From the Series of Articles on Lens

Names:

Planar

by

H. H. Nasse

Carl Zeiss AG Camera Lens Division July 2011

 Planar – The history and features of one of
photography's most important high performance
lenses

Planar is not only a registered trade name Carl-Friedrich Gauss in 1817 long before
for specific ZEISS lenses, but at the same photography was invented, people also
time, it is also a general term used by call Planar lenses double Gauss lenses or
experts for a classic anastigmatic lens simply the Gauss lens. Such original four-
design. This is because Planar lenses element lenses entered the market around
have been used in the lion's share of high 1880. Much later starting in 1933, Carl
quality cameras for decades. A 50mm lens Zeiss offered a wide-angle lens called the
with that layout was sold as a standard Topogon, which closely resembled a pair
lens with SLR cameras for a long time, of Gauss telescope lenses, aside from the
until it was gradually replaced by zoom fact that its lenses had a stronger
lenses. The Planar design has been curvature. It was a standard in aerial
installed in countless variations by a large photography for a long time, and there
number of manufacturers, and new was also a 4/25 version for the Contax
designs are constantly entering the 35mm camera.
market.

The first Planar lens was registered for

patent by its inventor Paul Rudolph at
Carl Zeiss in Jena, Germany at the end of
1896 and was added to the Carl Zeiss
product range in various focal lengths as
early as 1897. In other words, it is even a
few years older than the Tessar lens.

Lens section of the Topogon 4/25 lens

Paul Rudolph, however, strongly modified

the original design by increasing the
thickness of the inner meniscuses and
constructing them out of two different
types of glass. They had the same
refractive indices, but different dispersion
properties. This allowed him to influence
the color correction at will without
changing the monochromatic correction by
selecting the right radius for the cemented
surface.
The lens developed by Rudolph had a
strict symmetrical design comprising six
lens elements assembled in four groups, Superior image sharpness for
featuring a pair of meniscus shaped conditions back then
cemented elements in front and behind
the aperture. (In optics, meniscus refers to As a result, the Planar lens delivered
a lens on which the centers of curvature of superior image definition with an
both surfaces are on the same side). unusually wide aperture for that time. In
particular, the field curvature was very
Due to this lens arrangement, Planar low. In other words, the image was very
lenses also have another name: as each "plane" or flat – which is precisely what
lens half resembles a telescope lens the name "Planar" was supposed to
invented by the famous mathematician suggest.

Carl Zeiss AG Camera Lens Division 2/12

A catalog from 1897 stated the following: It was not until the 1920s that optic
designers resumed efforts to advance
"When working with the Planar, keep in mind the double Gauss lens. Their primary
that slight overexposures can easily result from objective was to increase its speed. In
the high speed of the lens. The precise design 1927, for example, Willy Merté at Carl
of the Planar lens surpasses the anastigmatic
Zeiss in Jena designed an entire series
double lenses introduced until now. Above all,
it is especially suitable for all kinds of
of lenses for 35mm cameras and 16mm
reproductions and yields excellent results." movie film with a maximum aperture of
f/2 and f/1.4.
And since chromatic aberrations tend to
be more noticeable with line originals, i.e., These new designs entered the market
where the contrast between black and under the name Biotar. Its design was
white is high, other models soon very similar to the original Planar lens,
incorporated the same design, but but it abandoned the strict symmetry
featured even better chromatic correction approach for the radii of curvature of the
thanks to the use of special types of glass. surfaces and the refractive indices of the
glass materials and therefore achieved
additional correction parameters.

Virtually all of today's fast lenses are

based on the Biotar design

Nearly all of today's high-speed lenses

with a medium field angle (50-100mm
focal length with 35mm SLR cameras)
are successors to the Biotar design. The
number of variations is virtually endless.
To achieve maximum apertures, one or
two lenses were added to the classic 6-
element lens. The elements were
combined into cemented components at
a wide range of positions. Despite
looking similar on the outside, there are
major differences in performance
between today's models and their
Despite all of these favorable features, the
predecessors, improvements which are
Planar lens enjoyed only marginal success
largely attributable to the development of
in the beginning. Although the older double
new glass materials.
anastigmatic lenses (later: Protar) were not
quite as good, they were slightly more
versatile, because the front and rear lens
halves could be used alone, therefore
allowing three focal lengths with a single
lens. This was not possible with the Planar.

The Tessar lens, which was offered

starting in 1902, achieved very good
results in practice and was less expensive.
Above all, it was considerably lighter.

In particular, the Planar lens was

considerably more sensitive to bright light
sources in the image due to its eight
glass-to-air surfaces and unfavorable
curvature. Antireflective lens coatings had
not yet been invented. This meant that
unwanted optical paths of several
reflections in the lens created ghosts and The Planar 2/50 ZM – a modern double
glare in the image, because each glass-to- Gauss lens for a 35mm rangefinder camera.
air surface reflected around 4% of the
incident light.

Carl Zeiss AG Camera Lens Division 3/12

While the highest refractive index with the
Biotar design was 1.673 in 1927, 40 years
later designers could use glass with index
1.8 or even 1.9. A very high refractive
index means that a lens can be given the
same refractive power with flatter surface
curvatures, reducing the aberrations
caused by the spherical shape. It is easy
to imagine that this would be a desirable
feature for designing high-speed lenses.

However, extremely high-index glass Design of the 5-element Gauss model Planar
materials alone do not solve every 2,8/80 (left) and 3.5/75 for the 6x6 format.
problem. As a matter of fact, they actually
create some drawbacks of its own, as they This 5-element Planar model enjoyed
display high dispersion. This is why the notable success in various camera
development of lanthanum glass in the formats, from the wide angle 3.5/35 for
late 1950s laid an important foundation for the Contax rangefinder camera to the
continued progress. With medium 3.5/135 for the 9x12 large format field
refractive indices, they offer favorable camera. In particular, a number of
dispersion properties and are ideal exceptional pictures were taken with
partners for high-index glass materials. As these optics during the heyday of the
with all other lenses, Planar lenses also twin-lens SLR camera. It is also a
reaped the benefits of the advancements wonderful example demonstrating that
made in glass technology, which, in turn, image quality is not merely produced by
kept an old idea young at heart. the number of lens elements: in fact,
there was also a 7-element Planar model
The Gauss models designed at Carl Zeiss for the 6x6 format, yet it was not better.
Oberkochen never used the Biotar name, In fact, more optical efforts are needed,
but kept the older Planar brand name for as the design conditions for a camera
historical and political reasons. As a result with a swing-up mirror are slightly more
of World War II, the Carl Zeiss company unfavorable than those for a rangefinder
was divided into an eastern part (Jena) or large format view camera that permit
and a western part (Oberkochen). The two shorter back focal lengths, i.e., the
companies manufactured similar products distances of the rear lens element from
and were embroiled in legal conflicts about the image plane.
the use of trademarks that spanned
several years. And since Carl Zeiss Jena The success behind Paul Rudolph's
lodged a claim to use the brand name invention was slow in coming
Biotar, Oberkochen used the name
Planar. Both lens names can be found on Looking back, you could say that the
the twin-lens Rolleiflex cameras made in success of Paul Rudolph's invention was
the early 1950s, as lenses for these slow in the making. In the 1930s, the
cameras were delivered from the east and Sonnar was considered the first really
the west back then. suitable high-speed standard lens for
35mm photography, which was still in its
At Carl Zeiss Oberkochen, Planar was infancy. This was not entirely the case
also a 5-element Gauss model, which, for Gauss models, but we will have a
thanks to advancements in glass closer look at this later.
technology, was invented to simplify the
design without compromising However, after Alexander Smakula
performance. In Jena, this type of lens invented antireflective lens coatings at
was called Biometar. Carl Zeiss in Jena in 1935 and their
broad usage after the end of World War
II, it was possible to tap into the full
potential of the double Gauss lens
without any negative "side effects", and
outstanding lenses were created for a
wide range of applications.

Carl Zeiss AG Camera Lens Division 4/12

Planar 0,7/50 – famous for its speed,
turned into a movie star thanks to There were also more ‘earthly’ tasks
Stanley Kubrick outside of normal photography, which
focused on other properties than speed,
The Planar 0,7/50 from the 1960s is a e.g., uniform definition and the total
famous example of the possibilities of this absence of distortion throughout the
lens type to gain speed and it holds a image field in microfilm documentation.
world record in photography. The lens
delivered an image that was four times
brighter than with today's standard 1.4/50
lens. It was originally developed on behalf
of NASA to take pictures of the dark side
of the moon. Its fame skyrocketed when
the legendary director Stanley Kubrick
pushed the envelope on his quest to give
his film "Barry Lyndon" a unique look by
insisting on filming several scenes in
candlelight. In 2011, one of these lenses
was auctioned off for 90,000 euros.

Unfortunately, it is practically impossible to

adapt this "dream lens" to an SLR camera.
It had an image circle diameter of 27mm,
making it almost an APS-C, a diameter of
around 90mm and weighed in at 1850
grams. And the large lens element
diameters had to come very close to the
film plane: the distance to the last lens
vertex was only 5.3mm. It was therefore
fitted with a central shutter for large-format
camera optics and was precisely adjusted
to a modified HASSELBLAD body.

S-Orthoplanar for documentation on

microfilm in 32x45mm format; MTF for spatial
frequencies of 25, 50 and 100 Lp/mm. The
radial distortion is less than 0.1%.

While these lenses are also excellently

suited for macrophotography, this is less
the case for other members of the Planar
family, which frequently can be found in
second-hand markets, e.g., the S-Planar
1,1/42: This is a lens from the early days
of microlithography in the semiconductor
industry, corrected for the wavelength
436nm only and therefore has a
resolving power of much more than 1000
Lp/mm with a depth of focus of 1.2 µm.
Design and front lens of the world's fastest In other words, it is the wrong choice and
camera lens, the Planar 0.7/50 practically useless for everyday
photography.

Carl Zeiss AG Camera Lens Division 5/12

The patent from 1896 and the basis for emerging models over the decades.

Carl Zeiss AG Camera Lens Division 6/12

The "family picture" includes:

Planar 3,5/135 for Linhof 9x12 aerial cameras

Planar 2/120 for Rolleiflex SL66 (no volume production)
Planar 1,2/85 for Contax SLR
Makro-Planar 5,6/135, lens for Hasselblad bellow units
Planar 5,6/210 for 13x18 large format cameras
(Horizontal) S-Planar 1.2/42, lens for copying 16mm film on magnetic tape
Planar 3,5/100 for Hasselblad camera, in NASA version, without lubricant, vacuum-capable
Makro-Planar 4/120 for Rollei 6000
Planar 50mm T1.3 for 16mm movie camera Arriflex
Makro-Planar 2/100 ZE
Planar 3,5/35 for Contax rangefinder camera
Planar 2/35 for Contax-G autofocus rangefinder camera
Planar 1,4/55 for Contarex SLR
Planar 2/50 ZM for M-mount rangefinder camera
S-Orthoplanar 5,6/105 for micro documentation on 70mm film
S-Planar 5,6/32
Planar 2,8/80 C for Hasselblad 500
Planar 2/110 for Hasselblad 200

Carl Zeiss AG Camera Lens Division 7/12

S-Planar and Makro-Planar

After our short excursion through the

history of Planar lenses, it is now time to
focus on some technical features that you 100
MTF [%]
should know. Now, after reading the name
S-Planar on the preceding pages, it is time 80
to ask what this particular name means.
60
And how well "flattened" is the image from
a Planar lens? We all know that most 40

aberrations cannot be completely rectified,

but generally only marginalized to an 20

acceptable extent.
0
0 5 10 15 20
In most classic camera lenses featuring a
u' [mm]
fixed lens element system, the ability to
correct aberrations varies with the
distance or the reproduction scale, some
more than others. This also holds true for
the Planar lenses and it usually increases 100
the higher the speed of the lens. Lenses MTF [%]

optimized for large camera-to-subject 80

distances no longer deliver the best
possible image quality in the macro area. 60

40
Special lenses were therefore developed
for such applications. Unlike normal 20
lenses, they were optimized for shorter
distances to the subject and offered in that 0
0 5 10 15 20
range the best quality in terms of
u' [mm]
definition, edge definition and distortion.
On the other hand, however, they
displayed certain drawbacks when they MTF curves of lens A for large distances, above at
were used at large distances. Zeiss full aperture 2.8, below with aperture of 5.6
distinguished such lenses that were
optimized for close-ups with the letter In the center of the image, this lens is sharp
"S" in front of their type designation. and rich in contrast already at full aperture.
With larger image heights, i.e., in the
peripheral areas of the image (24x36mm), the
image contrast is also good and the curves
for 10 Lp/mm are above 80% everywhere.
A head-to-head comparison of two
macro lenses However, the curves for the higher
frequencies (40 LP/mm) drop severely.
Let us now compare two such lenses, Therefore, the definition there is not so good.
named A and B, and discover how You can expect a good image at lower
differently flattened lenses can be. They magnifications, but the definition is clearly not
are both 6-element Gauss lenses with a sufficient for large magnifications, even when
60mm focal length and maximum aperture we stop down to 5.6.
of 2.8.
Later we will see more precisely just what
property lies behind this loss in performance
in the MTF diagram, but let us first look at
model B:

Carl Zeiss AG Camera Lens Division 8/12

 what that means for capturing three
dimensional subjects:
100
MTF [%]
For the following graph, we measured the
80 MTF curves in the lab in a different manner
than usual. Instead of measuring in a fixed
60 plane perpendicular to the optical axis at
various distances from the center of the
40 image, we varied the focus at each spot. As
a result, we recorded how the contrast
20 transfer of the lens varies in the longitudinal
direction in the image space.
0
0 5 10 15 20
u' [mm] Objektiv A, 60mm f/5.6 u'=0 und u'=15mm

100 8.0
90 7.5

20 Lp/mm

Objektentfernung [m]
80 7.0
70 6.5
60 6.0
50 5.5

MTF [%]
100 40 5.0
MTF [%] 30 4.5
20 4.0
80 10 3.5
0 3.0
-0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
60 Objektiv <<< Defokussierung im Bildraum [mm] >>> Andruckplatte

40
Focus MTF curves for lens A at an aperture of
20 5.6, black curve in the image center, red and
blue curve measured at an image height of
0 15mm (tangential and sagittal)
0 5 10 15 20
u' [mm] Objektiv B, 60mm f/5.6 u'=0 und u'=15mm

100 8.0
MTF curves of lens B for large distances, 90 7.5
20 Lp/mm

Objektentfernung [m]
80 7.0
above at full aperture 2.8, below with aperture 70 6.5
of 5.6 60 6.0
50 5.5
MTF [%]

40 5.0
This lens is even better in the center of the 30 4.5

image, but at full aperture it delivers 20

10
4.0
3.5

considerably less contrast at the edge of -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
3.0

the image. Here, you can see that the Objektiv <<< Defokussierung im Bildraum [mm] >>> Andruckplatte

sagittal MTF curve for 10 Lp/mm drops to

nearly 60% while the curves of the higher
frequencies remain relatively high. With Focus MTF curves for lens B at an aperture of
such data, you have to expect 5.6, black curve in the image center, red and
considerable flare at high contrast edges. blue curve measured at an image height of
15mm (tangential and sagittal)
When stopped down to 5.6, type B is We come to the surprising conclusion that
clearly the best of the two – at least from the maximum MTF values of the colored
this point of view. At full aperture, the curves, meaning the maximum definition
image's final magnification and the image close to the image edge, is the same in both
content (i.e. whether contrast or edge lenses. With lens A, the curves are only
definition is more important) determine to shifted more to the left, while they are nicely
some extent which of the two is preferred. coincident in type B. A has a larger field
curvature compared to type B. If we want to
What does that mean when taking
understand what that means in practical
pictures of three dimensional subjects?
terms, we have to look at the curve with the
black dots in the graph above. It establishes
Now, we want to understand why the the relationship with the object space
curves of type A are so poor even at an distances. We can see that lens A delivers
aperture of 5.6. We also want to consider

Carl Zeiss AG Camera Lens Division 9/12

ideal definition at the image edge at
approx. 4m if you focus in the center to 5
meters.
100
MTF [%]
If we take a picture of an attractive
80
house with an inviting street café in front
of it, this curvature can be beneficial, 60
since the foreground is captured with
greater definition. If we only want to take 40
a picture of the facade, for example,
similar to reproducing a flat image, type 20
B would be the better choice. We would
then need to stop down type A to 8 or 11 0
0 5 10 15 20
if we know its properties.
u' [mm]

Since the world in front of the camera is

largely three dimensional, i.e., it has MTF curves of lens A in close-up range with a
depth, the perfect flattening of lenses is reproduction scale of 1:10, aperture 2.8 (above)
not necessarily always the best solution, and aperture 5.6
especially since the effort required to
correct the field curvature, which is
limited by volume and cost, must be
weighed against other abberations.
100
For example, it often helps to leave the MTF [%]
curvature slightly undercorrected to 80

correct the spherical abberation and

60
astigmatism. We see this as a trade-off
between the various strengths and
40
weaknesses of our two examples.
20

Comparing both lenses in close-up 0

range with a scale of 1:10 0 5 10 15 20
u' [mm]
To complete the assessment of the two
lenses, we will now compare them in the
close-up range at a scale of 1:10.
Afterwards, it will be more difficult to 100
determine which lens is "better": MTF [%]
80

60

100 40
MTF [%]
80 20

60 0
0 5 10 15 20
40 u' [mm]

20
MTF curves of lens B in close-up range with a
reproduction scale of 1:10, aperture 2.8 (above)
0
and aperture 5.6
0 5 10 15 20
u' [mm]
Now, lens A at full aperture in the entire
image field is considerably better and the
curvature has disappeared. When slightly
stopped down, lens B also achieves a good
result, but type A has nearly ideal curves.

Carl Zeiss AG Camera Lens Division 10/12

With this comparison, we see that two Makro-Planar lenses allow you to focus
different Planar lenses with the same very close up and also render excellent
focal length and aperture can be image quality. Unlike their older
differently well flattened, and that in predecessors with "S-" in their names, they
practice, the lens with less successfully are not specialty models designed for close-
flattened lens is not necessarily the less ups. Instead, they are universal lenses that
favorable choice. It can even offer capture excellent images of close and
advantages. distant subjects with no compromises.

In addition, we now see the limited value

of the popular lens tests that examine
each lens type in a repro application with 100
a relatively small object field and MTF [%]
suggest to us that the result is a 80
measure of image quality in all
photography situations. Of course, this 60
also holds true for our datasheets. They
cannot replace advice provided by our 40
experts, because you cannot translate
all properties of an optical system into a 20
half page of numbers.
0
0 5 10 15 20
Both examples clearly show us how
u' [mm]
difficult it can be to achieve excellent
image quality at distances ranging from
far away to up close. Both lenses are
macro lenses in which the scale 100
sensitivity is reduced by a slightly more MTF [%]
modest maximum aperture, but you still 80
have to make compromises.
60

40
With our modern Makro-Planar T* 2/50
and T* 2/100 lenses, we largely avoid 20
these compromises, as the lens
system's key parameters are 0
automatically changed when focusing. 0 5 10 15 20
u' [mm]

100
MTF [%]
80

60

40

20

0
0 5 10 15 20

Makro-Planar T* 2/100 features automatic u' [mm]

correction; top: lens position when focusing
to infinity; bottom: with a scale of 1:4. MTF data of the Makro-Planar T* 2/50 at infinity,
scale 1:10 and 1:4 (from top to bottom),
apertures 5.6 (top) and 4.

Carl Zeiss AG Camera Lens Division 11/12

Useful Makro accessories: close-up Extension rings are the accessories which
lens, close-up achromats and allow you to dive considerably deeper into
extension rings the close-up range. Here, however, you
Anyone wanting to take close-up shots cannot expect all lenses that are corrected
with his camera for the first time can also for larger distances to render particularly
capture images below the close-up limits good image definition with long extensions.
of his lens with the help of affordable Since in macro photography, you normally
accessories. Close-up lenses or stop down the aperture further due to
achromats, which are screwed into the desired depth of focus, the definition in the
filter thread and more or less serve the center is sufficient for many subjects, but
function of eyeglasses for close-up, are the corners are not yet really sharp with an
the best space-saving accessories and aperture of 11.
often the best choice for moderate close-
ups. With standard lenses with 50mm This is why it pays to buy a modern macro
focal length, they compensate increasing lens if you want to take a lot of pictures at a
barrel-shaped distortion at short scale of 1:10 or closer. Once you have
distance. If the close-up lens has a very enjoyed outstanding ease of use and image
strong refractive power, however, the quality, you will no longer want to do without
system displays a significant amount of this versatile tool ever again.
blur and flare caused by spherical
aberration. This disappears once you
stop down, but means you have to adjust
your focus. The most reliable option is to
focus with a working aperture using Life
View.

Photography of a banknote, left: an image corner with a Planar T* 1,4/50 lens and 14mm high
extension ring, right: with a Makro-Planar T* 2/100 ZF.2, both images were taken at f/4.

Carl Zeiss AG Camera Lens Division 12/12