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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Contax Zeiss Survival Guide

Ben Scott said:
Yeah I think that has to happen. Alternately one could just buy this beauty, especially at such a bargain price...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Contax-Carl-Zeiss-55mm-f-1-2-Planar-T-100-Jahre-Contax-Yashica-Mt-99-MINT-/190667056089?_trksid=p5197.m1992&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D14%26meid%3D6001866647246058713%26pid%3D100015%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D190667056089%26
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Just mounting that lens on your camera would mean losing at least a $1000 on it's value. A touch of wear on the mount and it's finished. Purely for collectors.
 
I just got a hold of the 28-85 zoom, and it's pretty decent. Nowhere near the image mastery of the 35-70 F3.4 but it does hold it's own and it has a very useful zoom range. My only gripes with it are the CA issues on the wide end and the softness at 85.

The CA doesn't seem to go away even stepped down at 28mm which is bothersome, especially on full frame where it gets very very nasty in the corners. Going to 35 and beyond it's not that much of an issue but it's still there.

Wide open at 85mm seems to bring out coma in the image... but depending on how you look at it, it could be beneficial. Sharpness is still there but the soft 'glow' of the image works very nicely on skin tones.

Either way, it's a very decent buy for around the $400 range. Obviously with these Contax zooms, push pull and rotating front end are issues, but if you can deal with them, you'll have a lens that will provide you with boat tons of the 3D effect for little money. I'm glad I ditched my Tokina 28-70 F2.8 for this guy, albeit it is slower.
 
Here's a quickie shot at 85mm wide open. Note the 3D effect and color pop. Bokeh is quite nice as well.

IMG_1102.jpg
 
So where is everyone finding these lens now that so many have been snatched up? Still KEH and ebay? Are there any particular key words to search for?
 
Man i just got a 135mm from keh, great price, they listed as ex+ but when i got it the aperture was loose, and lens wouldnt focus at all past 8 ft. had to send back. Very sad. THough my 180mm contax i just got on ebay is a beautiful lens. One of my new favorites. :)
 
Mikey Piliero said:
So where is everyone finding these lens now that so many have been snatched up? Still KEH and ebay? Are there any particular key words to search for?
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eBay is the place to look now. Keep a saved search on the keyword 'Contax' and filter by newly listed. Every time you check it you'll see the newest lenses for sale.

I've never ever found a dud lens on eBay, and I've purchased 10 out of my 13 Contax lenses from there. Not too sure about KEH but they only have like two lenses in stock for Contax and they're generally overpriced. Japanese sellers on eBay are notorious for selling flawless Contax glass at insane prices. Keep an eye out and you'll eventually find gems :)
 
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Shervin Mandgaryan said:
I just got a hold of the 28-85 zoom, and it's pretty decent. Nowhere near the image mastery of the 35-70 F3.4 but it does hold it's own and it has a very useful zoom range. My only gripes with it are the CA issues on the wide end and the softness at 85.

The CA doesn't seem to go away even stepped down at 28mm which is bothersome, especially on full frame where it gets very very nasty in the corners. Going to 35 and beyond it's not that much of an issue but it's still there.

Wide open at 85mm seems to bring out coma in the image... but depending on how you look at it, it could be beneficial. Sharpness is still there but the soft 'glow' of the image works very nicely on skin tones.

Either way, it's a very decent buy for around the $400 range. Obviously with these Contax zooms, push pull and rotating front end are issues, but if you can deal with them, you'll have a lens that will provide you with boat tons of the 3D effect for little money. I'm glad I ditched my Tokina 28-70 F2.8 for this guy, albeit it is slower.
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Interesting... The Tokina 28-70 is precisely the lens I was thinking about sacrificing in order to get one of these...
 
Ben,

The Tokina 28-70 is a great lens mechanically and optically. Internal focusing and two touch capability is great, and it definitely saved my ass out in the field. Not to mention it's very robust (The Pro I version).

Optically it is deficient in a few areas. Wide open at 70mm is very very soft. Stepping down to F4 helps it out greatly but it's still nowhere it really needs to be (But again it's a $350 lens right?). Otherwise it's color reproduction is much better than other offerings from lens manufactures... it's got a nice pastel 'filmic' look to it that's very hard to describe. Bob Gundu and I have used the Tokina for very nice results recently.

Compared to the 28-85, in terms of color and contrast there's almost no comparison, the Zeiss destroys it in every way imaginable. The tradeoff is poor cinema mechanics and slower speed. To be honest the Tokina 28-70 should have been a 3.5/4 lens like the 28-85 to keep it's sharpness performance on par. You do get an extra 15mm length on the Zeiss which is very handy. Also close focusing on the Zeiss is better than the Tokina... and Zeiss focus rotation is 180 degrees vs about 80 on the Tokina.

The Tokina is more tame. The Zeiss is almost like an immature teenager with a prodigal gift... doesn't do everything excellent, but in certain areas it does it incredibly well.

I'd buy both lenses and see which one you like best.
 
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Yesterday I saw a 85 1.4 pop up online. I went to another page then came back 5 minutes later to buy it and it was gone. I KNOW IT WAS ONE OF YOU!! ; )
 
Thanks Shervin - I already own the Tokina and I love it for the money and like you it has saved my arse in a couple of recent shoots. Not 100% positive whether mine is the v1 or v2 but it certainly displays all the qualities (good and bad) that you mentioned.

Except for the macro stuff done on a Canon 100mm, and the DSLR shots, all the Red stuff in this recent video was either the Tokina or Contax Zeiss. The interviews were definitely the Tokina.


password: model

I missed out on the zeiss zoom auction I was following, but will grab the next bargain one that comes my way...
 
Oh and I forgot to mention, the 28-85 breathes less than some of my primes... at all focal lengths. I'm starting to really, really like this lens more and more. If you can find one for $400 and are on the fence... don't even think, just buy it.
 
Shervin Mandgaryan said:
Oh and I forgot to mention, the 28-85 breathes less than some of my primes... at all focal lengths. I'm starting to really, really like this lens more and more. If you can find one for $400 and are on the fence... don't even think, just buy it.
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Yeah it also has SICK close focus at 28, and it holds focus amazing well. Don't know why. It's kind of amazing, really. Only draw back is that it has more visible distortion on the wide end than the primes (ie at 28).

Other than that...kind of the shit really.
 
Hey guys check out this parrallel thread going on in the sales section now:

ZEISS S16 Super Speed & Contax Set

Argyris, the DP selling his mixed Super Speed & Contax set, was kind of enough to share about this. Apparantly this mixed set was pretty common back in the day, and the lenses did indeed perform incredibly similarly. See what he says here:

Argyris Theos said:
Hi Nick,
this kind of mix was quite common at those days.
I remember we might get a tiny color shift, no more than one point in photochemical printing, but the contrast was practically the same. Of course these lenses did not have the great mechanical virtues of the super speeds but they did not share their price tag either. :-)
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After looking at the pics of his set, I actually noticed that his 35mm 1.4 has the Rollei coating (HTF), not the Zeiss T* coating (though they are thought to be very similar), and I asked him if this maybe led to the tiny color shift? We'll see.

Either way, even more important I thought was his reminder that back in the day mixing Super Speeds and Contax was a pretty common thing, because they looked and performed so similarly. That's music to my ears. As Super Speeds continue to skyrocket in price ($60k a set now?), it's great to know that our little Contax lenses are hitting WAY above their weight, and delivering staggeringly similar imagery at a fraction of the price...all the while covering Full Frame and easily covering Dragon.
 
Mitch Gross I think on another forum mentioned how he was using Contax primes on his Aaton... of course this was done in the 90's... way before the internet or free knowledge. Would've loved to have seen Contax primes be popular amongst filmmakers to the extent that they are today back then... the primes would be worth a metric jack ton now.
 
Shervin Mandgaryan said:
Mitch Gross I think on another forum mentioned how he was using Contax primes on his Aaton... of course this was done in the 90's... way before the internet or free knowledge. Would've loved to have seen Contax primes be popular amongst filmmakers to the extent that they are today back then... the primes would be worth a metric jack ton now.
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True. None of us could probably afford them. Haha!
 
Here's something you don't find out every day:

I just read on his blog that ROGER DEAKINS shot his first feature using adapted Contax primes!!

From the man himself:

"My first feature film was shot using adapted Contax lenses. It was shot on Super 16 and a number of experienced professionals swore that it had been shot on 35mm."
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On another post he elaborates:

I shot one of my first features, called 'Another Time Another Place', in 1983 and it was done on Super 16mm with an optical blow up. For the shoot I had some Contax stills lenses remounted to fit an Aaton camera.
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He dishes again here:

One of the first films I photographed, "Another Time Another Place', was shot with an Aaton with Contax prime lenses that I had adapted for the camera. When the film won some awards nobody believed me when I said it was shot Super 16. We used a slower stock than is possible today but I still shot one scene under a single light bulb I seem to remember.
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Nick,
I wanted to say thank you for your time sharing your knowledge about those wonderfull piece of glass.
This thread is unvaluable for the people who are looking for a good glass investment.
I still can't understand why those C.Z Contax are so cheap.

My set so far (All AE)
25 Distagon, 28 Distagon, 35 Distagon, 50 Planar(1.7), 60s Planar, 35/70 Vario Sonnar, 85 sonnar,135 Sonnar, 200 Tele-Tessar
Looking for the 100 F2 (hard to find in AE version)
Did I miss something?
Nick do you have other sugestion to complete my AE set?

Nick Morrison said:
Here's something you don't find out every day:

I just read on his blog that ROGER DEAKINS shot his first feature using adapted Contax primes!!

From the man himself:



On another post he elaborates:



He dishes again here:
Click to expand...


Ps:
35mm Distagon @F2.8
Shot with one light bulb (115w) in a chinese ball 2 meters distance from the talent.
NO SHARPENING APPLY!


35distagonF2.8.jpg


Best
B.
 
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