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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

Samir Patel said:
Now when you say you prefer the FOV of the 25 are you meaning on a Full frame camera? on 5K? or 4K crop on the scarlet? Essentially 25 x 1.62 = 40.5mm?
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I mean on S35mm (ie 4K). I try and keep focal length discussions to their traditional S35mm elements, otherwise it gets confusing fast. Also when I read American Cinematographer, those guys are all talking S35mm too, so I just stay there mentally.

When I think about framing for 5K, I usually "do the math" and figure out what lens I'll need by reverse engineering the crop factors (so a 25mm at 5K....gives me approx the FOV of a 20/21mm at 4K/S35).

But that's just me.

Having these larger sensors requires doing a lot of math...
 
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Here is a shot of the Ninja Star effect from an 85/f1.4 from memory around f2.

And yes that badly posterized noisy area got fixed & covered with client graphics.
 

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Nick Morrison said:
Unfortunately, I don't know a way to tie a serial to a year/date, no.

Generally speaking, the higher the serial, the newer the lens. AE's tend to go form high 5's (so for ex, 596342) to about 66's and 67's (so for example (665978). These were made btw 1975 and 1984.

MM's go from 67's to as high as the millions (so 1,009,646). Most MM's are in the 7's and 8's though. These were made from 1984 to 2005.

I'm assuming people who are trying to serial match their MM's are probably targeting lenses either in the 7's or 8's, as those are the easiest to find. 7's are the easiest actually, by far.



Get the 1.4. It has much better build quality. Not as sharp wide open, but sharper stopped down, and looks more "classic". If you ARE going to get a 1.7, I'd suggest an AE. The build qualities were actually better on the old ones. As the years rolled on, the started introducing more and more plastic into the 1.7's, and the later ones (though very sharp and clean), feel the most budget of any Contax lens. It's kind of a shame. But...the were​ the budget lens after all...
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Thank you so much for all this, Nick. I owe you a beer in Brooklyn next time I'm over there.
 
Hey guys we did a branded piece recently for H2 and Hype Park on Hudson. Shot on our two Scarlets and Contax Primes (Duclosed 35 1.4 and 85 1.4 @ F4. AE's). You can see how sharp they are, and how they hold up in a studio environment.

I was very impressed. This was graded in the Avid too. Imagine if we'd gone balls out in RCX or Davinci. I love the latitude on his face, and how SHARP these are. YIKES!

Take a look. And be kind. It was a fast turnaround job (though I think it came out nicely). Thx.

 
Ben Scott said:
Nice Nick. I finally got the 135mm 2.8 out on the Scarlet on a shoot this week with me in a room filled with 42 scantily clad models. Will post images when I find something work safe :)
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Looking forward to it! Gotta say....love the 135 2.8. I think the 135 is a great, great focal length. A little outdated, a little overlooked, very, very nice on faces.
 
In particular with smaller sensors, like the GH2 or BMCC, or Scarlet shooting at 3K HD for higher frame rates or HDRx (nearly exactly the same as BMCC, BTW).

That length grew on me, I didn't like it that much from the start. It's like the difference between the girl that catches your eye and the one you marry ;-)
 
Hi guys, do you know if the contax AEJ have the ninja star bokeh?
Thanks
Great thread btw, thanks so much!
 
Nick Morrison said:
Looking forward to it! Gotta say....love the 135 2.8. I think the 135 is a great, great focal length. A little outdated, a little overlooked, very, very nice on faces.
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42 scantily clad models and all he can talk about is the 135/2.8. Man now I know I am in the right place.
Geeks unite!
 
Thank you Nick for the really nice thread.
I have a question about the CZ 35-70, does it exist in AE version?
I haven't find any yet.
Best
B.
 
are AE more desired than MM? i feel like more people are looking for and own AE series contax zeiss, when i was thinking from this thread that MM was a better lens series, no?
 
There are benefits of either. You can't say that one is better than the other... each have their own characteristics that people may find to be a turn off or to be desirable.

MM's are a bit more contrastier and deal with flare a lot better. Bokeh is also normal compared to the AE Ninja Star (God I hate saying that.... there has to be a scientific term for it). The inverse is true for the AE set.
 
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