Carl Zeiss Lens for $15.00

Have you ever wondered why Holgas, Dianas and the Time Magazine cameras were not made in Germany?  Well whatever the reason, German optical companies have have decided that quality is the way to go.   Zeiss is among the best optical lens company there is....their motto says it all, "We Make it Visible."  

Getting the best optics in the world comes at a hefty price.  A Zeiss prime lens for the Cannon EOS system will easily cost $500.  Luckily, some older lens designs  from a discontinued camera using an obsolete film format can be had for a song.....$12 to be exact [Thank You Surplushed.com].  

The Carl Zeiss Tessar we use in this instructable was originally destined for a Contaflex 126 camera.  The Tessar design is over 100 years old so it has stood the test of time.  In this Instructable, we'll adapt it to fit The Canon  EOS system type cameras...35mm, digital or APS types.  Since I have all three types...its a win, win, win!

Step 1 Stuff You Will Need

The two significant items in this instructable are the Zeiss Tessar lens and a body cap for the Canon EOS mount (EF mount to be specific).  The lens was bought from Suplushed.com for $12 and the body cap was from eBay at $10 for a dozen...so that is $.84 each.  With shipping and other miscellaneous supplies, I priced this whole project at $15.

1.  Carl Zeiss Tessar 45mm f2.8 lens.

2.  One Canon EOS body cap.

3.  Rotary Tool with associated bits.

4.  Two part epoxy adhesive (I used the 5 minute variety).

5.  Flat black paint.

6.  Dental floss.

7. Cyanoacrylate glue (super glue).

8. Paper clips.

9. Wire cutters.

10.  Two small rare earth magnets.

Comments

[amateurvisionary]

Cool project. Before i got my EOS, I shot 35mm, so i had a couple of 30 yr old Olympus OM-1's and several lenses lying around. There was no way i was going to come up with the cash to buy lenses for my new camera anytime soon, so i decided i wanted to be able to use my OM lenses on my Canon. I just took the attachment ring off of one of my OM's and attached it to an EOS body cap that i had ground down in a smiliar fashion to the one in this one. and, voila! all I've got to do is take of my EOS lens, attach my adapter, and I can use all of my OM lenses :)

AV

[Makescreenname]

Very nice project.. Thanks for sharing your approach to keep this fine old chunk of glass working!

One question--any worries about the proximity of the strong magnetic field from the rare-earth magnet, to the digital electronics of the camera?

[Nano_Burger]

     Make, Frankly,

     I never really thought too much about that! I love rare earth magnets and try to incorperate them into projects just because they are as close to magic as you can get on this astral plane (although peizoelectric crystals are a close second). The memory of most digital cameras (including mine) is flash memory. That is not affected by magnetic fields. It is an electronic type of memory, not a magnetic like a floppy disc or your hard drive.

     However, a magnetic field moving through wires and other electrical components of the camera can induce an electrical current much like a generator. This voltage could in theory screw something up in the camera. Luckily, the magnetic field strength diminishes rapidly (the inverse cube law). Even the short distance from the lens to the camera body would significantly diminish the mangetic field.

     I'm not sure if modern cameras have any sort of shielding in them to prevent stray current of this type. Most military equipment has some degree of shielding against electromagnetic pulse you get from nuclear weapons. However, the best defense is usually good design in the first place.

     Any who, I'm not worrying too much about the magnets, but I won't bring my camera into my next MRI!

[whiskymonster]

the other one being, a magnetic field will only induce a current if it is moving.
with the speed you would be removing the lens, the field even at close proximity would only be in the order of a few millivolts. definitely not enough to bother a ccd or any type of flash memory.

[M-26-7]

Any tips on what type of lens to get (in reference to achromat, etc.)?

[Nano_Burger]

M,

Surplus Shed (http://surplushed.com) has a wide variety of excess, used, surplus optical items.  They have actual camera lenses like the one I used here, industrial lenses like copier, typesetting lenses and they also have raw optical elements (if you are good with optical design).

Basically, lots of cool stuff.  You are limited only by your imagination.  None cost too much...at least when compared to thier original price.

I'm looking hard at a medium format zoom lens to attach to my Bronica or Kiev 60.

[Nano_Burger]

Update...Surplus Shed is having a 30% off everything sale. Just place my order for the medium format zoom lens. Standby as I figure out how to attach that to my Kiev 60!

[gregorydoherty]

(removed by author or community request)

[Nano_Burger]

Greg,

     If you don't like dental floss, epoxy and magnets....do yourself a favor and don't look at any of my other Instructables!

     I'm sorry about the quality of the example photos...the instructable uploader does not like large files.  I'll upload some onto my Flickr account and include the link in the Instructable so you can judge the quality without much compression...I shoot in Jpeg mode so thier is always some loss.

[Nano_Burger]

Here is the address:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21721108@N00/sets/72157625877439142/

[grodo.00]

Where did you find / How did you make your Flash diffuser?

[Nano_Burger]

Sadly, I bought it from Sourcing Map:

http://www.sourcingmap.com/three-colors-camera-plastic-pop-flash-diffuser-p-93008.html

[Eternal_Tristan]

Great hack! I'm working on a tilt-shiftable lens with a bellows and everything with an EOS mount. I didn't know surplush shed had Zeiss lenses! Before I buy one I'd love to see the originals, unmutilated by so much jpeg compression. Is it me or are these images way over compressed?

[JamesRPatrick]

They're pretty small. I think the format was designed primarily to convey information, not beauty. That's why I usually also link to a photo-based site for more detail.

[skrubol]

One thing that should be noted (on the mention of flange focal distance) is that you can't mount an old Canon F mount lens to a newer EF/EOS camera without losing infinity focus. It's flange distance is shorter, but most other lenses will work (and many will have focus in the lens, rather than needing a bellows like this one does to change focus, though not for $12.)

[speedhump]

German - Sherman ! Mercedes Benz cars also end up on the scrapheap too, and any lens can get moldy growth inside. It's the devil to clean up and the more complicated lenses should be put in the hands of an expert who has the tools and knowledge to do the job properly. So checkout and purchase you make it, or get a solid guarantee that there is no mold on the elements.

[Nano_Burger]

German and Japanese optics didn't get thier reputation for excellence by accident.  That said, sometimes great glass is not what is called for.  Thousands of Lomographers [sic] adore the plastic Holga or styrene Diana lenses.  Many of the images that muddle through a single element, meniscus, plastic lens are more powerful than your tack sharp image refracted through exotic glass types.

I have a Canon FD 50mm f1.4 with the anti reflective coating that is failing in a serious way.  The softness it adds when blasted wide open is ethereal.  I wouldn't fix it if I could!

[speedhump]

www.Focalprice.com offer adapter rings that will match Leica lenses to a variety of big-name digital cameras such as Nikon, Canon. Olympus, Minoilta, Sony NEX.
They range from $18.00 to 45.00 delivered to your door.
Oh joy! I thought my Canon FD lenses were all ornaments, but now I shoot wildlife with a 30 year old FD Sigma 600mm catadioptric which on my Sony NEX camera is the 35mm film equivalent of a 1000mm telephoto

[Nano_Burger]

There are many adapters out there, but certainly not one that adapts a Contaflex 126 lens to anything, hence this instructable.  Many of these adapters have an optical element that corrects the focal distance for that particular mount.  These lenses are getting better, but there still will be some image degradation.  Sometimes the flexibility is worth it.

BTW, your FD kit will work great on an A-1 or T-90.

[Ranie-K]

There were two "Carl Zeiss" factories. The one in East Germeny (DDR) was in Jena and made lenses for a lot of cameras made behind the iron curtain.

[Nano_Burger]

Correct! The DDR made some excellent optics. The cameras were not exceptionally "feature rich" but in the hands of a skilled photographer, that would not matter.

[Ranie-K]

Got a few myself : http://www.flickr.com/photos/einar-k/2324212537/
Shelf number two from the bottom is dedicated to Eastern European cameras.

[Nano_Burger]

I see you still have an Izone camera....my condolences! I've made an Instructable that converts it to a little less doomed format...although probably doomed in the long run. 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bring-Your-Polaroid-I-Zone-Camera-Back-From-the-De/

[JaredN]

Nice project! I like the dental floss ap control
Can you upload high resolution pictures so we can see how the pictures turn out? The previews look great but are too small to get the picture (no pun intended)


Wouldn't it have been better to get a CZ lens with a manual focusing ring though? Would have been a bit more, but you'd get a lot more function out of it.

[Nano_Burger]

I'm a big fan of dental floss. You will see if you look at some of my other Instructables. My D30 isn't exactly high def at 3.3 megapixals (I've always been a trailing edge kind of guy). I'll load up some photos on Flicker at the original resolution and post the link here.

Focusing CZ lenses start to get into some serious money! My motto is: "The best is easy, the good enough is difficult!"

[TheAtomicSoul]

Can you like to the page that is listed on on the SurplusShed site?

[Nano_Burger]

Just looked on the Surplus Shed website and it looks like that particular optical assembly is not offered anymore. I bought it a few years ago. I'd encourage you to contact them though. They are a great bunch of folks and they might find one in a corner someplace! As always, whenever I go there, I end up drooling over some great looking optics. Its great to find some lens listed in Edmunds for some outrageous price at bargain basement prices.