently acquired an antiquated screw thread lens in reasonably good condition. the markings on the lens front are as follows ,
carl zeiss jena nr 2348866 apo-tessar 1:9 f=24cm
on the body r55 (suspect this is the thread diameter) various aperture numbers and a curious lever !
its in its own beautifully made wooden box. would love to know more about it , age and what its off , could it be an enlarging lens ?
any info would be much appreciated ,regards, tim.

Is it the same as this one link

EDIT: PLEASE SEE FOLLOWING POST, I'VE MISREAD THE DESCRIPTION


Strange S.No CZ used no's like that in 1938, but Jena did make a lot of odd stuff including specials for the Stasi. CZJ Camera lenses changed to mm from cm around 1952? and being APO I would expect it's quite recent.

Tessar means it's 4 elements so it must be a standard lens probably for 15mm x 20mm format (16mm film?). APO means a high level of correction for chromatic aberrations in the 3 three primary colours. f/1.9 would indicate a camera lens, but why only 4 elements? and why cm's. Also camera Tessars were usually a maximum of f/2.8

If it's not like the one I pointed to it might be better posting a photo. You could try the Manual Focus Forums but they will probably tell you to bugger off they don't like enquires that could be valuations in disguise

Algi

Sorry ignore the previous post I've just noticed it's 24cm not 2.4cm which means it must be massive and is either an aerial photography or process lens covering 15cm x 20cm Also it's f/9 not f/1.9 so it must be a process lens. I assume it hasn't got a shutter. These were called APO pre war.

Algi

I'm going back to playing "Name that Barcode"

[IMG]http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr203/timritaharry/carl.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr203/timritaharry/carl2.jpg[/IMG]
algi, have placed coin to indicate size of lens , could well be a film camera lens .
regards, tim.

algi , it looks very similair to the picture in your link , though there is very little technical information .
regards, tim.

Try the Zeiss forum.
Actually, I am still a member so I'll post a query tomorrow.
Geoff

It's a 1937 process lens. Not a lot of use without a shutter (and too awkward to fit) although it could be used on a 5x7 camera with a behind the lens shutter. I doubt if it is all that good. If you have a bellows and some extension tubes you could mount it with Blu-Tak and try it out with your Pentax Digital. You might get a surprise.

The lever on the side looks like it's a pre-set and lets you flick back and forth between wide open and stopped down to whatever aperture is set below the white line with the dot at the top.

I've got a 1950's Kodak Ektar 203mm f/7.7 (4 element)in a Prontor shutter that's also made for 5x7 and when I tried it on a K20D, it was the sharpest lens I've ever seen Ektar's were Kodak's Top lenses and regarded by many as being better than the German stuff. They were fully corrected but Kodak never described them as APO

Algi

1938!!!! I already put that above I don't know why I put 1937 later.

Some info here

It seems like they were higher contrast than the normal camera lenses and could well have nice Bokeh.
Worth trying it on your camera.

Algi

thanks for the info , think it will be going back in its wooden box and back on the shelf for now.
regards, tim.