Sonnar 250mm f/5.6 (SL66)
Carl Zeiss · Rollei SL66 · 1966 · Sonnar, 4 elements in 3 groups
Also known as: Rollei SL66 Sonnar 250mm f/5.6 · Rolleiflex SL66 Sonnar 250mm F5.6 · Carl Zeiss Sonnar 5.6/250 SL66 · Sonnar HFT 250mm f/5.6 SL66 · Rollei HFT Sonnar 250mm F5.6 SL66 · Zeiss Sonnar 250mm f5.6 for Rollei SL66 · ローライ SL66 ゾナー 250mm F5.6 · ローライフレックス SL66 Sonnar 250mm F5.6
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonnar 5.6/250 (October 1966 onward; HFT later) | Rollei SL66 | 1966 | — | — |
- Rollei built the SL66 lenses under licence from Carl Zeiss from 1974, engraved 'Made by Rollei'; the earlier lenses are Zeiss-built. The brand is Carl Zeiss because the design and name are Zeiss's.
- Four elements in three groups in sl66.rolleigraphy.eu (3/4), English Wikipedia (4/3) and Japanese Wikipedia. Weight, dimensions and the f/45 minimum are from the English Wikipedia table.
- Closest focus is the body's bellows limit: English Wikipedia gives 1.4 m (4 ft 9 in), Japanese Wikipedia 1.53 m as a working distance; the two measure from different points, and neither is a helicoid figure. The 1.4 m is used here as the figure from the fuller table.
- HFT dating follows the system chronology on sl66.rolleigraphy.eu, 1972 on its lenses page and 1974 on its cameras page, which is written for the Planar 80; no date specific to the 250 was found. No blade count, production total or list price was found.
How to tell them apart
- A 250 mm Sonnar with no focusing ring and the SL66 double bayonet; the SLX/6000 Sonnar 250 has a helicoid and contacts, the Hasselblad Sonnar 250 a leaf shutter and the V bayonet
- Unlike the 500 and 1000 mm lenses it has an automatic diaphragm, and like them it stays usable at any extension of the bellows
Sonnar 5.6/250 (October 1966 onward; HFT later):
- A long, slim barrel of 79 × 143 mm and 665 g with only an aperture ring, f/5.6 to f/45 (English Wikipedia); Bayonet VI at the front like the shorter lenses
- Carl Zeiss on the single-coated and Zeiss-built HFT lenses; 'Made by Rollei' with HFT on licence-built lenses from 1974 (camera-wiki's HFT row); chrome aperture ring to about 1982, black after
- Sonnar 5.6/250 (October 1966 onward; HFT later): The long telephoto launched with the camera in October 1966 and listed by sl66.rolleigraphy.eu until after 1994. The July 1979 US dealer list reproduced in English Wikipedia has no 250 mm lens, which suggests it was not imported throughout.
Specifications
- Formula
- Sonnar, 4 elements in 3 groups
- Construction
- 4 elements / 3 groups
- Aperture range
- f/5.6–f/45
- Min. focus
- 1.4 m
- Dimensions
- 79 × 143 mm
- Weight
- 665 g
- Filter
- Rollei Bayonet VI
- Years manufactured
- 1966
- Country
- West Germany
- Coating
- Single-coated 1966–c.1972/74; HFT multicoating after
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 5.6/250 is the long telephoto of the Rolleiflex SL66, launched with the camera in October 1966 and listed by sl66.rolleigraphy.eu until after 1994. It is a four-element, three-group Sonnar, the classic count of the Hasselblad Sonnar 250 of 1957, built as a bare barrel for the SL66: no shutter, no focusing mount, an automatic diaphragm from f/5.6 to f/45, and the Bayonet VI filter mount shared with the shorter lenses. At 665 g and 143 mm long it is the longest lens on the camera that keeps the automatic diaphragm; the 500 and 1000 mm lenses are pre-set. The body’s bellows focus it to about 1.4 m by Wikipedia’s figure, and the lens board’s 8° of tilt is available with it as with any SL66 lens.
Its generations follow the system rather than anything specific to the lens: single-coated and Zeiss-built from 1966, HFT multicoating from 1972 or 1974 according to which page of sl66.rolleigraphy.eu is read, “Made by Rollei” licence production from 1974, chrome aperture rings giving way to black around 1982, and a mount for the open-aperture metering of the SL66E, X and SE from 1982. The July 1979 US dealer price list that English Wikipedia reproduces carries no 250 mm lens, nor the 40 or 500, so the lens was not always on sale in the United States and is scarcer there than the 80 and 150.
No review of the lens was found; Nuno Pinheiro lists a 250 among the lenses he has added to his SL66 kit without describing it. When buying, expect a lens without a focusing ring (one with a helicoid is the SLX/6000 version), check that the diaphragm closes cleanly to f/45, and look down the long barrel for haze. Blade count, production total and list price were not found.
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 (SL66)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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