I think its safe to say all these lenses from this era of Zeiss optics have remarkably similar coatings and magic. B&Hs 9 rating is mint and superb, as is EX+ at Adorama. Learn how your comment data is processed. I own them both. These are creative tools, use them as such. Nothing is free. For a little over a year, this was enough. May be one of the sharpest Contax primes ever made. To fix that I took the stickers off, added a thin layer of glue, put the stickers back in place and let it all dry overnight. Building this set was a great experience throughout. Contax Zeiss Survival Guide In reply to Giovanni_1968 Nov 30, 2021 While this site is targeted to adapting Zeiss Contax lenses for video, it also seems to be the go-to guide for the rest of us with respect to these lenses. Happy Memorial day all. http://www.ebay.com/itm/EX-Modified-item3a8193c812, If this is your first visit, be sure to This wraps the first step in building a set of lenses: getting the glass. MM's from 1984 to 2005. Its a gradual process, guys. 1. Also almost twice as big and heavy as the previous one. The price was pretty good and Im the type of person that can buy something just because the price is good. To check if I did it, just follow me on Instagram as I post all my lens experiments there! They rack focus beautifully. Copyright 2023 Vintage Lenses For Video. The 50 should be among the easiest to get right because the optical path is among the simplest. Could it be that yours was bumped once in it's lifetime, if it's not the adapter? I got all my standard 80mm fronts from him, as well as slip-on lens caps. I remember years back when it was Pebble Place, Fred Miranda, a few random flickr pages and foggy lens tech folklore for figuring out this old glass. How to Cine-Mod old Contax Zeiss Lenses from eBay on a Budget The Hollywood is indeed a star and the image that comes out of it is much more appealing than the 28/2.8. The issue that came up from was the stickers were having a hard time sticking to the material of the lens caps and were peeling off on their own. At this point the price argument was adding a lot of weight. Though alot of the photography forum guys refer to those tests for 'official' MTF results they're a lot easier to read than Zeiss's graphs and they're all in one place. Every time I had to pick a lens I went for the 35mm f/2.8 instead. @Yean: I'm 99 % sure it's the adapter then. or Sign Up Log in with Search in titles onlySearch in Lens Tests only Search Advanced Search Forums Groups New Posts Today's Posts Member List Forum Shooting RED 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!). People (me included) didn't like the poor performance of the Canon EF wide lenses and the 21mm and 28mm 2.8 Contax lenses filled the gap. It is smoother one direction than it is the other too which is peculiuar. My favorite lens switched to the 85/1.4 after that, though. The Sony FE 2/28 is brand new and the most expensive one at 450. Distagon, Planar, Sonnar, Tessar, Biogon and Hologon. For further details, see our Privacy Policy. Next up was the 35mm, two stops faster at f/1.4. On digital, these things are a home run, like Standards and Super Speeds. I had a feeling Nick was up to making a guide like this. This makes life easier when grabbing gear to go out and renting it as well. The two specialty lenses the 15/3.5 super wide and 60/2.8 macro go on the smaller 904 case. I will leave you with a few beautiful videos that will definitely help you make up your mind! All content, design, and layout are Copyright 19982023 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved. 28mm comparison: 28/2.8 on the left, 28/2.0 Hollywood on the right. The two specialty lenses the 15/3.5 super wide and 60/2.8 macro go on the smaller 904 case. Copyright 2007-2022. After I got the five Contax I went to look for more info and found Nick Morrisons Contax Zeiss Survival Guide at REDUser. 80mm is the outside diameter of the rings, and that number is so specific because its a standard size for clip-on matteboxes. The price was pretty good and Im the type of person that can buy something just because the price is good. But I now have the 200 and I have to admit, the bokeh is very pleasing and captivating, and I prefer it. We noticed this specifically on a shoot where we mixed Leica Rs and Contaxs, and the Contaxs def gave us about a stop extra in latitude. And they all have a very wide focus throw compared to other still lenses. It all started when I stumbled upon a post on Craigslist from a guy selling his Contax Zeiss set. This will ensure a constant outside diameter, which means you dont have to adjust your follow focus every time you change lenses. Since the filter threads across the set are wildly different (from 55 to 72mm), standardizing the filter threads to 77mm allows you to own one single set of filters which can quickly switch lenses without the need for tons of step rings. The 60/2.8 AE can do 1:1 magnification, while the MM can only reach 1:2. Are often more traditional designs. Landmine Media, LLC. AE lenses were made between 1975 and 1984. Would I be crazy to say I kinda prefer my 85mm f2.8 to my 85mm f1.4. Distagon, Planar, Sonnar, Tessar, Biogon and Hologon. You can see our informal results. LensFinder | NEW way to buy & sell OLD lenses. Yupthey go as far 500mm. As mentioned before, the 50mm F1.7 is no slouch and it sure isn't! On my set some were MMJ, others AEG. Note: My hunch on the latitude/low con deal is as follows. These have less elements (6?). Want regular CineD updates about news, reviews, how-tos and more?Sign up to our newsletter and we will give you just that. Thoughts? I havent tested these much yet, and I ended up not doing standard outside diameters. Collapse. Heres the full line of glass. length (call Peter at RP lens, he can help), but if you can get them on your RED, they are also fantastic budget options. If you are not great at DIY, make sure to check out our sponsors SimmodLens and FollowFocusGears.com for pretty much all the mods mentioned in the article above. 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 know organic is a hackneyed term, but it fits. If you dont have a 3d-printer, Im selling all the gears I made for my set on eBay! The 180 is cleaner, sharper and technically better. Lastly, just for curiositys sake, Carl Zeiss has a specific nomenclature for his lens designs and you can see some of them written on the ID ring of these Contax Zeiss lenses. You can see, Ryan de Franco called my bluff recently, and he let me sit in on his informal test looking into how similar Contax in FACT areto Standards and Super Speeds. Its also a big change in size and weight, almost doubling its predecessor. If you wanna follow this path, theres no way to dodge reading the Survival Guide. This will ensure a constant outside diameter, which means you dont have to adjust your follow focus every time you change lenses. Thats NOT to say all the designs are the same. Badass thread, been looking around for a guide like this. Original Contax Zeiss set on the left, Soviet set on the right. Momentum picked up and I saw myself getting ready to DP a webseries pilot. The stills guys LOVE IT. 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. What's the best camera for shooting sports and action? Slowly I fell in love with them. On almost all shoots weve done with Contax lenses, where we have used other glass, be it Leica Rs or Canon EOS, every time the DP has noticed that the waveforms jump. ONLY "RTS". This means that not all MM lenses are made in Japan. Mixing Zeiss Rollei/Contax/Z/Milvus/Otus/645/Sony/etc. What's the word on that lens? Contax Zeiss Survival Guide. 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. Anyone have/had one? That would be asking a lot of these budget lenses. Under enormous pressure from the West, Eastern Zeiss eventually relinquished the naming rights to CONTAX to Western Zeiss. How can i get those lenses from you? Damn Nick! The tab and the last stop in green that mark MM lenses. I'll definitely look into my adapter. Total newbie question about connecting Zeiss Contax lenses to BMPCC The process turned out alright and the gears worked great, but later on I learned some useful tricks. Search. Ron also offers the full mod service for great prices, including focus gears and lens mounts. Sharp wide open and has a floating element. Or buy Supers. 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. Next came the 60mm f/2.8 Macro. Yes, it's one step slower than the its siblings, but it definitely crushes them with razor sharp focus and a beautiful transition into bokeh. 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. @ Yean: Same here, my Contaxes shift very little if at all, especially when compared to any modern electronic lens. It was the most expensive lens in the set and it shares a lot of the beautiful look of the 28/2 Hollywood. 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. Happy with 35-70(macro too) 3.4 & 85 1.4 on a6300(with speed booster). If I know Im not gonna need either the 15 and the 60, I just dont take their case with me. Stay current with regular CineD updates about news, reviews, how-tos and more. Give the AC a good follow focus and a . Its been there for quite a while and I have checked up on it countless times to help me make decisions. This one was only made in Japan and it doesnt exist in AE, just MM. Its also a big change in size and weight, almost doubling its predecessor. comments sorted by Best Top New Controversial Q&A Add a Comment . Contax Zeiss should be on your radar for a couple of reasons. Brilliant job Nick. And. You NEVER SEE it wide open, because the blades arent engaged. Thats where my obsession started. The last decision I had to make was between the 18mm f/4 and the 15mm f/3.5. I started using these lenses casually. to use on my Komodo. 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. That's what I'm thinking, though no official sources have been cited on the tests, it may have been pulled from articles or done independently, not sure. . All I ever had so far was a Canon backpack and that is not a safe way to transport this grade of gear everywhere. From the Contax Survival Guide: 100 3.5 - Like the 85 Sonnar, but slower and possibly even sharper. You can also tell their place of manufacture based on whats written on the lens! I shipped all of them to SIMMOD for declicking and a quick checkup. The Contax I was Zeiss' answer to Leica's offerings in the 35mm market, one . And. are considered to be the best removable adapters ($90). Contax Zeiss 60mm f/2.8 Macro AEG: Infinity focus on the left, minimum focus on the right. The main difference being that a normal human can afford Contax Zeiss but not Leicas. 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. You have to keep wiggling them slowly, side by side, until they are in place. Contax also made very impressive Zooms. Vintage Lenses Recommendation (Contax Yashica, Canon FD, Minolta MD 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. So far I had been using adapters on them, and they sucked. In Contax, that corresponds to all lenses 35mm and wider (down to 15mm). Not too sure but it seems likely. Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* (C/Y) 35-70mm f3.4: A review I get asked lots of questions. The AE's are no longer serviced by Zeiss, keep that in mind. Canon EOS Rebel T6i (EOS 750D / Kiss X8i), Shedding some light on the sources of noise, Contax Yashica lenses - German vs Japanese, Re: Contax Yashica lenses - German vs Japanese, Sigma 23mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary sample gallery, Sigma 50mm F2 DG DN Contemporary sample gallery, Sigma 17mm F4 DG Dn Contemporary Sample Gallery. I shipped all of them to SIMMOD for declicking and a quick checkup. If you do have a printer, I made a tutorial on how to make focus gears! Whats the best camera for around $2000? These babies were bleeding me dry. I needed a proper case! Im gonna stop saying these lenses are sharp, because at this point its just standard! In the same way RED wants to give you as many options by letting us shoot RAW, my hunch is that Zeiss was doing the same back in the day with a low-con coating. ZF/ZEs only go as far as 135mm. There are MMG lenses out there I was weary of that for quite a while, since its not mentioned clearly anywhere. 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. After aperture was made smooth and clickless I still had my 3d printer hanging around, so I printed aperture gears as well. Shervin, thank you so much for posting those R3ds. DxO PureRAW 3 review: Give Adobe's apps a much-needed boost with modern AI algorithms, The best cameras for family and friends photos in 2022, Best affordable cameras for sports and action in 2022, May 2023 Part 1 This Month Through Your Adapted Lens. Im a big fan of these lenses and have been building my own set for the last few years, but Im nowhere close to creating a buyers guide, so Im very happy that a good friend of VLFV, Tito Ferradans has written the amazing guide below, which doesnt just introduce and explain various aspects of ContaxZeisslenses but will also show you how to tune them up for video use! Generally speaking, these fall into 3 lens types, categorized by how fast and complex they are. Of course, that was way before RED and Leitax adapters. The optics in these Zeiss are very similar, if not the same as the current Zeiss still lenses, a different coating on the glass is the main difference. Its regarded as one of the best 21mm ever made, and to this day they still use the same formula for the 21mm f/2.8 ZF/ZE primes. These have even less elements (5?). 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. Zeiss and Yashica lenses are all in all rumored to be better, but are much more expensive. KOMODO + Canon FD or Contax Zeiss + Focal Reducer PDF ZEISS Mutar 2x T* It's definitely not lens breathing. I plugged in the focal length in white so theyre easy to read in dark sets. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 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. Finally found the old MTF charts for each of the Zeiss Contax lenses. All times are GMT-8. The Fujifilm X-T5 is the company's latest classically-styled APS-C mirrorless camera. Related Topics . But Leica Rs are certainly more expensive, so take that into consideration if you are on a budget. Back then, not all C/Y Zeiss lenses could be adapted for EOS cameras . some lenses required minor surgery to make them useable. Each page with eight stickers cost me about $10. Just to be clear (think you left that part out, haha). Renting Komodo ST, Helium, Gemini, Alexa Mini, Phantom VEO4K, break down into purple splotches when they flare, http://www.ebay.de/itm/Contax-Carl-Z#ht_500wt_1156, dittok One Stop RAW Visual Production Service, If this is your first visit, be sure to Contax / Zeiss 100mm f3.5 Sonnar c/y need info | FujiX-Forum Canon FD's are the predecessors to Canon L glass, and have a superb pedigree. On the 918 I keep the main six lenses of the set plus variable NDs and other filters. remained behind in the ruins of the city of Jena, trapped behind the Iron Curtain. The Contax Zeiss Survival Guide: 1) WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT CONTAX GLASS?