Sonnar Lenses Archives

7 February, 2021

Skyllaney-Restored Sonnars Reunited with Their Old Rangefinder Camera – By Phil Steelandt

By Phil Steelandt

Spring 2019. One of my friends (he runs an antique shop in Ghent, Belgium) sends me a picture of a Leica IIIc with a screw mounted Sonnar with the message, "Is this something fo...

21 December, 2020

MS-Optics 50mm f/1.1 Sonnetar Review – Exploring Sonnars Pt.13

By Hamish Gill

Once in a while I get the chance to borrow a bit of kit that’s intrigued me for a long time but that I’ve never found myself able to justify purchasing. With it being based on t...

17 August, 2020

Skyllaney Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 Single Coated Sonnar Review – Exploring Classic Sonnars pt.12

By Hamish Gill

This Leica thread mount modified Skyllaney Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 single coated Sonnar lens is third I’ve reviewed from the hands of Chris Andreyo from Skyllaney this year. It’s the m...

2 July, 2020

The Impact of Air Bubbles in the Optics of Old Lenses – By Jordi Fradera

By Jordi Fradera

Tell me something that is heavy, hard, old and almost unbreakable. Is it a stone? No, it's a prewar Contax. I say "almost unbreakable", as these poor specimens have seen better ...

15 June, 2020

Skyllaney restored Jupiter-3 Review – Exploring the Classic Sonnars pt.11

By Hamish Gill

Another Skyllaney lens to recently pass through my hands was this wonderful restored Jupiter-3. My past experiences with Jupiter-3 lenses - at least apart from the Lomography on...

4 May, 2020

Skyllaney Rehoused 1930s Uncoated Zeiss Jena 50mm f/2 Sonnar – Exploring the Classic Sonnars pt.10

By Hamish Gill

My exploration of Sonnar formula lenses has had a bit of a boost lately. After getting in touch with Chris from Skyllaney, he’s ended up sending me no less than 5 of the things ...

29 April, 2020

Zeiss Jena 5cm Sonnars – The Magic of the Prewar Uncoated Sonnar – By Brian Sweeney

By Brian Sweeney

Interchangeable lens 35mm rangefinder cameras became popular almost 90 years ago when Leitz introduced the Leica II and Zeiss debuted the Contax I. Both companies brought out fu...

27 April, 2020

Bringing a New M-Mount Sonnar Lens to Market – An Interview with Chris Andreyo, Skyllaney Opto-Mechanics

By Hamish Gill

A couple of weeks ago, you might have heard about the forthcoming launch of a new to market, British designed and built, m-mount 50mm f/2 Sonnar formula lens called the Skyllane...

Tony Warren on A third of a roll with a Pentax Spotmatic F and Kentmere Pan 200
What a treat to be able to access such interesting locations and well captured with something of an iconic camera.…
Simon Foale on Mamiya 6 Automat Mini-Review – A small, cheap 6×6 with a good lens!
Hi Timothy, I'm still using the camera, and it's still going fine. The frame counter mechanism started playing up again…
Timothy Hancock on Mamiya 6 Automat Mini-Review – A small, cheap 6×6 with a good lens!
Hi - if you are still picking up messages about the automat, how are things now, two years on ?

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