Giant Sunflower, Olympia Sonnar 180mm f2.8 and Zeiss Mutar 2 tele-converter

Sunflower shot with Olympia Sonnar Carl Zeiss 180mm f2.8 lens with Mutar II 2x tele-converter
The photos in the gallery were shot from this giant 3m Sunflower, guarded by a boxer dog, south of Munich, Germany (klick on photo to enlarge)

The Giant Sunflower was shot with the legendary Carl Zeiss Olympia Sonnar 180mm f2.8 lens for the Contax/Yashica mount, Made in West Germany in 1987.

The Sunflower was partly shot with the Olympia Sonnar adapted to a Sony a7ii full-frame camera 

Olympia Sonnar Carl Zeiss 180mm f2.8 lens used with T*-coated Mutar II 2x tele-converter adapted to a Sony a7ii camera
On the Sony a7ii full-frame camera, the Carl Zeiss Olympia Sonnar 180mm f2.8 lens was used with the Carl Zeiss Mutar II 2x tele-converter (klick on photo to enlarge)

The Zeiss Mutar II 2x Tele-Converter was inserted between the Carl Zeiss 180mm f2.8 lens with Contax/Yashica mount and the adapter between Contax/Yashica-mount and Sony e-mount. The usage of the Zeiss Mutar doubles the focal length from 180mm to 360mm.

The remaining Sunflower photos were shot with the Olympia Sonnar Carl Zeiss 180mm f2.8 lens adapted to a Sony a6100 APS-C camera

When the Olympia Sonnar Carl Zeiss 180mm f2.8 German is used on a Sony a6100 camera with an APS-C sensor, a crop-factor of 1.5 applies. That makes the field of view almost the same as a 270mm lens used on a 35mm equivalent full-frame camera like the Sony a7ii.

Olympia Sonnar Carl Zeiss 180mm f2.8 lens used with T*-coated Mutar II 2x tele-converter adapted to a Sony a6100 APS-C camera
On the Sony a6100 APS-C camera, the focal length of the Carl Zeiss Sonnar lens equals to 270mm compared to a lens on a full-frame sensor because of crop-factor 1.5 (klick on photo to enlarge)

When you click on an image in the galleries, following buttons will allow you to select some features, including a slideshow (which is auto-started for some galleries, you have to press the pause button to stop a slideshow):

Slideshow | Fullscreen | Image-Info | Original-size

Sophisticated Carl Zeiss Mutar II 2x Tele-Converter

On the Sony a7ii full-frame camera, the Olympia Sonnar Carl Zeiss 180mm f2.8 lens was used with the T*-coated Carl Zeiss Mutar II 2x tele-converter which is inserted between lens and the mount-adapter to double the focal length. 

Carl Zeiss T*-coated Mutar II 2x tele-converter
The Mutar II 2x tele-converter reduces the aperture by 2 f-stops, so exposure time is multiplied by 4 (klick on photo to enlarge)
Carl Zeiss T*-coated Mutar II 2x tele-converter 7 lenses in 4 groups
The Mutar II 2x Tele-Converter has 7 lens elements(!) in 4 groups, weight is 300g and length is approx. 52mm

For Contax lenses with smaller focal length, Zeiss recommends to use the T*-coated Mutar I tele-converter. The Carl Zeiss Mutar II tele-converter is optimized for Contax tele-lenses with longer focal length.

Carl Zeiss T*-coated Mutar I or Mutar II 2x tele-converter decision table
Depending of the focal lenght of the Contax lens, the Mutar I or the Mutar II is better dedicated for a optimized image quality (klick on photo to enlarge)

Rundown

In my view, the image quality and very creamy bokeh which is typical for Sonnar lenses does not get lost, when shooting the super-sharp Olympia Sonnar Carl Zeiss 180mm f2 lens with the sophisticated Mutar II 2x tele-converter adapted to a Sony a7ii full-frame camera, as you can see in above gallery photos. The in-body stabilization of the a7ii was set to 350mm focal length.

Zeiss is even going so far, to make the impression that the image quality of Carl Zeiss T* Contax lenses when using the Mutar T* tele-converters should be comparable to the original Contax lens (German quote: “Bei Kombination von Mutar T*I (2X) oder Mutar T*II (2X) und Carl Zeiss T*-Objektiven wird eine Bildqualität vergleichbar derjenigen des Objektivs allein erreicht“).

Shooting the Olympia Sonnar Carl Zeiss 180mm f2 lens adapted to a Sony a6100 APS-C camera, works also well regarding image quality and creamy bokeh. This Sonnar lens deserves a test adapted to cameras with higher resolution sensors like the 42 mega-pixel on a Sony 7Riii. 

 

Zeiss Olympia Sonnar 180mm f2.8 lens adapted to a Sony a7ii full frame camera

Olympia Sonnar Carl Zeiss 180mm f2.8 lens Made in West- vs East-Germany, which is better?

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