[Jean Poitiers]

Bonjour,

My second lens question of the day ... Here goes.

I was about to buy an "excellent" condition CZJ 135/3.5 from a used dealer, but I luckily happened upon a "Zebra" version of a CZJ Sonnar 135/3.5 at the Montamisé photo swap meet ... got it for peanuts.

I am not very familiar (yet) with these lenses. The used dealer CZJ seems to be a newer model/version, thus my question is two-fold: (1.) are these 2 lenses the "same" (optics, performance, etc.) and (2.) if they are different, which one is better ?

My copy is good, but I had to do a slight repair the aperture lever plus I removed the auto pin for "safety" issues on the K-5 ... it also has some very minor fungus on the rear element and I may attack this issue later ... plus the front element could use a clean, too.

As the French say, "Merci d'avance" ... Thanks for any help and/or guidance!

Salut, John le Frog



My CZJ Sonnar "Zebra" (above)

The other CZJ 135/3.5 is below ...

Attached Images

 

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Last edited by Jean Poitiers; 05-10-2012 at 08:12 AM.

[jamesk8752]

I can't speak to this particular lens, but I have several other CZJ "Zebra" lenses which perform very well. I suspect that the newer versions may have better coatings but are otherwise the same optical designs.

Regards, Jim

[stevebrot]

I removed the auto pin for "safety" issues on the K-5

???? Safety issues? The auto pin should be perfectly safe on your K-5.

Beyond that, congratulations on the Zebra CZJ 135/3.5. I don't own any, but have always been fond of the appearance of the zebra lenses.



Steve


BTW...take care with the fungus. What is capable of living on the glass on one lens is quite capable of living on the glass of another. Treat your new lens as if is contagious until you are sure you have eradicated the fungus!

[Jean Poitiers]

I can't speak to this particular lens, but I have several other CZJ "Zebra" lenses which perform very well. I suspect that the newer versions may have better coatings but are otherwise the same optical designs.

Regards, Jim

Bonjour Jim,

Thanks for your input ... this lens does quite well, and I think that I'm going to get the latter version as well... "just to compare" will be my justification.

Salut, John

[Jean Poitiers]

???? Safety issues? The auto pin should be perfectly safe on your K-5.

Beyond that, congratulations on the Zebra CZJ 135/3.5. I don't own any, but have always been fond of the appearance of the zebra lenses. Steve

BTW...take care with the fungus. What is capable of living on the glass on one lens is quite capable of living on the glass of another. Treat your new lens as if is contagious until you are sure you have eradicated the fungus!

Bonjour Steve,

Merci encore, and I have cleaned, repaired and re-lubed the CZJ ... works great now, but it took two interventions. Thanks for reminding me about the fungi dangers, because in my haste I threw it in the same storage area as my other collected lenses. Now clean, there's no problem.

And about the auto pin, "yes", you are right and I wrote poorly ... I removed it because it was bent/damaged and the lens had been "opened" my someone previously ... so I just left it out after trying to straighten it upon my first superficial intervention. It possibly was a shock and/or light fall that hit something here. Anyway the pin is in a baggie in case I want to use the lens on an appropriate film SLR.

Salut ... and the zebras do look kind of retro cool on the K-5 - A+, John le Frog