Vintage Prime
Ancient Optics / Zero Optik
Tamashii Primes
The “Greatest Hits” of Japanese Optics
- Focal
- 22–110mm
- T-stop
- T1.5–T2.3
- Mount
- PL
Carl Zeiss Jena Primes
Iron Glass Rehoused
Vintage Prime Set
Iron Glass Rehoused
Carl Zeiss Jena Primes
11 primes 20 – 180mm T1.5 – T3.6 PL
We run this family as standard 4, 5, 6, 8 and 11-lens kits. Bespoke focal mixes are built on request.
Legendary East German optics from Carl Zeiss Jena, rehoused by Iron Glass into CAM-style cinema housings.
Sharper than Soviet-era glass, more organic than modern Zeiss T-star. Centre-sharp wide open with gentle edge roll-off. Neutral-to-warm colour, beautiful skin, the Pancolar 80mm renders with rare 3D dimensionality. Ten of the eleven are Multi-Coated for signature amber and purple flares, controlled but alive; the odd one out is the single-coated Pancolar 50mm T1.9, the one people ask for by name. Virtually zero chromatic aberration. Full Frame, Large Format and VistaVision; the Biometar and Sonnar telephotos cover GFX and Alexa 65 too.
Character profile
How this lens renders.
Zero chromatic aberration. Clean rendering.
Five axes plotting how this set behaves wide-open vs a neutral modern reference. Larger area = more pronounced trait.
Focal lengths
11 focal lengths in this set
- 20mm T2.9
- 24mm
- 28mm
- 35mm T2.5
- 50mm MC T1.5
- 50mm T1.9
- 55mm
- 80mm T1.9
- 120mm
- 135mm T3.6
- 180mm
| Focal | T-Stop | Close focus |
|---|---|---|
| 20mm | T2.9 | 7″ |
| 24mm | N/A | 7″ |
| 28mm | N/A | 8.25″ |
| 35mm | T2.5 | 8″ |
| 50mm MC | T1.5 | 9½″ |
| 50mm | T1.9 | 1'2″ |
| 55mm | N/A | 9.5″ |
| 80mm | T1.9 | 2'7″ |
| 120mm | N/A | 3'9″ |
| 135mm | T3.6 | 3'2″ |
| 180mm | N/A | 5'6″ |
Talking points
Why DPs pick this set
-
The Flektogon is the ancestor of every modern retrofocus wide-angle: Zeiss Oberkochen renamed it “Distagon”
-
Virtually zero chromatic aberration across the set.
Unusual for vintage glass and a real advantage on 4K+ sensors
-
Same rehouser behind lenses used on The Batman, Dune: Part Two, The Creator, and The Pope’s Exorcist
-
Close focus dramatically improved across the set.
The 35mm focuses to just 8" (20cm), the 20mm to 7" (18cm)
-
Medium-format Biometar and Sonnar optics provide oversized image circles that eliminate any edge vignetting on FF/LF
Technical
Full specifications
- Mount
- PL: swappable shimmable stainless steel (LPL, EF, RF also available)
- Coverage
- Full Frame / LF / VV: GFX on everything except the 24mm and 28mm; Alexa 65 on both 50mm Pancolars, the 80mm Pancolar and the Biometar & Sonnar teles
- Iris
- Rounded 15-blade: a new Iron Glass iris fitted to every lens, replacing the donor original
- Film Cameras
- Compatible: replacement iris rings available for Arri 235/435/535, Aaton mirror clearance
Heritage
-
Origin
Carl Zeiss Jena (East Germany, DDR), produced from the late 1960s through the 1980s as still photography lenses for M42 mount cameras. After WWII split Zeiss into two companies, the Jena factory continued developing optical designs including the Flektogon (wide-angle), Pancolar (standard/portrait), Biometar (medium-format), and Sonnar (telephoto) families. The MC (Multi-Coated) variants introduced distinctive amber-purple coatings that differ markedly from the West German T-star coatings. Iron Glass (Ukraine) rehouses these optics into all-new cinema bodies with their Helicam CAM-style focus system, the same platform trusted by major productions. The rehousing preserves every optical characteristic while adding 300° focus throw, 110mm matte-box-compatible fronts, and cinema-standard T-stop markings.
More to explore
