Carl Zeiss Jena's Exakta portrait jewel — the Biotar 75mm f/1.5 with dramatic swirly bokeh.
The Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 75mm f/1.5 is a fast short-telephoto portrait prime from Jena, one of the most sought-after lenses ever offered in the Exakta bayonet. It paired the Biotar double-Gauss formula with a longer focal length and a very bright f/1.5 aperture, making it the premium portrait glass of the early Exakta system. Its Exakta-fit production dates from around 1938 and surviving examples are prized by collectors.
This is a manual-focus Exakta-mount lens with a 75mm focal length and a maximum aperture of f/1.5. It uses a double-Gauss Biotar-type optical layout scaled to the longer focal length. The aperture is controlled on the barrel and couples through the Exakta internal lever on bodies that support it. Coating and construction figures vary across the production run and are omitted here where they cannot be confirmed for a specific example.
The Biotar 75mm f/1.5 is celebrated for a strong swirly bokeh that is even more pronounced than its 58mm sibling: wide open, background highlights toward the edges rotate into a dramatic whirlpool while the subject stays sharp. Combined with the longer focal length and shallow depth of field, this gives portraits a striking three-dimensional separation. It is above all a portrait lens chosen for that specific rendering.
This is a rare and expensive collector lens, and prices for clean Exakta examples are very high. Inspect the glass thoroughly for haze, fungus, separation and coating wear, since any of these affects both value and rendering. Confirm the aperture is clean and the focus helicoid smooth, and be cautious of rehoused or heavily serviced copies. On mirrorless via an Exakta adapter it delivers its signature swirl on modern sensors.