I have already written a few lines about this lens in my Exakta Varex IIa review where I have published some film shots taken with it. Recently I have purchased an adapter which allows me to attach any EXA mount lens to my Canon DSLR so it is about time to inspect a little deeper what is the Meyer Trioplan 100mm capable of.
The Cooke Triplet
The Meyer Trioplan is a classic triplet (it has three strong lens elements separated by sizable air spaces). It is eventually a modern version of the Cooke triplet which was developed by H. Dennis Taylor (1862 – 1943) in 1893.
The simplest design that is capable of correcting all of the seven Seidel aberrations over a wide field of view is the Cooke triplet. H. Dennis Taylor invented this in 1893, using the advances of Seidel’s theory. It is named after the optical company in York, England, for which Taylor worked at the time, Cooke and Sons (later to become Cooke, Troughton and Sims). The lens is described in two very interesting United States patents, Nos. 540,132 (1895) and 568,053 (1896). Taylor’s designs, despite their antiquity, are close to optimum for the aperture and field he intended, given the glass types available in his day. The triplet uses two of the principles of a good design. First, the Petzval sum is corrected by the use of spaced positive and negative lenses, as described in Chapter 9 on telephoto lenses. Secondly, it has approximate front-back symmetry about a central stop, to control the odd-order aberrations, coma, distortion, and transverse color.
Even though countless variants had been patented of the Triplet designs they cannot be considered as original inventions rather routine designs based on Taylors work.[1]
Taylor developed his own mathematical tools to design lenses and if we can believe him he never traced any rays. His method was to design and optimize the lens on paper until he reached the best possible solution and then he got the lens manufactured. Finally, changes were recommended based on the experiments on a testbench with the prototype.[1]
Cookie of York is still an existing company with slightly different profile and name Cooke Optics Limited.
Even though triplets are simple lenses it was difficult to manufacture them initially because the position of the lens elements has to be very precise. Therefore many manufacturers preferred to produce four element lenses instead.[1]
Despite that the Triplet design is strongly outdated today, it is still used in the case of many lower-end cameras.
Characteristics
The interestingness of the Meyer Optik Trioplan is the unusually large aperture (f/2.8) which is remarkable because triplets are usually moderate speed lenses for good reasons. This relatively high maximum aperture comes with a price as the lens shows a wide range of aberrations when used in this setting. On the other hand, this makes the lens somewhat unique with an interesting footprint some might use for artistic purposes. The out of focus areas (bokeh) looks very interesting at f2.8, especially when highlights are involved in the background. The light circles (for examples traffic lights) are surrounded by light circles which makes the bokeh really special and as many say psychedelic. In addition, there is a heavy glow around the objects in the in-focus areas, most notably around highlights. This effect can be very dramatic or almost not notable depending on the conditions of the shoot. Last but not least the produced image is rather soft all around the frame in most cases wide open.
Many buy and uses this lens because of the way it behaves at widest aperture, but we have to admit that this lens is not a bad performer at all if stopped down just a slight bit. At f/4 and below the lens produces sharp images without glow or distractive psychedelic bokeh. In fact, it has some properties which are very respectable. The lens produces a very low amount of purple fringing around high contrast areas even at modern standards. The lens is definitely sharp enough for most purposes an due to the almost perfectly round iris it produces wonderful creamy bokeh. Furthermore, due to the staples aperture ring, it can be appropriated by videographers as it allows smooth continuous aperture control.
My Trioplan came as a part of a beautiful Exakta kit along with the original box and invoice.
Meyer Optic Trioplan 100mm f/2.8 in the box
Meyer Optik Trioplan 100mm f/2.8
Meyer Optik Trioplan 100mm f/2.8
The lens can be disassembled very easily almost without any tools. I wanted to unscrew the lens hood only but as a side effect, I have managed to remove an entire lens group. It is not that bad as it sounds because eventually, I could take advantage of the accident. I could clean up the dust from the inside of the lens and fortunately, the assembly went well and the lens performs just the way it did before. Last but not least you can get a very intimate view of the wonderful circle shaped iris of the Trioplan.
Metal palm (Graz, Austria) Canon 450D, Meyer -Optik Trioplan 100mm f/2.8 @ f/8 (No purple fringing)
Recommendation
Pros
Reasonably good image quality when stopped down
Very low chromatic aberration
Circular iris
Good bokeh when stopped down
The special character at maximum aperture (crazy bokeh)
Continuous aperture selection ring without stops/clicks
Good built quality
Aged glue can’t be a problem between lens elements as the number of cemented elements is zero
Focusing is very smooth (on my instance)
Cheap
Cons
The outdated optical formula does not deliver cutting-edge performance
Very soft and loaded with aberrations at maximum aperture
The Meyer Optik Trioplan is a fun lens to use, it is out of the question. It is also a cheap lens so the investment won’t make your family mad on you.
I would recommend to those who like to experiment with old lenses hoping to achieve some unusual results due to the character of the vintage glass. On the other hand, it is not a toy so you can rely on it when you need good image quality, you just need to avoid f/2.8.
Videographers could also appreciate this lens due to the click-less aperture ring so they can change aperture very smoothly while filming.
But this lens is not for everyone of course if you are looking for top image quality or features like auto-focus than you should definitely look elsewhere.
The Jupiter 8 is undoubtedly a magnificent piece of glass! To me it is more than a great lens it is a magical item like an exotic rare wand which can be really powerful in the hands of a trained wizard. What makes it so special is the underlying optical formula at the first place which is the pre-war Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f/2 [1] developed by Ludwig Bertele in the early 1930s.
In other words, the Jupiter 8 is a post-war Soviet copy of the pre-war Zeiss Sonnar initially made for the Contax copy Kiev cameras like the Kiev 4 I have already written about. The optical formula alongside the Contax II camera was acquired after the war by the Soviet Union as well as machinery and technical personnel as part of the war compensation.
So let’s look at the formula itself!
Jupiter 8 (Zeiss Sonnar) formula
The Jupiter 8 is 6 elements in 3 groups partially glued anastigmat. The first group is a separate meniscus, the middle group consists of a meniscus, two times convex and two times concave lenses glued together and the third group is a composed of a two times convex lens and a meniscus.
The sonnar negative triplet consisted of a high-index outside and a lower-index element between. The design uses less elements than Planar, so when coating tech was primitive, the lens had much less flare due to less surfaces in design. Simpler than Planar, smaller and comparatively inexpensive. Good contrast at edges at all apertures. Exhibits some softness at wide apertures. Sharp when stopped down.[2]
Interesting fact that the name Sonnar was derived from the German word “Sonne” (Sun).
Six element Sonnar shema (Jupiter 8)
Seven element Sonnar shema (Jupiter 3)
With the addition of more lens elements, the lens speed can be further increased like the Zeiss Sonar 50mm f/1.5 or the Soviet counterpart Jupiter 3 50mm f/1.5 which contains 7 elements in contrast to the 6 elements only f/2 version I am writing about here.
Naturally, as anything can be advanced even further, the Sonnar formula can be modified to achieve aperture greater than f/1 like in the case of the Tachon. But this is really a different story and I should not get that far in this post. So let’s go back to the starting point (Jupiter 8 and Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f/2 formula).
To make you more excited (I know you are already itching because of the Sonnar formula :-)) here is a photo where I “accidentally” inserted THE mighty Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180mm f/2.8 Pentacon Six mounted lens into the frame as a comparison. This lens is not mine (Thank you László for lending it to me!) but you can expect exhaustive writings about it at some point as well
Jupiter 8 lenses vs CZJ Sonnar 180mm f/2.8
My Jupiter 8 lenses
I have got my first Jupiter 8 with my beloved Kiev 4 camera from a Hungarian auction site. I was so pleased with the results I have got from this lens that I have picked up two more instances with L39 thread mount for my screw mount rangefinders (Fed 3, Fed 5). I have got them in one package from the same auction site for a real bargain. One of these will go to a friend who will hopefully enjoy it a lot on a digital mirror-less system camera. Yes, these lenses can be great fun on MILC cameras and here is an excellent article of what can you achieve.
Jupiter 8 L39 screw mount
The Jupiter 8 was made originally for the Contax copy Kiev cameras with the matching bayonet mount, but later it was made in many different versions for L39 (Leica thread) mount rangefinders.
The advantage of the L39 screw mount version over my original Contax mount lens is the ability to focus with the lens itself. On Contax system cameras the focusing is done by a mechanism integrated into the camera body and the lens has nothing to do with it. The only thing you can do with the lens is set the aperture.
My L39 Jupiter 8 lenses (1960, 1963) are made of aluminum alloy, therefore they are very light but at the same time vulnerable too. I never drooped any lens so far, and I hope I will keep this good habit.
The aperture rings on both lenses are a bit dry and have no stops or clicks, therefore, the aperture must be set with great care. The focusing rings are nice and smooth on both lenses, which gave me the impression that these lenses were lubricated once after their production. What I do like the most is the metal lens caps though.
The overall build quality is fair but nothing outstanding, yet pretty good for Soviet lenses. By the way, Jupiter 8 is one of the most reliable FSU (Former Soviet Union) lenses in terms of quality. Most instances are focusing good and have a nice optics while Jupiter 3 instances are a real gamble.
How do they look like
Jupiter 8 L39 mount
Jupiter 8 L39 mount
Jupiter 8M Contax mount
The Jupiter 8M differs from the Jupiter 8 in only one thing! The 8M has stops/clicks while setting the apertures. This is a nice improvement indeed although some videographers might prefer the original version.
As I mentioned the Contax mount type has no focusing mechanism on the lens, therefore, it never needs lubrication and probably it was a bit cheaper to produce for the more complicated and expensive camera body.
Construction and handling
My instance (1965) is made of steel which makes it heavier than the screw mounts aluminum versions despite the simpler mechanical construction. It also feels much more solid and the click stops on the aperture ring are very welcomed additions. Overall, this version just feels and handles better for me and does suggest a higher quality because of the steel barrel.
How does it look like
Jupiter 8M Contax mount
Jupiter 8M Contax mount aperture shape at f/4
Image quality
So what is the big thing with this lens (and any other Sonnars)? Of course, the way it renders the image is the thing for me. Many claims that the contrast is a bit lower than the Tessar type lenses and Sonnars are not outstandingly sharp wide open but fast apertures can be achieved, they deliver a wonderful creamy bokeh and less resistant to flare due to the few glasses to air transitions. All this sounds like a great portrait lens especially because Sonnars are typically short and medium telephoto lenses.
Well, this is the theory, but let the samples talk.
3D-ness and character
The following image is taken by me with the lovely Kiev 4 rangefinder and it was on the very first roll I have ever shot with that camera.
First of all, I really love the 3D like the character of this image, the backgrounds fall to be blurred slowly while the model is quite sharp. I don’t remember what aperture I used but it must have been around f/4, so in theory, this effect could be even more emphasized by a wider setting. On the other hand, I like that the background is recognizable.
I have not done any serious post processing apart from crop and a tiny bit of contrast increase, so this lens/film combination is capable to produce similar images without any super scientific computerized evilness.
Note the flare effect on the top right corner of the frame! I know Sonnars must be less prone to flare but in reality, these old lenses have got a not too effective coating to compare to modern standards. Therefore the lens hood is a must if you (like me) prefers to shoot in back-light.
Flare
Flare can be a real issue but not because of the formula rather the ancient coating used for these old lenses.
This example (left) shows what could really happen when the sun shines (almost) directly into the lens. Although the sun is not in the frame (It was upper a bit) it did ruin the shoot by this ugly flare. This could have been way better by the usage of a lens-hood or by shooting from a different angle.
I know I have already written down here a couple of times but it is never enough to emphasize: Always use lens-hood for vintage lenses when possible unless you want to get more flares (which could be fun for some).
Sharpness and contrast
The next two images are supposed to stand here as examples of how nice sharp, contrasty and colorful images can you get when the conditions are appropriate and of course you don’t mess up with the exposure.
The second shoot with the chairs is done through the glass of a showcase and you can even see my reflections on it, but still, I am very satisfied with the result especially the colors which I like the most. Fuji Superia is a consumer level “cheap” film, yet what it delivers is simply lovely to my eyes.
Portraits and bokeh
The Jupiter 8 being a 50mm “standard” lens is quite versatile and can be used for many different purposes and portraiture is not an exception. It is just long enough to take nice upper torso portraits while showing some of the environment around the model thus giving a little bit of context. Also as you can see, it can produce a nicely blurred background which is essential for the separation of the model.
These portraits were taken in a restaurant in mixed light and with maximum f/2 aperture. The depth of field is certainly shallow enough and the background is pleasant in my opinion.
The next photo has been already published in my Kiev-4 post but with heavy post-processing including black&white conversion. The original version looks like this and notices the character of the bokeh at f/2.8.
All in all, I really love these lenses because of their great character, bokeh and overall image quality which together leads to a unique classic look. It is true that they are not the only and probably not the best Zeiss Sonnar type of lenses ever made but surely the Jupiter 8 is the cheapest to start with.
You can find many more advanced versions made by Zeiss, Nikon, Canon, and others. Even today you can find new Sonnar type lenses by many manufacturers and of course, you can get a new Zeiss Sonar T* 1.5/50 ZM which was reviewed by Ken Rockwell here.
These lenses are not perfect but they have a unique fingerprint on the images and it is only a matter of taste to love or hate. I am definitely will carry this or similar lenses with me all the time.
I hope I could transfer a part of my excitement related to the Jupiters, Sonnars and their siblings and you will have great moments with them too.
“Woow!” This was the first thing came into my mind when I first saw an Exakta in a cabinet in a very small and messy shop of an old camera-repairman a couple of years ago. The second thing? Well, I seriously considered to lick it quickly while the owner looked away. It never happened due to the glass door of the cabinet and I can still feel the sensation of the missed opportunity -What a pity-.
Apart from the joke, I had been seriously touched by the appearance of this family of cameras, especially the older ones. It is an entirely mechanical, full glass, bare metal, chrome and leather piece of jewelry. I am almost certain that this camera triggered the entire steam-punk culture. There is no doubt that this is one of the most beautiful classic cameras of all times.
“True” Exaktas were manufactured by Ihagee in Dresden during almost 4 decades which resulted in an amazingly complete and comprehensive camera system. While I always keen to give a bit of historical overview of a camera system, I had to realize that others have done this on a level I simply cannot match. If you were interested in the different variants and history, please visit this link. I limit myself to the most interesting facts I found out during my research and consider this post as a kind of tribute to Exakta and the company made it Ihagee.
It is interesting to know that the Exakta camera system was very stable during its evolution, almost all parts were interchangeable among models which are remarkable. There was a huge sort of accessories available for these cameras and they were heavily used for technical and scientific photography. I think this system was one of the most versatile at the time. For example, you can see below a commercial from a 1952 German magazine Die Fotografie where the camera is attached to a microscope.
Commercials from the magazine Die Fotografie 1952
Old poster in a camera shop (Budapest, Hungary)
The Exakta Varex was introduced in 1950 and the big innovation was the possibility to use the camera with the standard waist level finder or with a pentaprism. This interchangeable viewfinder system even further increased the versatility of the camera. In addition, there were a big number of available finders of both types (4 basic pentaprism types) and all of them allowed to use a huge variety of focusing screens on top of it. They claimed in their commercials, that they merged the good old experience with modern ideas. You can check out the complete list of finders and screens on this page.
One of the interesting characteristics of this camera is the left-handed shutter release which (I believe) is inherited from the times when the camera used only waist level finder. It is very awkward at first and even at the second time to handle the camera because of this using the prism for those who got socialized on right-handed cameras. I guess it was no problem initially with the waist level finder and they kept this property. In fact, it is possible to get used to it, but it requires quite a commitment.
Commercials
I have managed to dig out a couple of high-quality commercials and posters released by Ihagee, this cool half cut camera poster can be seen in a camera shop in Hungary (Soós Fotó). I have found and included in this post many more nice illustrations from books and magazines. It shows that the Exakta was really among the most prestigious SLRs at the time. It was literally the ultimate way to go for every possible purpose from photojournalism to science and technical applications where larger formats could not be convenient to use.
Commercials from the magazine Die Fotografie 1952
My Exakta
My Exakta is a subtype of the very long lasting and successful Varex IIa. This version was released in 1960 and the distinguishing feature is the logo which is not pressed into the metal anymore and the shape of the prism is slightly different than earlier models.
Varex IIa datasheet
Produced 1957-1963 this version was introduced1960
Film type 135 (35mm)
Lens mount Exakta mount (inner and outer bayonet)
Shutter cloth curtain (traveling horizontally)
Shutter speeds 12s – 1/1000, B
Sync speed 1/50
Viewfinder interchangeable waist level or prism
Exposure meter none
Self-timer
PC sync connections
Internal film cutting blade
This particular camera was sold in Antwerp, Belgium in 1961 and according to the catalog I have, the list price was 13.185 francs with the prism and Tessar standard lens. The second lens (Trioplan 100mm) had the price of 4.205 francs. I am trying to find out what could that mean at that time, but one thing is sure in Hungary this combo would have cost a complete year salary of a regular person in the 60s. In comparison for a Russian Zenit SLR, some had to work like hell for 2-3 months while consuming solar energy only for survival in Hungary those times.
The camera actually belongs to my Friend David who was kind enough to give it to me for use as he did with the Yashica TL-SUPER camera I reviewed. He received it from the original owner from Belgium, so I can actually track back the history of this camera until the beginning. Thank you again, David!
The camera came in the every-ready case, with 2 wonderful lenses. a high-quality B+W filer, a nice rare Carl Zeiss Jena polar filter, a Sunpak flash unit and all sort of documentation including warranty, and catalogs.
The overall condition of the camera is very good, although the Tessar lens was really stiff, it was very hard to focus on. In the opinion of my repair-man, it could have been stored in a cold place for a while. I have got the lens cleaned and lubricated and now it is as good as new. Again, the arts of lubrication was successfully applied, plus apertures and glass elements got some attention and cleaning. Important to note that the focusing ring is covered with some kind of plastic which became rigid over the years, and it is advised to take care of it as it is very fragile and can be broken for any little hit. If it breaks it needs to be replaced by leather with a similar texture which is a hideous task to do.
Shutter
The shutter was advanced when I first got it in hand, so the springs were tensed probably for many years ago and as it turned out the high shutter speeds are not really usable now. 1/500 and 1/1000 while they sound good the movement of the curtains are not even. As a result, some parts of the frame came out less exposed than others. It could be fixed by the master of the lubricants, but it would definitely cost a load of money. I decided to wait and until it gets fixed I started not to use these speeds. It seems everything works fine up to 1/250s and I have managed to carry out my second roll without any problem.
Mirror
The silvering of the mirror is damaged badly around the edges and it has a negative effect on the clearness of the viewfinder. There is no way to fix the mirror because the silver just melted down. The only solution is the complete replacement, but as I use this camera casually only I decided to keep it as it is for a while.
The way it looks
Exakta Varex IIa
Exakta Varex IIa top
Exakta Varex IIa back
Exakta Varex IIa bottom
Exakta Varex IIa back opened
Exakta Varex IIa Lego
Personal experience
As you have already figured out I like this camera the most because of its appearance. I think it really does look gorgeous even though I prefer more the versions with the engraved or embossed logo on the front plate. Despite this not too serious concern, I feel like holding something really special when I choose this for a walk. For me it is an outstanding experience to carry such a nice piece of history and heritage while I can be almost certain that the camera hanging on my neck is so unique I will probably not meet with anything even close to it. It has its charm and style to not to deny apart from what kind of photos came out at the end. Of course, the shoots are great too, nothing to complain about. What I want to say is that it is so elegant I might walk with it even if it was a bad camera (which is not!).
Exakta on my shoulder
Varex IIa in action
Ergonomics
Well, we have reached the point where I must stop extol this camera because the ergonomics is at least awkward.
The left-handed shutter release is really hard to get used to it. The shape of the body is nothing but convenient. It is in fact quite bulky. The reason is probably practical though, this shape helps to keep the film more in place and flat according to some opinion and I eventually accept it.
Rewinding the film
To change the shutter speed, you have to pull out the dial and it is the normal procedure in this era, but not really convenient. To set longer exposures (1/5-12s) you have to operate two dials by setting the main dial to T mode and setting the second for the speed. The film advance lever has an extremely long stroke and the mirror does not return after release. The film transferred from one spool to another in the opposite way as it is usual as the system is left-handed, and to rewind the film you have to pull and turn a couple of things at the same time. Overall many things are a little bit complicated.
All in all this camera is the hardest to use among those I have ever tried. It is at least challenging and not as straightforward as switching your bicycle. But I think it is worth to fight and it is possible to realize that focusing on your left hand is only a habit, not a testament. After you have learned all the tricks it could be as easy to use as any other camera, but for me, it takes some time.
Proper ways to hold the camera while using the waist level finder. The image is from the original handbook of the camera
This is how to hold the camera while using the pentaprism.
Focusing
Split screen focusing (Die Fotografie magazin 1952)
I have only a pentaprism with split screen focusing glass. It is dark for modern standards, although it could be also because my lenses are not exactly that fast (f/2.8) and the mirror is damaged around the edges. I suppose with a faster lens like a f/1.5 Zeiss Biotar and with a new mirror, it would be bright enough.
The split screen works as intended, but it takes a too big part of the screen (in my opinion) and I often use the matte parts around the central circle to focus instead.
I would love to try the waist level finder also because I prefer that on my Pentacon Six over the prism because of the extra lightness and the presence of a magnifying glass for pin accurate focusing. I don’t shoot much action with these anyway, I have time to focus precisely.
Ground glass vs pentaprism (Dr. Sevcsik Jenő, Fényképezés 1960 book)
Funny feature
There is a feature of this camera which had been hardly used by most and made me think quite a bit until I have found out what it is for. Interestingly enough you can actually cut the film inside the camera with a razor sharp hook-shaped blade. This way you can change film in the middle of the roll without the need for rewinding and calculating the position of the last exposed frame.
The blade is marked with the number 38. The image is from the original handbook of the camera.
Operation of the film cutting rod.
This blade can be seen on above on my photo where the back is open and for reference point please look the point 38 on the draft above. The operation is simple you have to screw out a lock at the bottom of the camera than you have to pull the rod and the blade cuts the film. I have never seen this before and while I am sure I will never use it, still it is a neat little feature. The engineers of Ihagee thought of everything.
Lenses and test shoots
Ihagee didn’t manufacture lenses by itself, but many brands made glass for the Exakta mount.
A very cool page to visit according to these lenses, in general, can be found here, and in detail with illustrations here.
I have got the camera with two lenses: a standard 50mm Tessar and a 100mm Trioplan. The Tessar had to get cleaned and lubricated, but the other lens is in a really nice shape.
Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/2.8
There is no Tessar written on the lens nor Carl Zeiss only Jena and a big “T” letter. The reason is that the East German Carl Zeiss Jena was not allowed to use it’s brand name nor the name of the lenses outside of the eastern block because the West German company owned the brand names. Nevertheless, this is a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar lens and it performs as it should.
The Tessar is a classical construction or base type which consists of 4 elements 2 of them cemented together. These are considered very sharp and having a “hard” character (whatever it means). Because of the good performance, good enough speed and cheap production costs this lens type was very popular and have several siblings such as Elmar, Industar, Primotar, Skopar, Xenar, Ymmar, Ysaron, Belar etc. Apart from the direct relatives, there are many more modifications led to new lens families.
I am going to write a deeper article about this lens as soon as I can get an EOS to Exakta adapter.
This is a triplet structure anastigmat containing obviously 3 elements. Although the structure is very simple it allows a relatively fast aperture and also it has the advantage of having no risk to get glued elements separated as there are none of them.
Some of the brothers are Anticomar, Cassar, Novar, Meritar, Radionar, Trinar, Triotar, Voigtar, Eurygon.
The triplet construction does not produce sharp images on large apertures due to the issues with the rays coming from sideways. This problem can be fixed on a level by stopping down. As you can see on the test photos the lens is indeed very soft wide open and it adds some kind of glow to the objects. It could even be beneficial for portraits by delivering a dream-like effect which hides most of the skin imperfectness of the model.
This lens is famous for its bokeh, which contains unusual and for most pleasing circles when shooting wide open. Unfortunately, I have no example taken by me so far, but you can see one here.
Again, I will do a deeper review of this lens as soon as I get an adapter to Canon and have some time to do more research.
The Pancolar 80mm f/1.8 is a late development of Carl Zeiss Jena which was at that time the East German part of the original company torn into pieces by the WW II. Therefore this lens was accessible in the eastern block mainly and even though now it can be found all around Europe, this is a very rare lens in other continents.
The lens has a high reputation as a sharp, fast portrait lens and it is quite expensive among other lenses of the same era. It has an M42 mount and was produced in both automatic and electronic forms. It was later remounted as the B-mount Carl Zeiss Jena Prakticar 1.8/80. (source Praktica-users.com)
Datasheet and optical formula
Pancolar lens schema
Construction:6 elements, 5 groups
Angular field: 30.4°
Minimum focusing distance: 0.8m
Diaphragm action: fully automatic
Coating: Multi-coated
Minimum aperture: f/22
Maximum aperture: f/1.8
No. aperture blades: 6
Filter size: 58mm screw-in type
Push-on diameter: 60mm
Weight: 310g
Barrel length: 64mm
This lens is a typical example of the legendary classic double Gauss lens formula also known as Planar.
The Double Gauss was likely the most intensively studied lens formula of the twentieth century, producing dozens of major variants, scores of minor variants, hundreds of marketed lenses and tens of millions of unit sales. It had almost no flaws, except for a bit of oblique spherical aberration, which could lower peripheral contrast. Double Gauss/Planar tweaks were the standard wide aperture, normal and near normal prime lens for sixty years.
The double Gauss lens consists of two back-to-back Gauss lenses (a design with a positive meniscus lens on the object side and a negative meniscus lens on the image side) making two positive meniscus lenses on the outside with two negative meniscus lenses inside them. The symmetry of the system and the splitting of the optical power into many elements reduces the optical aberrations within the system. (source: Wikipedia)
My Pancolar
I have got mine from the girlfriend of my father with the original case. She never used it, it was basically on the shelf without a camera since ages.
Probably she didn’t know what was the value of this lens, so I didn’t know neither. As it turned out it is an expensive lens among the usually very cheap M42 mount lenses. The market price is very similar to a new Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, which is why I am often thinking about selling it. So far, I decided to keep it, because of the nice performance, character and because I can use it on many crazy cameras of mine.
The front cap was missing and the aperture blades were stuck, otherwise, as you can see in the photos below, the lens was in a really good shape. The glass was clean, no dust, no scratches, no fungus and it was obviously not used too much. I have substituted the missing front cap with a Canon cap of the standard 18-55mm kit lens. I tried to use other Ø 58mm caps, but this was the only one which was not tending to touch the front lens element.
The way it looks
Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 80mm f/1.8 hard-case
Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 80mm f/1.8
Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 80mm f/1.8
Carl Zeiss Pancolar Jena 80mm f/1.8
Personal experience
This is one of my favorite lenses. The images are always very sharp and have a good contrast with it. I can say that there are very little signs of any aberrations or distortions over the frame. I have not tested the lens scientifically yet so I cannot compare the performance in numbers with other lenses. But real word experience is quite pleasant for me.
100% crop of a challenging image (high contrasts) at f/2.8, very little chromatic aberration can be seen
At wide open, sharpness and contrast are a bit lower than stopped down by one-two stops, but still quite nice and I think this is very common with almost all fast prime lenses. Besides a slightly softer result can be beneficial for some portraits where little details of the skin can be smother and this way the model could look more perfect. The 80mm Pancolar is really not much softer wide open though. Colors are also rich and lovely and somehow different from my other lenses when using on the same digital body.
Dept of field & Bokeh
Only the right eye is sharp of this cat
I like this short telephoto lens because this focal distance allows me to take nice shoulder portraits while I am still close enough to the model to interact with.
Also, this lens has the ability to blur the background (like hell) very much because of the large maximum aperture. In fact, the depth of field can be so shallow that sometimes you get only a few centimeters of it and it has a risk that you miss the focus. A good example when only one eye of the model is in focus.
Speaking about bokeh (quality of out of focus elements), this lens produces a lot and the quality is superb, creamy. I know it is subjective to judge this property, so please have a look at the sample shots and decide yourself. The only caveat with it is the fact that the lens has only 6 aperture-blades. It could produce a not circular (multigonal) spots of highlights in the blurred background. It is a subjective thing again to like it or not, personally I prefer the perfect circles. This is not a problem when shooting wide open as the aperture is round at that case.
Build quality
Pancolar lens barrel extension
The Pancolar is a very well made lens which has a full metal + real glass construction. It looks absolutely beautiful, feels solid and has a good weight to it. The aperture ring clicks at every half stops and operates very smoothly and precisely. The focus could be the same if I had got the right grease into it. -I will get it fixed soon. – The lens barbell extends a few milometers while focusing, but not seriously and the front element does not rotate -> there is no problem with polarizing filters to use.
There is a switch on the lens to set automatic or manual mode. When set to automatic the aperture stops down only when you press the shutter button and then it returns to full size when mounted on a compatible camera. In the case of manual mode, you must pre-set the aperture manually. This could be a nice feature too for videographers.
Conclusion
I have found a short summary on a nice website (Prime35.com) which is a perfect quote to close this post.
CZJ Pancolar MC 80/1.8
I’d say this is the best choice for versatile and sharp M42 80mm lens. It’s contrasty, it has the best wide-opened performance of all f/1.5-f/2 M42 portrait lenses. Center is close to Biotar, but borders are much sharper. Great colours (MC) + great bokeh. It also isn’t as risky as the early post-war lenses, because its coating is much harder, so cleaning marks are not an issue. For me it’s the best post-war Jena lens. (source: Prime35.com)
camerajunky 
