Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f2.8 and Sony A7C

2026年6月14日星期日

Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f2.8 and Sony A7C

2026/3/22

I own three Carl Zeiss Jena lenses: the Tessar 50mm f/4, Biotar 58mm f/2, and the Flektogon 35mm f/2.8 featured in this test. The Flektogon 35mm wide-angle lens was produced in several versions. The one I have is the so-called “zebra” version, recognizable by its striped focusing ring. It has a remarkably short minimum focusing distance of 18 cm, which reportedly provides a reproduction ratio approaching 1:2. A later multi-coated (MC) version was also produced, featuring a faster f/2.4 maximum aperture and a 20 cm minimum focusing distance.

The principle behind most macro lenses is to move the optical assembly farther away from the film plane. However, this increased distance reduces the amount of light reaching the film. In other words, when shooting at a 1:2 reproduction ratio, the amount of light reaching the film is only about half of what it is when focused at infinity. Although the lens is mechanically marked as f/2.8, the effective light transmission is closer to f/4. This lens incorporates a thoughtful design feature. When shooting wide open at f/2.8, the aperture scale gradually shifts from f/2.8 toward f/4 as the focusing distance becomes shorter. In the era before TTL metering, this served as a useful reminder to photographers that they needed to compensate for the light loss by slowing the shutter speed by one stop.

Mounted on a Sony A7C and shot using Auto White Balance, the Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f/2.8 produces fresh, clean colors under bright morning sunlight. It faithfully renders the pale blue sky, the yellow-brown tones of bare tree branches, the vivid green grass, and the soft pink of azaleas. I suppose that is part of the enduring charm of classic lenses.

我收集的 Carl Zeiss Jena 的鏡頭有三顆，Tessar 50/4、Biotar 58/2 和這次測試的 Flektogon 35/2.8。Flektogon 35mm 廣角鏡頭有許多版本，手上這顆的外觀是俗稱的斑馬鏡，最近對焦距離是 18cm，據說是接近 1:2 的放大率，後期還有光圈 f2.4 、最近對焦距離是 20cm 的 MC 版本。大部分微距鏡的原理，就是將鏡組遠離底片平面，但較長的距離會使得到達底片光量減少，換言之，當微距攝影達 1:2 放大率時，底片的感光量只有對焦無窮遠時的一半，雖然機械光圈標示為 f2.8，但實際的感光量為 f4。這顆鏡頭在設計上有個小巧思，一開始以光圈f2.8拍攝時，隨著對焦距離越來越近，機械光圈標示會從 f2.8 移動到 f4，這在相機沒有TTL測光的年代，算是一項對攝影者的善意提醒，需要使用慢一檔快門來補償失光量。

Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35/2.8 接上 Sony A7C，以自動白平衡拍攝，在上午的大太陽底下，色彩清新乾淨、忠實呈現出天空的淡藍、枯樹枝的焦黃、草地的鮮綠和杜鵑花的淡粉紅，我想這就是老鏡的特色吧。