Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Beginner's Questions => Topic started by: haring on December 20, 2017, 01:58:54 pm
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Is it possible to mount a Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 1.4/50mm lens on a Canon or Nikon DSLR? If yes, which adapter do you recommend?
Thanks!
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I doubt it. I've seen 'em converted for Leica M but never for an SLR. The register (distance from lens mount to image plane) needed is probably too short for any camera with a "flipping mirror."
-Dave-
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Take a look at this: link (http://forum.mflenses.com/viewtopic.php?t=61150&view=next)
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Mike, the particular Biotar in question is a cine lens, made for the 16mm format though apparently 35mm-compatible too. I've seen 'em on eBay, sometimes converted to M mount. I have one of the Zeiss 58/2 Biotars in M42 screwmount and a friend has a 75/1.5. These are both SLR lenses and can be adapted to various modern cameras.
-Dave-
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Dave, thanks for the clarification. I simply threw the description into google and was presented with images of the site to which I posted.
I've always been amazed at the number of lens versions Zeiss (of East and West Germany) produced back in the day.
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Yep, lotsa lenses and sometimes confusing terminology too. A Biotar is a slightly asymmetrical variant of the original Planar (Double Gauss) design. Post-WWII West German Zeiss (Stuttgart) dropped the term and just used Planar in a more general sense. But East German Zeiss (Jena) kept on using Biotar. You'll see Flektogon lenses from Zeiss Jena too. W. German Zeiss used the term Distagon instead. Both specify a retrofocal wide angle design.
-Dave-
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Mike, the particular Biotar in question is a cine lens, made for the 16mm format though apparently 35mm-compatible too. I've seen 'em on eBay, sometimes converted to M mount. I have one of the Zeiss 58/2 Biotars in M42 screwmount and a friend has a 75/1.5. These are both SLR lenses and can be adapted to various modern cameras.
-Dave-
Did you see them on Canon or Nikon SLRs?
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Did you see them on Canon or Nikon SLRs?
Back in 2005 I used my 58mm Biotar on a Canon 20D with an aftermarket split-image focusing screen. Worked real well. M42 lenses can't focus to infinity on a Nikon SLR, though…the Nikon's register is too long.
-Dave-