contax zeiss survival guide contax zeiss survival guide
This means that not all MM lenses are made in Japan. My C/Y Zeiss lenses have been a WAY better investment than money in the bank (or the stock market). All times are GMT-8. Informative and equally hilarious in parts :) I'm sure it will prove a resource for many many people over the years. This is another trick to make lens swaps faster, since you wont need to adjust your follow focus back and forth on the rig. Contax have a bit less contrast, and flare more. In terms of a look, weve shot with both and there is a clear difference to me. They are made in Spain, cost about 60 euros each and you install them on the back of the lenses using the provided screws. Next came the 60mm f/2.8 Macro. To fit the barrel of the lens, use a caliper and be precise about it. There are a lot of photo/video cameras that have found a role as B-cameras on professional film productions or even A-cameras for amateur and independent productions. The Hollywood is indeed a star and the image that comes out of it is much more appealing than the 28/2.8. You have to keep wiggling them slowly, side by side, until they are in place. 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. I'm not too sure where they got their findings, but apparently this was a series of tests possibly published on Zeiss's website. My favorite lens switched to the 85/1.4 after that, though. They are also a little sloppy on the mount, which can be alarming. Next up was the 35mm, two stops faster at f/1.4. Time. Great help. For a little over a year, this was enough. We've been putting it through its paces. Contax Zeiss should be on your radar for a couple of reasons. 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). thanks Nick im building Contax set in soon :). I then redesigned and printed new focus gears for these and ordered more Leitax mounts and that was good for another five months. 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. This website or its third-party tools use cookies, which are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the cookie policy. thanks for the info! 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. Lucky for me my 50 and 85/1.4 were already MMJ. As they are still lenses, there is some breathing on some of them, but nothing insane that has ruined any of our shots. To me, Contax are a GREAT way to affordably get a very real cinematic look from a golden age in Zeiss optics. This stumps everyone. 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. Thoughts? 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. If you wanna follow this path, theres no way to dodge reading the Survival Guide. Theyre killer tools for video, but in order to achieve maximum performance, theres a number of steps and procedures to tackle. It's a weird, over-the-top kind of effect, but when you need it (as I did a few weeks ago) it's actually pretty helpful. The Fujifilm X-T5 is the company's latest classically-styled APS-C mirrorless camera. It's more like the image jumps! Look for an MM with serials in the 8's. I needed a proper case! For further details, see our Privacy Policy. In fact, they MOD better than ZF/ZEs believe it or not. Its also a big change in size and weight, almost doubling its predecessor. The fastest "wide" is the 28 f2. 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 started using these lenses casually. The Standards were w/out a doubt the sharpest wide open. It was not a problem as a starter set. 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. DxO PureRAW 3 aims to come to their rescue without totally reinventing your workflow! 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. Zeiss was making Hasselblad lenses for Medium Format. All times are GMT-8. So far I had been using adapters on them, and they sucked. DPReview TV: Nikon 58mm F0.95 Noct Review! These babies were bleeding me dry. When the AE's flare, they generally flare white, evenly, and when overwhelmed by a direct source, can reveal a touch of green ghosting. That was probably one of the most stressful experiences of my life with lenses. 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. DaVinci Resolve Quick Tip What Are Power Bins and Why Are They So Useful? Landmine Media, LLC. Have a look at Kipon for something decent or Novoflex for first class a Zeiss deserves it. Zeiss made the jump to MM's in order to enable camera control of the aperture. So I respond to that more. . If anyone wants seven of the best Zeiss lenses ever made, PM me. I plugged in the focal length in white so theyre easy to read in dark sets. ----------------------------------------------------------. They dont have it. I also added the f-stop for each lens and its minimum focus in meters and feet. The mount is exactly the same, and barring a couple of exceptionsALL the lens designs are the same. I like to add 0.3mm to the measurement to give me a little wiggle room after printing. 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. Above $2500 cameras tend to become increasingly specialized, making it difficult to select a 'best' option. 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. I got all my standard 80mm fronts from him, as well as slip-on lens caps. Distagon, Planar, Sonnar, Tessar, Biogon and Hologon. Want regular CineD updates about news, reviews, how-tos and more?Sign up to our newsletter and we will give you just that. You have a wide range of lenses to pick from and equally different price tags. This means that not all MM lenses are made in Japan. Contax Zeiss 60mm f/2.8 Macro AEG: Infinity focus on the left, minimum focus on the right. . The price was pretty good and Im the type of person that can buy something just because the price is good. I got all my standard 80mm fronts from him, as well as slip-on lens caps. 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. So where Contax wins in coverage (they are FULL FRAME, and will cover Dragon and beyond), they lose out in speed (they are F4 at 18mm! This page was generated at 05:50 PM. I own them both. 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 . The last decision I had to make was between the 18mm f/4 and the 15mm f/3.5. This page was generated at 05:50 PM. Or get a Duclos/Tokina 11-16. This was a game changer. You can spot an MM if the last number on your aperture ring is. What IS the Ninja-Star? 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. This will ensure a constant outside diameter, which means you dont have to adjust your follow focus every time you change lenses. This is another trick to make lens swaps faster, since you wont need to adjust your follow focus back and forth on the rig. Certainly sharper than both its larger brothers, the 100 planar and 100 Macro. The focusing ring on my 85mm AE is much smoother than my 85mm f1.4. I still dont know when to use them, though! 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. check out the. The last thing I did was add step rings to normalize all their fronts at 58mm, to make my life easier when swapping NDs and other filters or anamorphic adapters in my case. Heres a very interesting article by Edward T. that summarizes tech papers published on these designs and their differences, pros and cons. Also ZF/ZE's tend to. Whenever I started thinking the Soviet lenses were sharp, Id pop one of the Contax on the camera and stare in awe. Copyright 2007-2022. (Heres where I beleive the Leica Rs have a clear advantage, their 19mm is a 2.8which is pretty amazing). Zeiss and Yashica lenses are all in all rumored to be better, but are much more expensive. Fast continuous shooting, reliable autofocus and great battery life are just three of the most important factors. By the 1960s, competition from the Japanese led to the eventual shuttering of both subsidiaries - even as the larger Zeisss stayed in business. These lenses thread the fine line between organic and sharp, a line as thin as depth of field on an 85/1.2 wide open, only second to Leica. They have a pleasing organic rendering that is not dissimilar to Contax. Distance between first and last lens vertex: 33.6 mm 51.8 mm Weight: approx. In my experience, the gears never fit on the first try. Im still weighing if I need it or not. 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! On my set some were MMJ, others AEG. Contax Zeiss. Contax Zeiss Survival Guide. X. X. The AE's are no longer serviced by Zeiss, keep that in mind. I am thinking of selling the lenses we tested together. 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. The screws on the back of the lenses are tiny, and if you strip them, you cant get the new mount into place. to use CONTAX RTS glass interchangeably alongside PL glass, such as Contaxs cinema cousins, Super Speeds and Standard Speeds. Yupthey go as far 500mm. The Soviets were good enough for my own projects, but I needed something more reliable on this one. These are creative tools, use them as such. Contax Zeiss Survival Guide In reply to Giovanni_1968 9 months ago 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. Fairly "affordable" as well. Nothing is free. makes SPECTACULAR permanent mounts for $75 (Duclos uses these, nuff said). 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 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. 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. What's the best camera for shooting sports and action? Because the wides are slow, you will almost certainly need to compliment your kit with a Tokina/Duclos 11-16 2.8. The process turned out alright and the gears worked great, but later on I learned some useful tricks. 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? They also look more modern and clean. Fuck!). Quite remarkable sharpness at F2.8 for such a small and cheap lens. For that reason I had to make a super tall focus gear that would not slip off when travelling from infinity to minimum focus. Note: My hunch on the latitude/low con deal is as follows. I know I stopped mentioning how sharp these lenses are, but the 60mm is worth highlighting. After aperture was made smooth and clickless I still had my 3d printer hanging around, so I printed aperture gears as well. I went for the fastest lenses and snuffed out the AEGs I had, in favor of the prettier bokeh of the MMJs. Its a gradual process, guys. They get quite slow in the wides (the 18 is an F4, the 15 a 3.5). They are much more closer to a Super/Standard speed look then the modern zeiss glass including the Cp2s. 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. So far, I had no previous love for Contax and a little bit of prejudice against Zeiss for making lenses too clean. 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. 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. Im sure that approach had similar benefits with cinema lenses and Hasselblads. Now Im gonna move into streamlining it for shooting and making it the best possible lenses to handle on set. WOW! All times are GMT-8. 2023 All rights reserved. The Contax Zeiss Survival Guide: 1) WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT CONTAX GLASS? 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. Bill that is an insane price for the 21, it's been hovering around 2,000 for as long as I can remember. Sometimes you have to go with what you can get your hands on. That said, many still photographers (and DPs) have gotten magic out of these lenses at an F2 or faster. The 50 1.7 and 180 2.8 are also rumored to be better in MM. So I sand the inside down a bit and try again. This page was generated at 05:50 PM. http://web.archive.org/web/200710120rode/TestZ.htm, https://dl.dropbox.com/u/51913995/marley28.jpg, If this is your first visit, be sure to 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. It was the most expensive lens in the set and it shares a lot of the beautiful look of the 28/2 Hollywood. For example, the 200 3.5 Tessar was "updated" with a Sonnar 180 2.8. After that, B&H and ADORAMA are great choices. 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. Collapse. 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. All times are GMT-8. AgThunderbird A7Riii | A7ii infrared mod | Minolta 7 . After I read stellar reviews about the 28mm f/2.0 Hollywood, I went looking for one. So I kept using an adapter on that one (the best adapter I had). Those were the days. 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. This turns the original C/Y mount into a solid EF mount that wont budge for nothing. You know, like a cine lens! Anyone who tells you otherwise is full of shit. Eventually will spring for 135/2.8. 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. The planar 35mm F/1.4, 50mm T1.4 and 85mm F/1.4, are among some of them. These I ordered from MOO, because they offered me more variety at a much lower price. Thank you to Tito for a captivating read. But I now have the 200 and I have to admit, the bokeh is very pleasing and captivating, and I prefer it. Contax Zeiss lenses are the gems for sharp yet vintage glass. Those ocasional shots where you need to SNAP from one extreme focal length to another. In this buying guide weve rounded up all the current interchangeable lens cameras costing around $2000 and recommended the best. The main difference being that a normal human can afford Contax Zeiss but not Leicas. Generally speaking, these fall into 3 lens types, categorized by how fast and complex they are. It offers the advantage of one of the most sophisticated fully automatic through-the-lens exposure control available during the late seventies. Oh and I believe that where the results are for "Real Aperture" in those tests may actually be the measured T-Stop?
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