Carl Zeiss Ultron 50mm f/1.8

I remember the short-lived Icarex 35 SLR system from the time when I was becoming interested in photography, in the mid to late 1960’s. Even back then the Icarex bodies looked like something from an older time, at least compared to the Japanese cameras that were just beginning to be taken seriously. A decade later the Icarex system had been largely forgotten, as the collaboration between Zeiss and Yashica gave birth to the thoroughly modern line of Contax SLR cameras. Zeiss lenses for the Contax system need no introduction. One would be hard pressed to find anybody who is willing to argue against their optical excellence or their BMW-like mechanical sophistication.

Icarex system lenses are less widely recognized, however, than their Contax brethren. There was never a large range of them, they were not made in large quantities, and on paper they do not appear to be particularly interesting. It is likely that the system did not live long enough, nor did it generate enough sales, to justify the development of a wide range of specialty and “fancy” lenses. With the exception of the 50mm primes (of which there are two), Icarex lenses are almost certainly Voigtländer designs. Of these, the Dynarex short and medium telephoto lenses (90, 135 and 200mm, all of which I briefly owned) are competent but unremarkable – Opels in a BMW dealeship. I believe that there were also a 400mm tele and a zoom, but I know nothing about their origin nor about their performance. But there is one Voigtländer – designed lens, the 35mm Color Skoparex, which is excellent. I talk about it in an accompanying article.

The two 50mm primes that were available for the Icarex system were true Zeisses. The “kit lens” was the venerable f/2.8 Tessar, designed at a time when upturned Kaiser moustaches and Pickelhauben were all the rage. The Tessar design can still hold its own, more than a century on. But there was also a top-of-the-line 50mm prime: the Apollo-era f/1.8 Ultron. That is an evocative name for a lens, and a Zeiss no less. To make matters more interesting, the Ultron has a concave front element. I am not certain whether it is the only production lens ever with a concave front element, but there certainly aren’t many others. And, like all Icarex lenses, it has bayonet-mounted filters and an unclicked aperture ring. In other words, the Carl Zeiss Ultron is a very distinctive-looking and distinctive-feeling lens. But is it any good?

As I have noted elsewhere, I find cats to be among the best possible subjects to judge the qualities of a lens (I also have a very soft spot for them). So here go some cat pictures (as always, all images were shot with Sony full frame in raw format and processes with Capture One). The top “pawtrait”, on the right, was shot fully open, the orange tabby and the B&W portrait probably at f/4 to f/5.6. This lens is SHARP!! It also has, in my view, a pleasing bokeh. Some may object to the pentagonal highlights that it is prone to generate, but I think that they add to the character of the lens.

So what do I mean by “sharp”? If you are not convinced by the fur in the B&W portrait, take a close look at the following images. This lens lens reminds me of the “sweet sharpness” of Zuiko primes. I think that it is even sharper than the best Zuikos (and Hexanons), without being any harsher. It has a thoroughly modern rendering, and it generates what I can only describe as a strong sense of “presence”. It makes you feel that you are there, that you can actually touch those leaves or those rocks in the wall.

The color rendition is gorgeous, and pure Zeiss. Other than adjusting white balance to obtain natural color palettes, there is very little color manipulation in any of these images. And while you are at it, check that bokeh again.

I am beginning to get the “urban decadence” bug, the compulsion to shoot run down buildings. The sharpness fully open, together with the ability to shoot it at speeds as low as 1/20s with the A7II, make using the Ultron in such settings an absolute joy.

More examples of how sharp this lens is, and of the adroitness with which it renders life-like images, also in black and white.

I shot some of the same places shown above and below with the 35mm Color Skoparex, and processed both sets of images so as to get to final results that were as close to one another as possible – i.e., the process in not quite the same, but the results are as close as I could make them. The pictures shot with the 35mm Skoparex are in this link, so you can compare side by side with those from the 50mm Ultron.

And, to conclude, a few pictures to indulge my soft spot for old railroad scenes. Once more, look at the sharpness (e.g., in those large nuts, or the old engine), at the soft bokeh, and relish the feeling of being able to touch what you see.

This lens is neither easy to find nor cheap. As all Icarex lenses, it is available both in the proprietary breech-lock Icarex mount (early examples) and the universal M42 screw mount. I own the former, and prefer it even if adapters are also hard to find, because the breech-lock bayonet mount provides a more solid attachment than the screw mount. It is, by all accounts, a lens worth hunting for.