Heres a little short-hand: ". The f/2.8 never really impressed me, even though its regarded as one of the best budget 28mm out there. Landmine Media, LLC. Would I be crazy to say I kinda prefer my 85mm f2.8 to my 85mm f1.4. Theres a lot of discussion whether the 135mm f/2.0 has a clear advantage over the f/2.8, especially when you take into account the price difference. Sony Information & communications technology Technology . For a while I didnt understand the need for 80mm fronts, so Ill share what I learned so others wont live too long unknowing like me! Badass thread, been looking around for a guide like this.
Vintage Lenses Recommendation (Contax Yashica, Canon FD, Minolta MD There is a bit of breathing when rack-focusing. It offers the advantage of one of the most sophisticated fully automatic through-the-lens exposure control available during the late seventies. Your 50/1.7 is an AE lens, based on it's serial number and lack of green last numbersince made in Japan, it is an AEJ. My favorite lens switched to the 85/1.4 after that, though. Expect there to be bidding wars on eBay now, the gates of CONTAX HELL have been unleashed. The 50 should be among the easiest to get right because the optical path is among the simplest. The 'Contax craze' is 15 years old and dates back to the introduction of the Canon 5D which was the first affordable full frame sensor. Whenever I started thinking the Soviet lenses were sharp, Id pop one of the Contax on the camera and stare in awe. DPReview TV: Nikon 58mm F0.95 Noct Review!
Contax Zeiss Survival Guide - REDUSER.net It was a time when I didnt shoot much, but I went on long bike rides. Contax I.
Contax rangefinder - Camera-wiki.org - The free camera encyclopedia By the 1960s, competition from the Japanese led to the eventual shuttering of both subsidiaries - even as the larger Zeisss stayed in business. . Back to the story. Your choice if you want them Cine-modded or not. There are DOZENS of lenses to choose from, that cover all focal lengths from 15mm to 500mm.
This wraps the first step in building a set of lenses: getting the glass. The downside of such magnification is that the focus ring travels a lot, pretty much doubling the physical length of the lens. I always took the 135 with me and some of my favorite photos come from that time. To me, Contax are a GREAT way to affordably get a very real cinematic look from a golden age in Zeiss optics. They have a pleasing organic rendering that is not dissimilar to Contax. As many of you knowI have been a strong proponent of Contax Glass on REDUSER for a while now. http://www.ebay.com/itm/EX-Modified-item3a8193c812, If this is your first visit, be sure to
----------------------------------------------------------. The Contax Zeiss Survival Guide: 1) WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT CONTAX GLASS? The Contax Zeiss Distagon 'Hollywood' 28mm F2.0 is a classic fast wide for full frame and is incredible on Super 35mm as well. It's cheapass ones I got from China. (Nick hope you don't mind my piggy-back!). Are not only the slowest, but frequently the most classic. Contax RTS glass can easily be adapted to EOS. Im one of the blowhards (haha) that has routinely made this claim that Contax glass shares a lot of the same pedigree as its medium format and cinema cousins.Standards, Supers and Hasselblads, respectively. Note: My hunch on the latitude/low con deal is as follows. For further details, see our Privacy Policy. The AE's are no longer serviced by Zeiss, keep that in mind. After I got the five Contax I went to look for more info and found Nick Morrison's Contax Zeiss Survival Guide at REDUser. I was not impressed, so I decided to make my own. Really. The Hasselblad we threw up also seemed to have an uncannily similar T* coating too. AgThunderbird A7Riii | A7ii infrared mod | Minolta 7 . Be patient, use heat and sandpaper, and youll get there. I got all my standard 80mm fronts from him, as well as slip-on lens caps. I'm sure its just due to copy variation and the years its weathered but pretty disappointing. Almost six months after I wrote this guide, I decided to update it with a quick survey of what lenses to consider - a general overview of the Contax lineup, if you will. What IS the Ninja-Star? Great help. You can tell them apart because MM have their last aperture number painted green, and they have a small tab on the mount that doesnt exist on AEs. Theyre killer tools for video, but in order to achieve maximum performance, theres a number of steps and procedures to tackle. Nitze's Affordable Cage for Atomos Shogun CONNECT Introduced, Three Lenses on One Camera at Once VERTIGO by MultiTurret Coming To Kickstarter Soon, MASV Completes AWS Integration with "Send from Amazon S3" Feature, FALCAM Maglink Camera Straps First Look, Aputure INFINIBAR Review - RGBWW Full-Color LED Pixel Bars, Sony ZV-E1 Review - Sony a7S III Lowlight Capabilities, Enhanced Autofocus and Powerful AI, OSEE Megamon 15 Review - Great 1000nits Portable Monitor with few Shortcomings, Filmstro Web App Demonstration with New Features - Make Your Own Soundtracks, Canon EOS R3 Lab Test - Rolling Shutter, Dynamic Range and Latitude Test, Panasonic LUMIX S5 II Lab Test - Rolling Shutter, Dynamic Range and Latitude, Nikon Z 9 N-RAW Lab Test (FW 3.00) - Rolling Shutter, Dynamic Range and Latitude. Leica Rs are much prettier. Also the low-con coating does give you more latitude. length (call Peter at RP lens, he can help), but if you can get them on your RED, they are also fantastic budget options. Because the wides are slow, you will almost certainly need to compliment your kit with a Tokina/Duclos 11-16 2.8. Shervin, thank you so much for posting those R3ds. The first one is AE and the second one is MM. All times are GMT-8. This is another trick to make lens swaps faster, since you wont need to adjust your follow focus back and forth on the rig. Otherwise, you should notice no optical or mechanical difference between the two lines. Certainly sharper than both its larger brothers, the 100 planar and 100 Macro. The 18mm is almost one fourth of the price and half the weight of the 15mm, plus it fits along with the other MMJs in the set. For declicking, I read a lot of posts from people saying its a super easy process on Contax Zeiss lenses, but I didnt have the guts for it. If I have a motor on the iris, itll have to be adjusted every time the lens is swapped. D) They are very easy to adapt to EOS mount. I thought I knew a bit but I just learned so much!
Contax Yashica lenses - German vs Japanese: Adapted Lens Talk Forum I have no idea why this is so and why they continue to sell this dog which takes until at least 2.8 to get reasonably sharp. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Im a fan of DIY, so I decided to install the mounts by myself. With less glass comes more consistency. This makes life easier when grabbing gear to go out and renting it as well. The fastest "wide" is the 28 f2. I personally own the 35mm and the 50mm. They cover full frame, are super easy to adapt to many other mounts and never lose their value. I know a bunch of photo magazines back in the 90's and early 2000's did comprehensive tests and reviews of Contax, I wonder if they lifted the numbers from one of those? C) They have the older Zeiss T* coating that we also find on Hasselblads, Super Speeds and Standardsand as such have a more organic rendering on digital than ZF/ZE/CP2s. Can't Attend? Its also quite similar to the modern 15/2.8 ZF/ZE offered by Zeiss, just a 2/3 stops slower.
KOMODO + Canon FD or Contax Zeiss + Focal Reducer Live with it. I don't want to feed your addiction or be your pusher or cause a break-up in your marriage or relationship but KEH has a "like new" 21/2.8 Distagon for $1,950.00. On my set some were MMJ, others AEG. Fairly "affordable" as well. So I figured I would write up a little CONTAX SURVIVAL GUIDE that tries to answer them all at once Contax Zeiss should be on your radar for a couple of reasons. It also has built-in color filters which I freaked out when I realized how to turn them. If you wanna follow this path, theres no way to dodge reading the Survival Guide. The more opinions you have, the less you see. Zeiss has their own language, their own nomenclature, for lens designs that is very useful to be familiar with as you start hunting for lenses. After that, B&H and ADORAMA are great choices. I still dont know when to use them, though! If you are like me and are interested in building up a large, varied kit of lenses that can fit every jobthen Contax are a great choice. Every time I had to pick a lens I went for the 35mm f/2.8 instead. If youre not a DIY spirited person or you dont like getting things from a million different places -, I worked with Ron at SIMMOD so he can provide caps with stickers already on them. Also because Soviet glass was super cheap. This will ensure a constant outside diameter, which means you dont have to adjust your follow focus every time you change lenses. is a huge fan. We've combed through the options and selected our two favorite cameras in this class. This is an endeavor Ive been working on and off for the last two years and now I can see the finish line. That was probably one of the most stressful experiences of my life with lenses. It was released in 1932. On the 918 I keep the main six lenses of the set plus variable NDs and other filters. Here are some things I got from it: Contax Zeiss lenses were designed for 35mm full frame, which means theyll cover all the way up to Vistavision sensors on modern cameras and anything smaller.
Contax / Zeiss Planar 100mm f2 (A7ii + X-T1) - FujiX-Forum The Marvelous Mrs. Maisels Cinematography Tips on Filming a Blizzard in June, Useful Tips on Working with LED Walls in Mixed Reality, Creating Full Soundscapes The Huge Impact of Foley and Sound Effects, DJI Inspire 3 Drone Everything You Need to Know, In the Spotlight With FUJIFILM Featuring Anna Andersen and Nilu Amin, In the Spotlight With FUJIFILM Featuring Rachael Porter, In the Spotlight With FUJIFILM Featuring Gina Hackett, In the Spotlight With FUJIFILM Featuring Adriana Bernal Martnez, Im selling all the gears I made for my set on eBay, I made a tutorial on how to make focus gears, but I was warned by my followers on Instagram about the edge the AE had over the MM, he can provide caps with stickers already on them, see here, by Moritz Schierenbeck on VLFVs facebook group. Be patient, use heat and sandpaper, and youll get there. smc super takumar lenses are often more available and significantly cheaper than the Contax. I would take Contax Zeiss over Canon "Cine Primes," Zeiss Compact Primes, or the new "Superspeeds" any day. No comparison. But on CERTAIN LENSES (with wide barrels) you def see it prominently at your SECOND and THIRD F-stop position (counting wide open as your FIRST position), For example, I notice it by far the most on my 35 1.4 and 85 1.4. What's the best camera for shooting landscapes? So I respond to that more. The main difference being that a normal human can afford Contax Zeiss but not Leicas. If you dont have a 3d-printer, Im selling all the gears I made for my set on eBay! Great post about contax! Luckily for me, out of the five lenses I only messed up really bad on one (the 85mm, which was also the first one I tried). I reached out to David at Hardcases.ca and got both a Nanuk 918 with padded dividers and a Nanuk 904 with foam to fit these babies. All of you, thank you. These I ordered from MOO, because they offered me more variety at a much lower price. My custom made front caps with focal length, f-stop and minimum focus distance. All Time Today Last Week Last Month. And. It looked neat, but from my experiences as 2nd Assistant Camera, I was constantly being asked how fast so-and-so lens was, or whats its minimum focus. They dilate quite a bit and fit much more easily. You could use it an any focal length and not really have any compromise relative the prime lenses of the time. to use CONTAX RTS glass interchangeably alongside PL glass, such as Contaxs cinema cousins, Super Speeds and Standard Speeds. I think its safe to say all these lenses from this era of Zeiss optics have remarkably similar coatings and magic. It's starting to become not much of a secret anymore (you can tell by the rising prices). But at F2 and 2.8you def notice it if you have a very busy frame with lots of bokeh.
Finally completed my set of modified Contax Zeiss lenses. AEs and MMs all color match. Focal length marked on the rear caps as well. Zeiss Ikon was also split apart into Eastern and Western divisions, but these two subsidiaries kept working togetherand Contax rangefinder cameras and lenses continued to be made on both sides of the wall. After I got the five Contax I went to look for more info and found the Contax Zeiss Survival Guide at REDUser. You can either build a $1500 set or a $10000 set and youll always impress with the results. Its also a big change in size and weight, almost doubling its predecessor. @ Yean: Same here, my Contaxes shift very little if at all, especially when compared to any modern electronic lens. By giving you that extra latitude in the blacks and highlights, they were letting photographers dial in how much black and contrast they wanted later in the dark roomwhen they were printing. On my set some were MMJ, others AEG. Domenic, you are selling your 100 Macro 2.8 right? It all started when I stumbled upon a post on Craigslist from a guy selling his Contax Zeiss set. Back then, not all C/Y Zeiss lenses could be adapted for EOS cameras . some lenses required minor surgery to make them useable. All times are GMT-8. How can i get those lenses from you? As mentioned before, the 50mm F1.7 is no slouch and it sure isn't! The 21/2.8 was a must. I shipped all of them to SIMMOD for declicking and a quick checkup. Would love to check out the Hollywood, but $$. We case our eye over the options costing more than $2500 but less than $4000, to find the best all-rounder. @Yean: I'm 99 % sure it's the adapter then. Last point on the focus gears: the same way you always want to have a constant outside diameter, you want to place them on the lenses at the same distance from the mount. Slowly I fell in love with them. The last decision I had to make was between the 18mm f/4 and the 15mm f/3.5. From the Contax Survival Guide: 100 3.5 - Like the 85 Sonnar, but slower and possibly even sharper. Wide open it's one of the sharpest F2.0 wide angle lenses available and it has very little distortion. That information was usually written in the lens case, and the focal length was on a sticker attached to the lens cap. Theyre fully manual focus and aperture -, have solid metal construction, long focus throw, and a great feel overall. If you're reeeaaaally on a budget and don't mind a very low contrast look, Zeiss Jena's are a guilty pleasure of mine. This is a sticky topic. As a reference, my main set of lenses at this time was a Soviet kit that I put together because of their imperfections and organic look. We've been taking a look at what it offers and what it's like to shoot with. Anyone who tells you otherwise is full of shit. I repeated the technique for the rear caps, this time with only the focal length written on them. These I ordered from MOO, because they offered me more variety at a much lower price. Otherwise, the transition from AE was meant to be seamless. Distagon, Planar, Sonnar, Tessar, Biogon and Hologon. It was a time when I didnt shoot much, but I went on long bike rides. The f/2.8 never really impressed me, even though its regarded as one of the best budget 28mm out there. This is a guide for people that love handling gear and tweaking little things here and there. But it's a lens meant for stills and cheap as hell compared to cine glass. All times are GMT-8. But Zeiss was so precious about these lenses that some of them were only made in Japan and others in Germany. Zeiss made the jump to MM's in order to enable camera control of the aperture. Im from Bangladesh.
Favorite Zeiss Lens? : GH5 - Reddit - Contax was created by Zeiss subsidiary Zeiss Ikon. For a while I didnt understand the need for 80mm fronts, so Ill share what I learned so others wont live too long unknowing like me! As they were designed for photography, they have clicked stops, which has to be dealt with, but they all feature non-rotating front elements, which is a very valuable feature these days with vari NDs. The 180 is cleaner, sharper and technically better. It's definitely not lens breathing. It all started when I stumbled upon a post on Craigslist from a guy selling his Contax Zeiss set. In this buying guide we've rounded-up several great cameras for shooting sports and action, and recommended the best. You have a wide range of lenses to pick from and equally different price tags. These are way more common in AE, but I was lucky enough to find a MM coming straight from Japan. If I have a motor on the iris, itll have to be adjusted every time the lens is swapped. In my experience, Japanese and German lenses are equally good. Wide open the 1.4 is great, but the focusing ring just feels very clunky on my copy. I own (or have owned) an AE 25 2.8, 28 f2, 28 2.8, 35 1.4, 45 2.8, 50 1.4, 50 1.7, 60 2.8, 85 1.4, 85 2.8, 135 f2, 135 2.8, and 200 3.5and ALL OF THEM have the Ninja-Star.
Contax Zeiss Survival Guide - REDUSER.net Building this set was a great experience throughout. I was just ahead of the game, so it wasnt necessary on my case. But I now have the 200 and I have to admit, the bokeh is very pleasing and captivating, and I prefer it. Also almost twice as big and heavy as the previous one. So far, I had no previous love for Contax and a little bit of prejudice against Zeiss for making lenses too clean.
Conveniently for me as I was finishing the set, SIMMOD Lens came into the picture, with very competitive prices, impressive customer service and super high-quality products. Though I have to say, until you put in a lens review on each lens, I think you will continue to be fairly regularly PM'd :)) Though I'm sure that info is pretty well covered actually if you read through your post history :), Phil Holland - Cinematographer - Los Angeles. For a little over a year, this was enough. I started using these lenses casually. Its a very charming (or annoying, depending on your POV) design to the aperture blades that looks like a crooked ninja throwing star. So far, I had no previous love for Contax and a little bit of prejudice against Zeiss for making lenses too clean. Anyone who says a lens made in Germany is better than the same lens made in Japan is full of shit. Collapse. It had five lenses: 28/2.8, 35/2.8, 50/1.4, 85/1.4 and 135/2.8. If you do have a printer, I made a tutorial on how to make focus gears! Time. One thing that the push-pull nature of the zooms helps with, is snap-zooms. In terms of a look, weve shot with both and there is a clear difference to me. Building this set was a great experience throughout. Also almost twice as big and heavy as the previous one. (Heres where I beleive the Leica Rs have a clear advantage, their 19mm is a 2.8which is pretty amazing). I met amazing businesses with folks that really know how to deal with their customers, I did try out mindblowing glass and I was humbled by all the feedback I got when asking questions about what would be my best options in the middle of the process and posting updates of what I was working on. to use on my Komodo. It was not a problem as a starter set. Stay current with regular CineD updates about news, reviews, how-tos and more. Original Contax Zeiss set on the left, Soviet set on the right. The data provided and the newsletter opening statistics will be stored on a personal data basis until you unsubscribe. Speaking of good prices, many links in this post will take you directly to eBay searches of each specific lens! Under enormous pressure from the West, Eastern Zeiss eventually relinquished the naming rights to CONTAX to Western Zeiss. Sometimes you have to go with what you can get your hands on. The Hollywood is indeed a star and the image that comes out of it is much more appealing than the 28/2.8. Remember me Log in Forgot password or user name? I went for the fastest lenses and snuffed out the AEGs I had, in favor of the prettier bokeh of the MMJs. Germany vs Japan? The two rivals would go to war over the name Zeiss until the end of the Cold War (it was the longest court case in the history of East Germany). Could it be that yours was bumped once in it's lifetime, if it's not the adapter? Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom impress in a lot of ways, but their noise reduction lags the competition and their lens corrections lack a real-world basis. Both look awesome, and I think people are splitting hairs. Speaking of good prices, many links in this post will take you directly to eBay searches of each specific lens! This page was generated at 05:50 PM. They have more saturated colors, deeper blacks. These babies were bleeding me dry. They are much more closer to a Super/Standard speed look then the modern zeiss glass including the Cp2s. The Contax I was Zeiss' answer to Leica's offerings in the 35mm market, one . Zeiss AE lens information brochure, "The Finest Optics by Zeiss", The Carl Zeiss Distagon 2.8/28 T* enjoys a very good reputation and it is a bit more expensive at around 250. The 35 f2, 25f2, 50 f2 lenses are all completely new and completely superb. Not saying the 135/2 isnt worth it the investment, its just much heavier and harder to carry as a walk-around lens. Contax are by no means the only cool, vintage kids on the block. This was a game changer. This is a sticky topic. :) Thanks buddy. Zeiss AE lens information I found a link to this awesome Zeiss Contax lens brochure, dated October 1975 (12 MB). They are made in Spain, cost about 60 euros each and you install them on the back of the lenses using the provided screws. Happy Memorial day all. Againthis is just a hunch on my part, dont shoot me 5) HOW TO SHOP FOR THEM - DON'T GET "G", "N", or "645". I needed the one extra stop of light though, for consistent f/2 or faster through the main set. If you dont want to deal with that, hunt for MMs. For example, the 200 3.5 Tessar was "updated" with a Sonnar 180 2.8. ZF/ZEs only go as far as 135mm. This turns the original C/Y mount into a solid EF mount that wont budge for nothing. I dont want to get into a German war over which is better, Leica R or Contax. Theyre fully manual focus and aperture -, have solid metal construction, long focus throw, and a great feel overall. Now Im gonna move into streamlining it for shooting and making it the best possible lenses to handle on set. Informative and equally hilarious in parts :) I'm sure it will prove a resource for many many people over the years. They dont have it. Last point on the focus gears: the same way you always want to have a constant outside diameter, you want to place them on the lenses at the same distance from the mount. As they were designed for photography, they have clicked stops, which has to be dealt with, but they all feature non-rotating front elements, which is a very valuable feature these days with vari NDs. The original CONTAX RTS was introduced in ,highly advanced electronic SLR system camera developed by mutual cooperation of Carl Zeiss, West Germany, and Yashica, Japan. I shipped all of them to SIMMOD for declicking and a quick checkup. To check if I did it, just follow me on Instagram as I post all my lens experiments there! They also look more modern and clean. Posts; Latest Activity; Photos . I say that because Ive encountered many people who get confused and think Contax is weird Japanese junk.
Total newbie question about connecting Zeiss Contax lenses to BMPCC Canon FD's are the predecessors to Canon L glass, and have a superb pedigree. The rubber grip on the focus ring of the lenses is awesome because it prevents the gears from sliding, but its also a pain because it makes the fitting a lot harder. are considered to be the best removable adapters ($90). Not saying the 135/2 isnt worth it the investment, its just much heavier and harder to carry as a walk-around lens. send me payment method & how many days it will take? I like to add 0.3mm to the measurement to give me a little wiggle room after printing. The process turned out alright and the gears worked great, but later on I learned some useful tricks. This page was generated at 05:50 PM. Whenever I started thinking the Soviet lenses were sharp, Id pop one of the Contax on the camera and stare in awe. But dont expect them to have the even performance of a set of Ultraprimes or Masterprimes (where many of the primes are not only similar in size and weight, but also perform similarly at matching T stops!).
Introduction to Contax Zeiss + Cine Tune-Up Guide These last two are challenging to adapt to EOS because of their. Pm for pics. This was a game changer. The Soviets were good enough for my own projects, but I needed something more reliable on this one. Then, near the end of last year I decided to round out the set and make it suitable for renting.
Contax Zeiss Survival Guide - REDUSER.net Besides Leica Rs, also give Nikkors (obviously), Canon FDs, and Minolta Rokkors a good look. Just the slight gain in speed/compactness? I'm not that far from NYC, and head down every so often. I also feel that the ninja-star may funkify the bokeh a bitgive it a touch of painterly magicbut that may just be meand this wild opinion is something I may need to test out a bit more! Above $2500 cameras tend to become increasingly specialized, making it difficult to select a 'best' option. Family moments are precious and sometimes you want to capture that time spent with loved ones or friends in better quality than your phone can manage. Search. Almost six months after I wrote this guide, I decided to update it with a quick survey of what lenses to consider - a general overview of the Contax lineup, if you will. I returned to the guide and started eBay hunting. They are also a little sloppy on the mount, which can be alarming. It's taken me a few years to build this set, and I absolutely love the look I get from them The 21mm is still regarded as one of the best wide angle lenses you can buy, hence why it is one of .