Sonnar 250mm f/5.6 (6000)
Carl Zeiss · Rollei 6000 · 1976 · Sonnar, 4 elements in 3 groups
Also known as: Rollei Sonnar 250mm f/5.6 HFT · Rolleiflex 6000 Sonnar 250mm F5.6 · Carl Zeiss Sonnar HFT 5.6/250 Rollei · Sonnar HFT 250mm f/5.6 PQ · Sonnar 250mm F5.6 PQS Rollei 6008 · Rollei 6008 250mm Sonnar · Rollei SLX 250mm f5.6 · Zeiss Sonnar 250 HFT 6006 · ローライ ゾナー 250mm F5.6 HFT · ローライフレックス 6000 ゾナー 250mm · カールツァイス ゾナー HFT 250mm F5.6 PQ
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonnar HFT 5.6/250, original SLX-type lens (no PQ marking) | Rollei 6000 | 1976 | — | — |
| Sonnar HFT 5.6/250 PQ (1988–) | Rollei 6000 | 1988 | — | — |
| Sonnar HFT 5.6/250 PQS, order no. 62 624 (1990–) · As the PQ, with lighter shutter blades timed to 1/1000 s (PQS); the second-generation linear motors draw more current, so the lens does not work on the SLX, 6006 or 6002 | Rollei 6000 | 1990 | — | — |
| Sonnar HFT 5.6/250 EL, M67 thread, order no. 86 760 | Rollei 6000 | — | — | — |
- Construction (4 elements in 3 groups), aperture range f/5.6–45, closest focus 2.5 m, dimensions, weights and filter fittings are from the English Wikipedia list of SLX/6000/Hy6 lenses, which draws on Rollei's 1984 Lenses for 6006/SLX brochure, the 1985 6006/6002 brochure, the 1993 6008 SRC 1000 brochure and Rollei's 6000-System lens brochure. Rolleigraphy.eu, working from the same Rollei brochure and Prochnow's Rollei Report 5, gives 4/3 and an 18° diagonal and 13° horizontal field; Japanese Wikipedia gives 3群4枚, 2.5 m and a Series VI attachment for both the SLX-era and the PQS lens.
- Years. 1976 is the SLX's own launch year and the start of the original lens generation; the lens is in Rollei's SLX table of 1984, but no document consulted dates its introduction. 1988 for the PQ is the 6008 professional's year, and 1990 is when PQS lenses arrived (rolleigraphy.eu). The EL is undated. No end date was found for any version.
- Family dimensions in the table are the PQ/PQS/EL figures (82.5 × 170 mm, 1,150 g); the original lens is listed at 81.5 × 168 mm and 1,200 g.
- Relatives. The Sonnar 5.6/250 for the SL66 and the Hasselblad Sonnar C 5.6/250 are also 4 elements in 3 groups by every source consulted, and all three are Oberkochen Sonnars of the same focal length and speed; whether the 6000 lens is the identical computation in a new barrel is not stated by any of them.
- Not found: the number of diaphragm blades, a list price in any currency, and production figures.
How to tell them apart
- Rollei 6000 bayonet with a row of ten electrical contacts and no shutter-speed ring: the shutter inside the lens is timed by the body, and the aperture ring runs 5.6–45 with an 'A' position for automatic exposure (English Wikipedia, Rolleiflex SLX)
- The generation is written beside the aperture numbers: nothing on the original lens, 'PQ' or 'PQS' engraved or printed on the later ones, 'EL lens' in white on the Economy Line (rolleigraphy.eu)
- Not the Sonnar 5.6/250 for the SL66, which has no shutter and the SL66's focal-plane-body bayonet, and not the Hasselblad Sonnar C/CF 250, which carries a Synchro-Compur or Prontor shutter with its own speed ring
Sonnar HFT 5.6/250, original SLX-type lens (no PQ marking):
- No PQ, PQS or EL marking beside the aperture numbers: the original lenses carry no type indication at all, and the trade sells them simply as 'HFT' (rolleigraphy.eu)
- Bayonet VI filter mount; 81.5 × 168 mm and 1,200 g in the 1984 Rollei table, against 82.5 × 170 mm and 1,150 g for the PQ and EL lenses (English Wikipedia list)
- Shutter-priority and manual exposure only: the aperture ring's A position hands the aperture to the body, and there is no aperture-priority or program mode with this lens on any body
Sonnar HFT 5.6/250 PQ (1988–):
- 'PQ' engraved or printed to the right of the aperture numbers (rolleigraphy.eu)
- Bayonet VI filter mount, 82.5 × 170 mm, 1,150 g (English Wikipedia list)
- Adds aperture-priority and program exposure on the 6008 and later bodies; 1/500 s top speed
Sonnar HFT 5.6/250 PQS, order no. 62 624 (1990–):
- 'PQS' engraved or printed to the right of the aperture numbers; Rollei order no. 62 624 (rolleigraphy.eu)
- Top speed 1/1000 s, which Rollei's brochure text sells as 'ideal for perfectly lit flash shots and well-balanced fill-in in studio and stage work' (quoted on rolleigraphy.eu)
Sonnar HFT 5.6/250 EL, M67 thread, order no. 86 760:
- 'EL lens' printed in white to the right of the aperture numbers (rolleigraphy.eu)
- M67 × 0.75 filter thread in place of the Bayonet VI; the hood still mounts on a Bayonet VI (rolleigraphy.eu); 82.5 × 170 mm, 1,150 g (English Wikipedia list)
- Electrically a PQ lens: aperture-priority and program modes work, top speed 1/500 s
- Sonnar HFT 5.6/250, original SLX-type lens (no PQ marking): The SLX-era lens, in Rollei's table of SLX lenses of 1984 as the Sonnar HFT 250 f/5.6–45, 2.5 m, Bayonet VI. Rollei built Zeiss-designed lenses under licence from 1971 and marked them with the lens name but not the Carl Zeiss name (rolleigraphy.eu). It mounts on every later 6000 body but limits it to shutter-priority and manual exposure.
- Sonnar HFT 5.6/250 PQ (1988–): The Professional Quality version introduced with the 6008 professional of 1988. The glass is the same 4-in-3 Sonnar; what changed is the electronics, which let the 6008 run aperture-priority and program modes. On the SLX, 6006 and 6002 it works with those bodies' limited modes (rolleigraphy.eu).
- Sonnar HFT 5.6/250 PQS, order no. 62 624 (1990–): The 1/1000 s version. PQS lenses were not introduced until 1990 although the 6008 professional of 1988 was built to time them; the 'SRC 1000' name of the later 6008 does not mark the arrival of the speed (rolleigraphy.eu). Fits the 6008, 6003, 6001 and, without autofocus, the Hy6; not the pre-1988 bodies.
- Sonnar HFT 5.6/250 EL, M67 thread, order no. 86 760: The Economy Line version: the PQ lens with threaded filters instead of the bayonet, sold cheaper to widen the price gap from the PQS (rolleigraphy.eu). Rollei order no. 86 760. No source consulted dates it.
Specifications
- Formula
- Sonnar, 4 elements in 3 groups
- Construction
- 4 elements / 3 groups
- Aperture range
- f/5.6–f/45
- Shutter
- Electronically timed leaf shutter built into the lens, 30 s–1/500 s, its blades and the diaphragm driven by voice-coil linear motors through the 10-pin contact; speeds are set on the body
- Min. focus
- 2.5 m
- Dimensions
- 82.5 × 170 mm
- Weight
- 1150 g
- Filter
- Rollei Bayonet VI (EL: M67 × 0.75 thread) (Sonnar HFT 5.6/250, original SLX-type lens (no PQ marking), Sonnar HFT 5.6/250 PQ (1988–), Sonnar HFT 5.6/250 PQS, order no. 62 624 (1990–)) · 67 mm (Sonnar HFT 5.6/250 EL, M67 thread, order no. 86 760)
- Years manufactured
- 1976
- Country
- Germany
- Coating
- HFT multicoating (red HFT on the name ring)
What reviewers say
No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.
History
The Sonnar HFT 5.6/250 is the long lens of the Rolleiflex SLX and 6000 system from its SLX beginnings: a four-element, three-group Zeiss Sonnar of the kind Oberkochen had supplied to the Rolleiflex SL66 and to Hasselblad, fitted here with the electronically timed leaf shutter and linear-motor diaphragm that every lens in the system carries, and a ten-contact bayonet through which the body times it from 30 s to 1/500 s. It focuses to 2.5 m, stops down to f/45, weighs about 1.15–1.2 kg and takes Rollei’s Bayonet VI filters, covering 18° across the diagonal of the 6×6 frame. Rollei’s brochure text, as quoted on rolleigraphy.eu, calls it “classical, easy-to-use” and points it at close-ups from a distance, wildlife and sport.
Four versions exist, and they differ in electronics and fittings rather than glass. The original lens, listed in Rollei’s 1984 SLX table, carries no type marking and gives only shutter-priority and manual exposure. The PQ of the 6008 professional era adds aperture-priority and program modes; the PQS, from 1990, has lighter blades timed to 1/1000 s and second-generation motors that draw more current than the SLX, 6006 and 6002 can supply, so it is a lens for the 6008 onward (and the Hy6, without autofocus). The EL is the PQ sold with an M67 thread instead of the bayonet filter mount, Rollei’s Economy Line. The generation is printed beside the aperture numbers, which is the first thing to read on a used example, since the trade tends to list every one as “HFT”.
No written or filmed review of this lens was found, and no list price in any currency; the Hasselblad and SL66 Sonnars of the same specification are the documented relatives. When buying, the shutter and diaphragm can only be exercised on a working body or a tester, because both are driven electrically and nothing moves without power; a lens that sat for decades should be run through its speeds, and the ten contacts inspected. A PQS copy bought for an SLX or 6006 will not work on it at all.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Example photos
Sample photo wanted — shot with a Sonnar 250mm f/5.6 (6000)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
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