The Contax Zeiss Distagon 'Hollywood' 28mm F2.0 is a classic fast wide for full frame and is incredible on Super 35mm as well. When the AE's flare, they generally flare white, evenly, and when overwhelmed by a direct source, can reveal a touch of green ghosting. I still dont know when to use them, though! Only 4 lenses were "officially" improved during the jump to MM: the 25 2.8, 28 2.8, 135 2.8, and 135 f2. :) Thanks buddy. I already talked about the mount replacements and focus gears, so Im left with standard fronts and de-clicking. It was, perhaps, the first standard zoom of truly decent quality throughout its range. Speaking of good prices, many links in this post will take you directly to eBay searches of each specific lens! After aperture was made smooth and clickless I still had my 3d printer hanging around, so I printed aperture gears as well. To summarize, yeahthey look remarkably similar. In my experience, the gears never fit on the first try. Wide open the 1.4 is great, but the focusing ring just feels very clunky on my copy. Its the one I always took with me and it gave me gorgeous shots. I had a feeling Nick was up to making a guide like this. Wide open, the 35 1.4 and 85 1.4 are fine (circular bokeh). The main difference being that a normal . It's starting to become not much of a secret anymore (you can tell by the rising prices). smc super takumar lenses are often more available and significantly cheaper than the Contax. Copyright 2007-2022. This is a sticky topic. My MM 18 f4, 21 2.8, 35 2.8, 50 1.4, 50 1.7, 85 1.4, 135 2.8, 180 2.8, and 300 F4 are all W/OUT the Ninja-star. You have to admit they look sexy. 80mm is the outside diameter of the rings, and that number is so specific because its a standard size for clip-on matteboxes. 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. Show. 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. Are often more traditional designs. The f/2.8 never really impressed me, even though its regarded as one of the best budget 28mm out there. The price was pretty good and Im the type of person that can buy something just because the price is good. In my experience, Japanese and German lenses are equally good. Sometimes you have to go with what you can get your hands on. In my experience, the gears never fit on the first try. The only thing I could maybe do later is update the markings on each lens with fluorescent paint like what you see here, by Moritz Schierenbeck on VLFVs facebook group. Still on the DIY train, a friend and I had just bought a 3d-printer, so I started making my own focus gears. 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. Learned a ton. AE lenses also show ninja-star bokeh when stopped down, which is a major turnoff for some folks. Yes, its one step slower than the its siblings, but it definitely crushes them with razor sharp focus and a beautiful transition into bokeh. Contax I. 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. I have used the Nikon 85 1.4, Sony Carl Zeiss 85 and 135, Mino 85, Sigma 85, Canon 85 1.2 for reference. I like to add 0.3mm to the measurement to give me a little wiggle room after printing. 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. 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). Those ocasional shots where you need to SNAP from one extreme focal length to another. I like to add 0.3mm to the measurement to give me a little wiggle room after printing. Sony Information & communications technology Technology . ONLY "RTS". These are creative tools, use them as such. This page was generated at 05:50 PM. But if you guys love circular bokeh and find this bit of personality too intrusive, then do yourself a favor and skip it and get the MMs. The Contax Zeiss Survival Guide: 1) WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT CONTAX GLASS? This is another trick to make lens swaps faster, since you wont need to adjust your follow focus back and forth on the rig. 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. After I read stellar reviews about the 28mm f/2.0 Hollywood, I went looking for one. The 60/2.8 AE can do 1:1 magnification, while the MM can only reach 1:2. That said, many still photographers (and DPs) have gotten magic out of these lenses at an F2 or faster. http://www.ebay.com/itm/EX-Modified-item3a8193c812, If this is your first visit, be sure to Heavy, but sharp. 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. 300 g Possibilities of combining Carl Zeiss lenses with Mutarconverters for use with the ContaxSLR camera system Carl Zeiss Photoobjektive D-73446 Oberkochen Telephone (07364) 20-6175 Fax (07364) 20-4045 eMail: photo@zeiss.de http://www.zeiss.de So not everything has gotten better over time. 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. However, the optical quality of the Contaxs is certainly very close to ZF/ZEs and many of the designs appear to have only subtly changed over the years, in particular the 21 2.8, 34 1.4, 50 1.4, and 85 1.4. Page of 320. I almost went for the wrong one with my MM obsession, but I was warned by my followers on Instagram about the edge the AE had over the MM. Expect there to be bidding wars on eBay now, the gates of CONTAX HELL have been unleashed. I have a mixed set and barely notice the difference. The 135 mm 2.8 MD lens can keep up with the big boys, some say it is one of the best tele lens of all time. Otherwise, you should notice no optical or mechanical difference between the two lines. 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. Heres a very interesting article that summarizes tech papers published on these designs and their differences, pros and cons. Fluorescent paint to make markings easier to spot in the dark, by Moritz Schierenbeck. These are way more common in AE, but I was lucky enough to find a MM coming straight from Japan. That information was usually written in the lens case, and the focal length was on a sticker attached to the lens cap. thanks Nick im building Contax set in soon :). Its been there for quite a while and I have checked up on it countless times to help me make decisions. Because the Contax lenses are noticeably more low-con than even Leica Rs their contemporaries, you will notice more latitude in your image. Whenever I started thinking the Soviet lenses were sharp, Id pop one of the Contax on the camera and stare in awe. After aperture was made smooth and clickless I still had my 3d printer hanging around, so I printed aperture gears as well. 15 3.5, 16 2.8 FISHEYE, 18 f4, 21 2.8, 25 2.8, 28 f2, 28 2.8, 35 1.4, 35 2.8, 45 2.8, 50 1.4, 50 1.7, 55 1.2, 60 2.8 Macro, 85 1.2, 85 1.4, 85 2.8, 100 f2, 100 2.8 Macro, 100 3.5, 135 f2, 135 2.8, 180 2.8, 200 f2, 200 3.5, 200 f4, 300 2.8, 300 f4, 500 5.6, 500 f8, 1000 f8, 28-85 3.3-f4, 35-70 3.3, 35-135 3.3-4.5, 80-200 f4, 100-300 4.5-5.6, 40-80 f4, 70-210 3.3. Lets go back to the 70s. So far I had been using adapters on them, and they sucked. Contax is more low-con, and more organic, to my eye. Finally found the old MTF charts for each of the Zeiss Contax lenses. Im still weighing if I need it or not. In fact, they MOD better than ZF/ZEs believe it or not. Contax Zeiss Survival Guide. Great help. 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. Collapse. AE lenses also show ninja-star bokeh when stopped down, which is a major turnoff for some folks. Be patient, use heat and sandpaper, and youll get there. The Contax I was Zeiss' answer to Leica's offerings in the 35mm market, one . Its also a big change in size and weight, almost doubling its predecessor. We've selected a group of cameras that are easy to keep with you, and that can adapt to take photos wherever and whenever something memorable happens. Then I sent that to be printed at StickerYou in vinyl stickers. They have a pleasing organic rendering that is not dissimilar to Contax. Like ZF/ZEs, they have fantastic barrel rotations (often 180 degrees or more). 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!). Really. Also, Super Speeds are a 1.2/1.4 at 18mm and 25mm. Filter. All times are GMT-8. To check if I did it, just follow me on Instagram as I post all my lens experiments there! Their disadvantages are that they don't have matching T stops (hey, theyre still lenses!). The 135mm f/2.8 was a great lens. Optically, Ive read numerous reports that show BOTH lines are very sharp, but frequently the Contax equivalent is deemed a tad sharper (stopped down). After I got the five Contax I went to look for more info and found Nick Morrison's Contax Zeiss Survival Guide at REDUser. 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. However, I wont argue that having a lens that says Made In West Germany is wicked cool. 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. Collapse. Is the Distagon 21mm the same glass as they use in the Compact Primes? My favorite lens switched to the 85/1.4 after that, though. Of course, that was way before RED and Leitax adapters. 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. 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 Or do what I did and find an affordable Standard Prime 16mm T2. The Super Nettel was based on the Contax I, with the same kind of shutter but a folding body, a fixed lens, and a short-based rangefinder. An instant hit, it became synonymous with innovation. Reduserforum "Contax Survival Guide" says is a good one. If you want something ready to use from the get-go, Id say this is not for you. Anyone have/had one? I plugged in the focal length in white so theyre easy to read in dark sets. Contax Zeiss Survival Guide. We've combed through the options and selected our two favorite cameras in this class. If you dont have a 3d-printer, Im selling all the gears I made for my set on eBay! So I sand the inside down a bit and try again. WOW! 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. It was intended to be a cheaper alternative. Take or leave it. Thanks for the advice nick. Zeiss was making Hasselblad lenses for Medium Format. My custom made front caps with focal length, f-stop and minimum focus distance. Now Im gonna move into streamlining it for shooting and making it the best possible lenses to handle on set. If you dont want to deal with that, hunt for MMs. I havent tested these much yet, and I ended up not doing standard outside diameters. Contax Zeiss 60mm f/2.8 Macro AEG: Infinity focus on the left, minimum focus on the right I know I stopped mentioning how sharp these lenses are, but the 60mm is worth highlighting. Not too sure but it seems likely. Thats when I learned of Leitax and their mount replacements. adapters work fine ($15) (They are conservative and tend to overcompensate by a millimeter or two, so they can make your glass focus past infinity at the tail end, a bit annoying but nothing terrible). I thought I knew a bit but I just learned so much! This page was generated at 05:50 PM. I still dont know when to use them, though! Eastern Zeiss instead consolidated all their smaller name brands into PENTACON. 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. In fact, at 5.6 Contax, Supers and Standards looked IDENTICAL. If you do have a printer, I made a tutorial on how to make focus gears! The Sony FE 2/28 is brand new and the most expensive one at 450. 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. B) They share very similar designs as the ZF/ZE/CP2 lenses, but for or the price. 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! They focus the right way, have an aperture ring, and the focus rotation on many lenses reaches 180 degrees. You can use the code CINE at check out for a nifty discount! Im a fan of DIY, so I decided to install the mounts by myself. Wide open it's one of the sharpest F2.0 wide angle lenses available and it has very little distortion. 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. Also because Soviet glass was super cheap. Some folks consider several of the Zeiss Contax Yashica lenses to be very similar to the real Super Speed. 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. 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. But I now have the 200 and I have to admit, the bokeh is very pleasing and captivating, and I prefer it. I havent tested these much yet, and I ended up not doing standard outside diameters. check out the. What's the best camera for shooting landscapes? Would love to check out the Hollywood, but $$. 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. After I read stellar reviews about the 28mm f/2.0 Hollywood, I went looking for one. No comparison. So Contax = Western Zeiss. 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? The last decision I had to make was between the 18mm f/4 and the 15mm f/3.5. Whats the best camera for around $2000? Landmine Media, LLC. They dilate quite a bit and fit much more easily. The 15/3.5 took the cake though. All of you, thank you. reduser.net. Back to the story. What's the best camera for shooting sports and action? One thing that the push-pull nature of the zooms helps with, is snap-zooms. I started using these lenses casually. Its awesome Western Zeiss glass. This was a game changer. In mint condition, comes with lens hood. When designing your focus gears, keep the number of teeth constant for all the lenses. For a little over a year, this was enough. Mar 18, 2014 at 04:52 PM You can see our informal results. https://www.reduser.net/forum/shooting-red/lens-tests/94346-contax-zeiss-survival-guide. So far, I had no previous love for Contax and a little bit of prejudice against Zeiss for making lenses too clean. As mentioned before, the 50mm F1.7 is no slouch and it sure isn't! My copy has some fungus in it and other copies might be better. Theyre much cheaper than modern lenses, yet share similar designs and performance. You have to keep wiggling them slowly, side by side, until they are in place. . Many have much more. check out the. So I kept using an adapter on that one (the best adapter I had). Its the one I always took with me and it gave me gorgeous shots. Bill that is an insane price for the 21, it's been hovering around 2,000 for as long as I can remember. I think its safe to say all these lenses from this era of Zeiss optics have remarkably similar coatings and magic. The 50 should be among the easiest to get right because the optical path is among the simplest. The Soviets were good enough for my own projects, but I needed something more reliable on this one. The data provided and the newsletter opening statistics will be stored on a personal data basis until you unsubscribe. For that reason I had to make a super tall focus gear that would not slip off when travelling from infinity to minimum focus. 250 g approx. The last decision I had to make was between the 18mm f/4 and the 15mm f/3.5. ----------------------------------------------------------. - Contax was created by Zeiss subsidiary Zeiss Ikon. You can use the code CINE at check out for a nifty discount! Slowly I fell in love with them. All content, design, and layout are Copyright 19982023 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved. remained behind in the ruins of the city of Jena, trapped behind the Iron Curtain. The price-performance ratio of the Minolta lenses is the best in the camera world. (Heres where I beleive the Leica Rs have a clear advantage, their 19mm is a 2.8which is pretty amazing). Would I be crazy to say I kinda prefer my 85mm f2.8 to my 85mm f1.4. The most up-to-date guide to almost every Contax lens ever made. Time. You can spot an MM if the last number on your aperture ring is. Heres the answer to all of this, broken down. The one main difference I can see isas stated aboveI think the Contaxes cinemod slightly BETTER than ZF/ZEs (because they ALL focus the right way, and ALL have an aperture ring), and also ALL they have that wonderful older T* coating that I believe looks better on digital than the newer T* coating (renders more organically). Enjoy our Full Show Coverage, Winners of the First AI Film Festival Showcasing the Latest Tools in AI Filmmaking. Momentum picked up and I saw myself getting ready to DP a webseries pilot. Each page with eight stickers cost me about $10. Damn Nick! The 15mm is a gorgeous rectilinear super wide angle, it shares the same optical formula as the Leica Super-Elmar 15mm f/3.5, with different coatings. Can't Attend? Contax Zeiss lenses are the gems for sharp yet vintage glass. My 21mm CP.2 is probably my favourite lens that I own, lovely, lovely piece of glass. Mirrorless Camera of the Year 2022 & Other Camera Candidates, Adobe Firefly for Video Announced Bringing Generative AI to Creative Cloud, CineD NAB 2023 Best of Show Awards go to DJI, frame.io, FUJIFILM, LumenArc and ZHIYUN, CineD at NAB 2023 - Visit our Booth, Win Prizes. Impressive performance and also the fastest 35mm I ever owned. It's definitely not lens breathing. Contax Zeiss. This is an endeavor Ive been working on and off for the last two years and now I can see the finish line. We're Noct messing around with this review. See the photo below! i want contax set for ef mount how can i buy? 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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. The Minolta MC 2/28 is the oldest and fastest of the bunch, it was introduced in 1975. That was rad :). When the MM's flare, they control it much better (you have to force it more), but when they do, and the coating is overwhelmed by a direct source, the coating will break out into more distinct, tight Zeiss purple flare marks. I always took the 135 with me and some of my favorite photos come from that time. But it's a lens meant for stills and cheap as hell compared to cine glass. If I know Im not gonna need either the 15 and the 60, I just dont take their case with me. 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. 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. Well done mate. The 21/2.8 was a must. My attempt to be as thorough as possible! In terms of a look, weve shot with both and there is a clear difference to me. If I have a motor on the iris, itll have to be adjusted every time the lens is swapped. I returned to the guide and started eBay hunting. But then work started picking up and I saw that as the perfect opportunity to upgrade. Those were the days. Theyre fully manual focus and aperture -, have solid metal construction, long focus throw, and a great feel overall. Lucky for me my 50 and 85/1.4 were already MMJ. The fastest "wide" is the 28 f2. As always very much appreciated. Thats where my obsession started. It also has built-in color filters which I freaked out when I realized how to turn them. So all you do is get a Cine Ring with the rear thread of your lens and thats gonna make it standard! Badass thread, been looking around for a guide like this. Fairly "affordable" as well. Its been there for quite a while and I have checked up on it countless times to help me make decisions.
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