Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4,5/300 Review

Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4,5/300 is a telephoto lens for large format cameras. Covered image circle 24x30 cm. Installed on pavilion cameras and used for portraits. On the large format is a great portrait lens.

Now artisans used it to construct the makeshift home theater and video projectors, as it is a great image circle and can project a screen of laptop or tablet to the big screen or a wall. Why not.

But in this review, I would like to use it for its intended purpose as a photographic lens, but not in a large format, on the camera with APS-C sensors. What came of it, read on.

Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4,5/300 Specs

Focal length: 300mm
Aperture range: f/ 4.5 — f/ 32
Aperture blades: 18
Length (mm): 85 мм
Weight (gr): 1270
Filter Ø (mm.): 95
Mount thread (mm): 88

Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4,5/300 Handling and Mechanics

The lens is a huge heavy cylinder of 100 mm diameter, 65 mm long, and weighing more than 1.2 kg.

In the middle of the frame has a diaphragm setting ring. Aperture has 18 blades and forms a perfect circle. Closes discretely, with quiet clicks.

As with all large format lenses, it has no focusing mechanism.

On the rear is a mount thread M88.

Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4,5/300 and Helios-44-2 2/58

Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4,5/300 and Tair-3 4.5/300

Mounting Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4,5/300 on DSLR Camera

I was interested in installing such a monster on a DSLR camera and see how it will behave on the camera with an APS-C sensor.

I have a special focusing helicoid for mounting large format lenses on SLR cameras. But it was not an easy task to mount this lens.

M88 mounting thread is quite rare. Included with the lens was some adapter with M88 thread to M70. My helicoid has a thread M60. Therefore, to attach it to my helicoid, I needed another adapter, M70-M60, which I asked to carve a friend's turner.

Adapters for mounting Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4,5/300 on the helicoid.

The problem with mounting decided. Now you need to compensate for the long flange distance. It took me to this big extension ring for medium format and KP88/N adapter.

That's it looks at the Nikon D7000.

According to my calculations, the whole construction, except the camera, weighs about 1.6 kg.

Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4,5/300 Example Photos

Unfortunately, due to lack of time, I shot them only once on the way home. A full test with good examples does not make it.

All examples are taken at the wide-open aperture on Nikon D3100, RAW export, no post-processing.

Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4,5/300 Sharpness

The lens shows good sharpness for its focal length and aperture. But still, there is that it is for large format. The resolution is not as high,

Because I tried to use only Tair-3 4.5/300, on the feeling, it seemed a little sharper than Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4,5/300, but the gap is small.

Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4,5/300 Character and Bokeh

The lens has a nice character and bokeh.

Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4,5/300 Contrast and Color Rendering

The lens has a single-layer coating. Due to its optical design, it has good contrast. Stray light is not afraid.

Compared with Tair-3 4.5/300, Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4,5/300 have better contrast.

Personal experience
I shot this lens somewhere in half an hour while walking home. Over half an hour, my hand was so tired that I did not photograph well compete for a dumbbell. Yes, ease of use is clearly inferior to small-format lenses. But it has an interesting character. It will be an opportunity to take pictures of these portraits of the lens.