Zeiss Jena 2.8/65mm flektogon sharpness

I am adapting Zeiss Jena lenses for use on my Hasselblad 201F and am wondering if anyone can speak to the

sharpness of the Carl Zeiss Jena 2.8/65mm Flektogon lens. I know this lens was discontinued many years ago and

wonder if it was due to bad performance. Any advise would appreciated.

Thank you.

There's some information here:

 

http://www.pentaconsix.com/wideangle2.htm

 

I don't have a 65 mm Flektogon, so I can't comment other than to say that my 50 mm Flektogon is excellent. Of course, I don't know that you can draw any inferences from that.

Kelly,

 

I would recommend that you search out a Hasselblad 60mm CF lens. Buying the Hasselblad lens would save you some money that would had otherwise went the way of the lens adaption and also the cost of the lens itself. I have the 65mm Flektogon for my Exakta 66 and I still find that the Scneider 60mm Curtagon is the best of the 60-65mm focal length of the Kiev 60/Pentacon 6 mount lens. It is on par with my Hasselblad 60mm CF. You can also use the CF lenses on the 501CM and 503CW, latest version in the 500 series.

 

Save your money and search for the Hasselblad 60m CF and buy into a Pentacon 6 or Kiev 60 if you plan to use your other Zeiss Jena lenses. The 50mm Flektogon, 80mm BIometar, and 180mm Sonnar are SHARP. If you don't mind me asking, are you located in the USA and whom is doing the lens adaption for you?

It is not possible to adapt the Flektogon 65 mm to the Hasselblad. It goes too deep into the camera body and interferes with the mirror. I had the same plan and bought and CLA'd a 65 mm Flektogon but had to abandon the plan. A lens that can be converted is the 60 mm Schneider lens made for the Exakta 66.

 

Ulrik

Thanks All for your helpful responses to my question. Evan, I am in New York City and have been doing these modifications myself. I have mounted a Zeiss Jena 2.8/180 Sonnar and a 2.8/120 Biometar so far. These are manual diaphragm adaptations for the 201F. I shoot these wide open generally and it is the speed and low DOF that I am interested in. Again, thanks for your responses.

Kelly,

 

Interestig that you live in NYC and do the modification yourself. Do you have access to a lathe for the machining? I have several lenses mentioned by Ulrik that I bought used modification. The Zeiss Jena 180mm Sonnar and 120mm Biometar. The 180mm is superbly sharp and I use the aperature manually for my photography.

 

I had seem and handle the 50mm and 65mm Flektogon lenses that was modified for Hasselblad. Yes, it was mentioned that it was impossible to do, but these lenses I handled was modified (machining the rear portion to allow the inside fit) and the lenses do work correctly.Too bad I couldn't get the machinist's name who did this work, as it was nice.

 

As Ulrik mentioned, the Schneider 60mm Curtagon for the Exakta 66 is a far better lens then the Zeiss Jena 65mm and other Russian/Ukrainian lenses within the 60 to 65mm focal length. Unfortunately this lens tend to be quite scarce and no longer available as it once was.

 

If you want a nice lens to adapt for your Hasselblad 201F, try the Arsat 55mm PCS. You would get a sharp lens that was originally designed as a trur PCS lens. Its similar to the excellent Mamiya 645 55m shift PCS. PM me and I will sent you some jpegs of some adapted lenses I use on my 2000FCM and 201F.

There appears to be a bit variation between the different camera models. The mirror of my 2000 FC would have hit the rear lens element of a 65 mm Flektogon. And it did hit the rear element of a converted 50 mm Flektogon when the lens was set on infinity. I guess it is trial and error. Getting a 60 mm Distagon may be the better solution. I have now the 5,6/60 mm, 4,0/60 mm and 3,5/60 mm Zeiss Distagon lenses for Hasselblad.

 

Ulrik

Evan, Ulrik,

I have an excellent distagon 2.8/50 FE lens for the 201F but I like to play around with mounting various lenses on the hassy for fun. I don't

want any lens that's slower than f2.8 and just thought I'd check in this forum before buying a flektogon I might not end up using. It seems

so hit or miss with lenses. My Zeiss Jena 2.8/180 lens from 1964 is shockingly sharp and my Carl Zeiss 2/110 F lens is a piece of crap. I

wouldn't have guessed that. Anyway, thanks for your responses.