ZEISS 524/16 MESS IKONTA

[marshm-3]

I have this model with a ZEISS OPTON-TESSAR. I have checked many auction sites and have found very few and fewer with this lens. Does anyone know production numbers and if it is a rare model?

 

[IanG]

After WWII Carl Zeiss Jena had issues getting specialist glass, there were quality issues with some of their lenses, Rolleiflex cameras had issues with the lenses, Zeiss Ikon in West Germany initiallytested and selected the best Jena Tessar lenses and marked them as Opton Tessar, then began making themselves. They didn't use the Opton name for very long. I have a Rolleiflex Automat with a Zeiss-Opton Tessar.

Ian

 

[marshm-3]

After WWII Carl Zeiss Jena had issues getting specialist glass, there were quality issues with some of their lenses, Rolleiflex cameras had issues with the lenses, Zeiss Ikon in West Germany initiallytested and selected the best Jena Tessar lenses and marked them as Opton Tessar, then began making themselves. They didn't use the Opton name for very long. I have a Rolleiflex Automat with a Zeiss-Opton Tessar.

Ian

Thank you. I had not known the history of OPTON TESSARS. I also have an AUTOMAT with TESSAR red t. Is it the same formula as the OPTON TESSAR? I also have an IKOFLEX and SUPER IKONTA 532/16 with OPTON TESSARS.

 

[IanG]

The red T was used by Carl Zeiss Jena from about 1938 until the mid 1950s, to denote the lens was coated, I have seen a T coated 1938 150mm f4.5 Tessar, but only a few pre-WWII lenses were coated. By the mid 1950s all but very cheap budget lenses were coated and companies stopped using their coating symbols, Schneider used a red triangle.

The Tessar design parameters has evolved over the years as newer optical glasses became available, so while they all use the same basic design formula newer glasses allow better optimisation.

Ian

 

[marshm-3]

The red T was used by Carl Zeiss Jena from about 1938 until the mid 1950s, to denote the lens was coated, I have seen a T coated 1938 150mm f4.5 Tessar, but only a few pre-WWII lenses were coated. By the mid 1950s all but very cheap budget lenses were coated and companies stopped using their coating symbols, Schneider used a red triangle.

The Tessar design parameters has evolved over the years as newer optical glasses became available, so while they all use the same basic design formula newer glasses allow better optimisation.

Ian

 

[marshm-3]

IAN, thank you again, I like to receive information and you have been very helpful, TONY