aus Jena DDR T 50mm f2.8 Lens

 

I always check FB Marketplace for film cameras. It is ridiculous how much people want for vintage film cameras these days. When I saw a Praktica Super TL 1000 with a 50mm lens the other week, going for an excellent price, I knew I had to look at it.

The camera appeared in great condition, nice and clean, no scratches, the leatherette was perfect. There is something to be said for those ungainly leather camera cases that were used years ago! Unfortunately, when I put the camera through its paces, the film winder was not catching; it would not be able to wind the film on and I didn't want to attempt to fix it myself.

The lens was an M42 Screw Mount and I realised that it would fit on cameras that I already own (namely a Praktica LTL3 and Ricoh Singlex TLS) so, I made an offer on the lens only and the seller accepted.

This is an aus Jena DDR T 50mm f2.8 lens. The 'T' marking stands for 'Tessar', a four element in 3 groups optical design known for its sharpness and earning it the nickname 'Eagle Eye'. The Aperture range is from f2.8 to f22 with 5 aperture blades producing a Pentagonal Bokeh when stepped down. The minimum focus distance is about 0.35m and has a filter size of 49mm. Based on the Serial Number, 10735516, the Lens was manufactured by Carl Zeiss Jena in East Germany between 1975-1980.

I was intrigued about the naming of this lens because I am used to seeing the name Carl Zeiss in front of the word Jena. There is a story to the name of this lens (and all others marked like it). Before and during WW2, there were 2 Carl Zeiss factories in Germany; one in Oberkochen and one in Jena.

When Germany was divided after WW2, so were the 2 factories. The Russians dismantled the East German Carl Zeiss factory (originally Carl Zeiss Jena and it became VEB Carl Zeiss (VEB - 'Volkseigener Betrieb', a publicly owned business; a collective in the Communist vernacular). The 2 companies worked together until 1953 when the Communist Government cut off all contact between the two. In 1954, Carl Zeiss Oberkochen (West Germany) sued Carl Zeiss Jena (West Germany) because they did not want to be associated with any product they did not produce and they did not want the Communist owned company to water down their product in the market with the Carl Zeiss name. The same year, VEB Carl Zeiss launched a counter suit by attempting to trademark the Zeiss in its name in East Germany. A major lawsuit was launched in the USA by the West German company against the East German company and in 1968 the court found in favour of the East German company. The legal battle lasted until 1971 when the 'London Agreement' divided the global market between the two companies.

From then on, all products from the East German side were marked 'aus Jena' - translated meaning 'from Jena'. The letters DDR were also added to the name of the lens. Those letters stand for the 'Deutsche Demokratische Republik' - German Democratic Republic.

After the collapse of the USSR, both companies reunited in 1991.

Can't wait to test out this lens and see if the nickname is warranted!