carl zeiss jena ddr lense

TwiztidBlood · Jun 15, 2006

how do you focus on a carl zwiss jena drr lense, tessar 2.8/50, i recently got it and ive never used that kind of lense before, i have the model number as well, if anyone could walk me through it, and pics i have of it as well

DocFrankenstein · Jun 15, 2006

you rotate the barrel... just like with any other lens.

What's the problem with focusing? What are you using usually?

TwiztidBlood · Jun 16, 2006

well the focus is measured in meters, and im guessing the exposure is the 22, 16, 11, 8, 5.6, 4, 2.8. so i tried experimenting on it, and just glided the lense adjustments around until through the lense it looks the right colours and in focus. but i got some film developed and alot are out of focus

Don Simon · Jun 16, 2006

Those numbers are aperture numbers, the aperture is only one part of controlling exposure. Focus and exposure are completely different things. What kind of camera are you using?

TwiztidBlood · Jun 17, 2006

an 80's praktica mtl5, ive never really used film cameras for photography, ive always liked digitals, but im really getting into film, and would like to know what the hell im doing with my lenses

Don Simon · Jun 17, 2006

I suspect your problem is not that the photos are out of focus, but rather that they're not correctly exposed; as you say you're not sure how to use a film camera. I think the best thing to do is to post in the Beginners' Place to ask for an explanation of how to use a manual film SLR, including the basics of exposure and metering. That's what you need to know to use the camera properly. That will help you more than asking specifically about your camera or lens, since they work pretty much exactly the same as a Nikon, Canon, Pentax; any film SLR. So anyway the "Beginner's Place" is probably the best place to start; someone there will be able to start explaining it or provide a link to another site (there are plenty of great tutorials on the web, but at the moment I can't remember where).

Here's something to get you started though; the manual for your camera...

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/praktica_mtl_5/praktica_mtl_5.htm

That explains what the various buttons, dials etc do. However that won't really help until you know what effect each has, particularly the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and film speed.