Pekka Buttler, 2/2025
First off: This article is what Wikipedia would call a stub. I will expand on it later. In the meantime, feel free to help me out with images, brochures and further information.
Next, the Enna Sockel is not technically speaking a lens mount. Instead it is a very early intermediate mount. While it likely is not the first intermediate mount, it is the first to facilitate camera-to-lens communication.
Three, the Enna Sockel is a rather special intermediate mount (compared to other intermediate mounts) in that the focusing helicoid was integrated into the base-part (the one that is mounted on the camera). In essence this means that if you think of a complete Enna Sockel lens as a combination of ‘Sockel’ and ‘Lens’ then the lens contains only the optics, the aperture ring and the diaphragm mechanism. Enna’s logic seems to have been to avoid as much duplication and hence offer the user a more cost-effective way to get a range of Enna lenses.
Four: Sockel is German and means ‘foundation’1. You can think of it as the foundation you build your lens on.
Five: there are two generations of the Enna Sockel.
The first generation (1958–63) facilitated only automatic stop-down, but the aperture had to be opened up and cocked manually (semi-automatic aperture). These versions can be visually identified by that their zebra rings are broad and that they have a lever for cocking the semi-automatic aperture mechanism.
The second generation (1964-67) of the Enna Sockel changed from semi-automatic aperture to fully automatic aperture. This generation carry the narrow zebra rings and a manual-automatic switch.
Sadly, the two generations are incompatible (i.e. you cannot mount a lens from a first generation Sockel lens on a second generation Sockel and expect it to work).
Six: There were first generation Enna Sockels for at least Exakta and M42 lens mounts. For the second generation adapters to the Alpa and Miranda mounts were added2.
To learn more and see some pictures I recommend Horst Neuhaus’ site and especially his thorough discussion on the Enna Sockel.
Adapting Yashica Pentamatic -mount lenses:
Based on rather scarce information, the one thing I can safely say is that if an Enna Sockel lens has landed in your lap (without the Socket-part), then the only sensible way for you to adapt that lens is to procure an Enna Sockel of the same generation as your lens that offers a lens mount that you can work with (M42 and Exakta are likely the safest bets).
Specifications of the Enna Sockel mount:
To be added later.
History of the Enna Sockel mount:
To be added later
Identifying the Enna Sockel mount?
To be added later
- Some sources translate Sockel to ‘socket’. While this makes sense it is technically incorrect. ↩︎
- There are further indications (at least in the form of a dealer price list) that an adapter for some Yashica camera was in the works. Also there have been seen adapters for the Edixa Model A (which combines an M42 mount with a Exakta-like external triggering mechanism). ↩︎