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clnfrd · Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2003 9:43 pm Post subject:

I've heard of Carl Zeiss lenses since I was a kid...and was always of the opinion, based on what I was told, that Carl Zeiss Tessars are exceptional lenses. I've also noticed for some time that many of the lenses are Carl Zeiss JENA Tessars. Does JENA have any significance regarding the quality of the lens...or otherwise? Thanks. Fred.

Nick · Joined: 16 Oct 2002 Posts: 494

If it's an older lens then it's a real Zeiss. Jena I think is the town the Zeiss factory is in. Or more correctly the orginal Zeiss factory. If it's an after the war lens then I think the Jena would be an east german lens.

There is a website out there with a chart comparing dates to serial numbers for Zeiss pre-war stuff. I've got a 1939 APO tessar. It's nice but I doubt it's anything really special.

clnfrd · Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2003 11:33 pm Post subject:

Nick, Thanks. I was doing research on Google and found the answer this time. Had tried before. I found that Jena, Germany, is in what was known as East Germany after the war...the location of a Zeiss Factory since 1846. So, the Jena lenses were mfd there, as you pointed out. After WWII, the company was broken up and another factory was built in West Germany, in Oberkochen, since East Germany was occupied by the commies.
Fred.

[ This Message was edited by: clnfrd on 2003-10-14 16:39 ]

Les · Joined: 09 May 2001 Posts: 2682 Location: Detroit, MI

Like today, Zeiss lenses were more expensive and usually performed better than their rivals. I can't say for certain that they made better lenses, but they had better quality control, to keep their image up.

I would expect a Zeiss Tessar to out perform, say a Kodak anastigmat (a Tessar made by B&L for Kodak) from the same time, but would a pre war Tessar outperform a T* Tessar from the mid 1980s? doubt ful even if the coated tessar had been banged around a bit.

clnfrd · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2003 1:57 am Post subject:

AND, the "Zeiss Tessar" on my Auto Graflex, Jr., was made by Bausch and Lomb.

andesm · Joined: 12 Oct 2004 Posts: 4 Location: california

If you email to Carl Zeiss and give them the serial number they will give you the exact date of manufacture of the lens.

I have a 13.5 cm Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar manufactured in 1938. Jena is the city it was made in and where the factory used to exist.

_________________
Mark Andes

shootist · Joined: 05 Nov 2002 Posts: 14 Location: Pocono Mts. PA

Fred,
Please read private message. Thanks.
TONY

glennfromwy · Joined: 29 Nov 2001 Posts: 903 Location: S.W. Wyoming

Bausch & Lomb made Tessars under license from Zeiss. Though I don't remeber the details, they were quite good lenses. An interesting piece of history, if you can find the details, is the mad scramble for the Jena plant and it's contents when the war ended. The Soviets got part and the US and Britain got the rest. Just who got the machinery and who got the scientific data is the part I can't recall. Though the former Soviets continued to make lenses marked Zeiss Jena, the quality control went to hell. Usually high quality glass but the mountings (barrels, iris, etc.) were usually really bad.

_________________
Glenn

"Wyoming - Where everybody is somebody else's weirdo"

Les · Joined: 09 May 2001 Posts: 2682 Location: Detroit, MI

In the pre war days, Zeiss licensed their lenses to other companies, Bausch & Lomb, Kraus and some others.

Since these were the first tier licenseees they could use the Zeiss name for the lens...Thus the B&L Zeiss Protar, or BLZ Tessar.

B&L could make Tessars for other companies, but could not use the Trademarked name for these. Thus the Kodak Anastigmat.

Nick · Joined: 16 Oct 2002 Posts: 494

But that was before WW1. Zeiss lost all right in the US during the war and B&L stopped using the Zeiss name. When was the Kodak lens made? If it was after WW1 then B&L had stopped paying Zeiss already.

I think Agfa had all it's assets seized to. Then the same thing happened during WW2. With Agfa-Ansco being taken over.

danimal · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 3:32 pm Post subject:

Hi List,
here's the serail number web page for pre-war Zeiss lenses. "Tessar" means a couple of things: 1) Tessar is a brand name owned by Zeiss. 2) Tessar is an optical formula. Many "Tessar" lenses are #2, which is to say that they're not "Tessar Brand" but "Tessar Formula". Lenses like the Kodak Anastigmat and Yashica Yashinon are Tessar-type lenses even though they're not Tessar brand.

Dan
.

http://www.craigcamera.com/zeisslen.htm

Les · Joined: 09 May 2001 Posts: 2682 Location: Detroit, MI

glennfromwy · Joined: 29 Nov 2001 Posts: 903 Location: S.W. Wyoming

It seems that when the Ektar line came out, the Anastigmat just kind of took a back seat for a short time before disappearing. Some post war cameras had the Anastigmat Special, which was a coated Tessar. Not all early Ektars were coated. I have a couple that are not. I think the only difference between the Anastigmat and the Tessar formula Ektars is a more refined glass. The Ektar name also came to include more optical formulas and weren't all Tessars. Then, they started coming out with things like Anastons and such, trying to keep their share "consumer" trade as competition grew.

_________________
Glenn

"Wyoming - Where everybody is somebody else's weirdo"

danimal · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 8:58 pm Post subject:

Hi,

not all Ektars are Tessars, although most of them are. If my memory serves me, the 105mm/f3.5 Ektar was a Heliar and the 203mm/f7.7 was something like a Gauss.

Now, if you wend down to the camera shop and bought one of the first Hasselblads, chances are the camera would have had an Ektar mounted to it.

Dan

Dan Fromm · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 2144 Location: New Jersey