Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Sonnar 250mm f/5.6 (1600F/1000F)

Carl Zeiss · Hasselblad 1600F · 1955 · Sonnar

Also known as: Zeiss Sonnar 250mm f/5.6 · Sonnar 5.6/250 · Hasselblad 1000F Sonnar 250

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
1600F/1000F thread mount Hasselblad 1600F (M60×6 three-start thread) 1955–1957 — About 500 in the F mount (Marco Cavina)

Specifications

Formula
Sonnar
Construction
4 elements / 3 groups
Aperture range
f/5.6–f/45
Min. focus
2.5 m
Country
Germany

What reviewers say

No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.

Optical formula — Sonnar

Zeiss published no data sheet for this lens that has reached the web — the pre-1957 collection holds sheets for the Tessar 80, the Distagon 60, the Sonnar 135 and the Sonnar 250mm f/4, and nothing for this one. Its scheme is described as almost identical to the f/4's, but a drawing made by analogy is not a drawing made from evidence, so none is offered here.

History

The second and slower of the two 250mm Sonnars made for the 1600F and 1000F, calculated on 8 September 1952 and sold from 1955 until the system ended two years later. Cavina counts about 500 in this mount, which makes it rarer than the f/4 that preceded it, though both are scarce enough that neither turns up often.

Its optical scheme is described as almost identical to the f/4’s — four elements in three groups in the Sonnar arrangement — with the aperture the practical difference: f/5.6 to f/45 here against f/4 to f/32, a lens two-thirds of a stop slower that stops down considerably further. Minimum focus is the same 2.5m and the field the same 18°.

The design did not end with the camera. When Hasselblad moved to the 500C and its leaf-shutter bayonet in 1957, a Sonnar 250mm f/5.6 C appeared for the new system and stayed in the catalogue for decades. Whether it is this lens remounted or a recomputation is not settled by any source consulted, and the two should not be assumed identical simply because the name and the numbers match — the same caution that applies to the two Distagon 60mm f/5.6 lenses either side of the same changeover.

What is certain is that they do not interchange. This lens takes the M60×6 three-start thread of the pre-1957 cameras and fits nothing after them.

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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 (1600F/1000F)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $300 across 140 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $230–$600). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: down 3% from $310.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$300$230–$600140
2026-09-06$310$230–$610136

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 335 more listings

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Listings updated 2026-09-11. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Sonnar 250mm f/5.6

Sources (3)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.