A Sonnet for my Sonnar

Several months back I bought a Zeiss 180/2.8 Sonnar in Y/C mount to use on my EOS SLRs and my M5. The lens is a bit on the chunky side and doesn’t have internal focus like its contemporary competitors, Nikon and Canon did. But it does have the magic, mystery, and quality of Carl Zeiss and that is nothing to scoff at.

You can find these Zeiss 180s for $300ish and they are well worth the cash. If you are patient you might find one online or at PhotoFair even less than that. I have heard of them selling under $200 every now and then. I think it is a fabulous lens. It is well made, and razor-sharp. I have heard some reports that suggest the Leica Elmarit 180/2.8 is better. That may be true, but you will not find one of those under $300 unless it is awful ugly. At the street price of $500 the Leica 180 is priced close enough to used Nikon AF and Canon AF models to make it unwarranted. The Zeiss gives legendary quality at a low price and who doesn’t want a little of that?

I used the lens on my 5D Mk III with wonderful results and had fun on my M5 using a focal reducer to yield a 130mm f/2. If you can get past the hefty weight and smooth but heavy focus, this lens is a gem. Some may find the 180mm focal length a bit out of sorts. But it isn’t really at all. It is close enough to 200mm to effectively work the same shot as a 200/2.8 Canon but offers a little more room to work for long portraits and tight head shots with an ultra shallow depth of field. I do wish the close focus was a bit tighter as 4.5 feet (1.4m) is just not enough sometimes.

The lens has excellent contrast, wonderful sharpness and again, that build quality is top shelf. These 1980s vintage Contax Zeiss lenses are not only extremely competent lenses, but for the most part, they are truly affordable. The mount is easily adaptable to Canon EOS cameras and of course will work fine adapted for any mirrorless body. The 85/1.4 is a notable exception as those still fetch King Midas prices, but most of the other Contax Zeiss SLR lenses from the 80s are reasonable.

It should be noted that Carl Zeiss is making many of those old Contax lenses in mounts for modern DSLR cameras like Nikon and Canon. The lenses are manual focus but offer a chip that gives focus confirmation and some electronic information in an EXIF file. Although that is awesome, those lenses are a lot more money than the older 1980s models in Contax/Yashinca mount.

I have owned a great many lenses from Carl Zeiss. Vintage, Modern, Classic, 35mm, Medium Format, Large Format the whole nine yards. In fact it is safe to say that other than Canon lenses, I have owned more Zeiss lenses than any other brand. I suppose that makes me a bit of a biased fanboy. Geez, I have four Zeiss lenses right now! What is it about Zeiss? Leica is legendary for lenses but more so for cameras. Leitz invented the 35mm still camera for heaven’s sake. But Zeiss was making lenses when Ernst Senior was still wetting his pants! Zeiss was founded in 1846. That is some serious experience right there friends.

Zeiss versus Leica aside, this 180mm lens performs well and can be found for affordable prices. If you are shooting a Canon and can afford to get an EF 200/2.8L or Nikon and can swing the coin for the AF 180/2.8 ED Nikkor those are both as good optically and offer internal focusing, auto focus and full compatibilty with your camera. There is no substitute for that. But if you are like me, and really enjoy a more nostalgic experience with a heavy build quality, manual focus and knowing that you are shooting a piece of glass that in its day was the crème de la crème of photography, then toss a few hundred in the basket and pick one of these up.

So along with this little review I’ll write a sonnet for my Sonnar.

I found you online at a bargain sale
You lovely machine of metal and glass
At thirty five you remain fresh not stale
Still you radiate quality and class,

I could sing to the world how sharp you are
I shall not for my voice is much too horse
The glass from Schott is such a shining star
Lenses for film and digital of course

From Germany you came to me from Zeiss
And some may think you are well past your prime
To me you are so much more than the price
To hell with them I’d buy you every time

This sonnet for my Sonnar is so nice
But this is line fourteen the final rhyme.

Clearly my poetry lacks, I did not follow the problem-resolution-solution method, Giacomo da Lentini may be rolling over in his grave.

All I can say is this:  “Life is short, Zeiss lenses are sharp, and being silly now again is good for the soul.”

I think Signore da Lentini will forgive me, English professors may not however 😉 Addio.