The Limbo Connection's photos with the keyword: Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/2.8 Tessar

In 2013 on a whim I bought a Carl Zeiss Jena f/2.8 50mm lens for £12. It has an M42 screw thread and initially I simply held it tight against the lens throat of a Nikon D50, with better results than expected. By the time I photographed this ivy I had graduated to using it on a Canon EOS 20D camera via an adapter. (M42 lenses are happier on Canons than Nikons. Yet the previous Canon FD mount lenses are problematic to use on the successor EOS cameras. Camera mounts are a bit bonkers). The Carl Zeiss Jena f/2.8 50mm lens is a simple Tessar arrangement of four elements originally designed by Paul Rudolph in 1902 while he worked at the Zeiss optical company. For the modest investment and the optical clarity I would recommend this lens.

I bought a Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/2.8 Tessar lens and teamed it with a Canon EOS 20D camera; all eBay acquisitions. The Tessar is so venerable (designed in 1902) that it engendered visions of the past when used at Lacock Abbey.

Photographed with a Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/2.8 Tessar lens on a Canon EOS 30D via an adapter, with an extension tube between camera and lens. ISO 800, 1/100th, and the lens close to, if not right on, maximum aperture. That is f/2.8 on the humble Tessar.

Photographed using a Canon EOS 20D with a Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/2.8 Tessar lens.

Just once in a while you ask a stranger for permission to take their photograph and it all works out well. The left-hand side was in deep shadow; I have tried to lift it with a grad filter effect. The woman in the picture was a good sport to allow me three photographs without being self-conscious in the slightest. Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f/2.8 lens on a Canon EOS 40D digital camera. This is an edit of an earlier picture.

For years the gate led to a private school. The factory building in the distance - a former woollen mill - housed a publicly funded youth centre. Then came the slump. First the school closed; later, the youth amenity. Now both buildings are under redevelopment for private housing. Photographed with a Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/2.8 Tessar lens. An old lens for some old buildings.

A misty midwinter morning when the sun did not break through until midday. Photographed with a Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/2.8 Tessar lens on a Canon EOS 20D camera with an adapter. Improved in Lightroom.

A misty midwinter morning when the sun did not break through until midday. Photographed with a Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/2.8 Tessar lens on a Canon EOS 20D camera with an adapter.