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Contax Zeiss Survival Guide

Nick, awesome thread. 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. I thought I knew a bit but I just learned so much! Thank you!

I would take Contax Zeiss over Canon "Cine Primes," Zeiss Compact Primes, or the new "Superspeeds" any day. Give the AC a good follow focus and a rehearsal and make magic. After a year I know the barrel of each lens so well I can shoot documentary style and hit focus wide open by hand--the mechanics are just silk.

I am thinking of selling the lenses we tested together. If anyone wants seven of the best Zeiss lenses ever made, PM me. Your choice if you want them Cine-modded or not. (Nick hope you don't mind my piggy-back!)
 
Jimmy Gilmore said:
Nick,
Great write up.

How much worse is the Yashica ML in your opinion? And do you think the coatings match the Contax. I have several of the ML lenses and I find them to be remarkably good quality but only had a Planner 50 1.7 to compare it to, which I've since sold.
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Honestly, I haven't shot with a lot of ML glass, so not sure. But mechanically they look superb (after all, Yashica was MAKING Contax lenses...). And their reputation...is pretty good. I don't think the coating is the same as Zeiss T*, though I wouldn't be surprised if Yashica tried their hardest to match. I do know the following however:

1) The Yashica 500 f8 Mirror lens has a superb reputation. I own one, and love it. There are some stills guys who say it's better even than the fabled Contax 500 f8, so there you have it...for 1/5 the price...Mine isn't crazy sharp, but for $300 it's hard to beat....an works perfectly with a Contax Mutar.

2) The Yashica 21mm is also supposed to be no slouch.

In general, after Canon FD and Rokkor glass, I think Yashica ML glass could be a REAL STEAL for budget conscious lens shoppers. Nice call.
 
Ryan De Franco said:
I am thinking of selling the lenses we tested together. If anyone wants seven of the best Zeiss lenses ever made, PM me. Your choice if you want them Cine-modded or not. (Nick hope you don't mind my piggy-back!)
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Don't mind at all...All I want to know is...what you are you getting instead? Leica Rs? Do tell...!
 
Damn Nick! That was rad :). Thanks dude... Learned a ton.
 
My C/Y Zeiss lenses have been a WAY better investment than money in the bank (or the stock market). I paid around $250.00 for my 35-70/3.4 and around $800.00 for my 21/2.8 ... both in mint condition! Those were the days. Of course, that was way before RED and Leitax adapters. Back then, not all C/Y Zeiss lenses could be adapted for EOS cameras .... some lenses required minor surgery to make them useable.

__________________________________
Scarlet X # 1859 “Bettie Page”
“… preparing to ‘whip’ the competition …”

Zeiss Lenses:

CY 21/2.8
ZF 28/2.0
CY 35-70/3.4
CY 50/1.4
ZF100/2.0

Nikon Lenses:
G 14-24/2.8
G 24-70/2.8
D 80-200/2.8

Tokina Lenses:

11-16/2.8
 
Bill that is an insane price for the 21, it's been hovering around 2,000 for as long as I can remember. Those were some days...

Nick my set is definitely for sale now!

Leitax adapters, 80 mil fronts and caps, de-clicked on request. Plus big wide focus rings that make em as wide as a Leica Summilux-C or Cooke mini-S4. 21, 28, 35, 50, 60, 85, 135, 28-135; folks PM me for the full deal. I love how they look on 35 neg and Red, it really pains me to see them go. I have nothing to replace them with, looks like I'll be borrowing and renting for a while :)

Happy new year fellow Contax friends. Also one incredible note: the close focus on these lenses will make your eyes pop.
 
Ryan De Franco said:
Bill that is an insane price for the 21, it's been hovering around 2,000 for as long as I can remember. Those were some days...

Nick my set is definitely for sale now!

Leitax adapters, 80 mil fronts and caps, de-clicked on request. Plus big wide focus rings that make em as wide as a Leica Summilux-C or Cooke mini-S4. 21, 28, 35, 50, 60, 85, 135, 28-135; folks PM me for the full deal. I love how they look on 35 neg and Red, it really pains me to see them go. I have nothing to replace them with, looks like I'll be borrowing and renting for a while :)

Happy new year fellow Contax friends. Also one incredible note: the close focus on these lenses will make your eyes pop.
Click to expand...

Ryan Pmed you
 
Thanks for the props guys! Appreciate it! I'll add some extra notes soon - about cinemodding (good call Tom!), and extra little tid-bits that have been hitting me.

Happy New Year to all.
 
Nick Morrison said:
Thanks for the props guys! Appreciate it! I'll add some extra notes soon - about cinemodding (good call Tom!), and extra little tid-bits that have been hitting me.

Happy New Year to all.
Click to expand...


Stuff like this is what makes me come back here...
When someone with a bit of real knowledge share it, instead of fighting a "better than or worse than" illusional techie fight.

Looking foreward to more info on this. Fits perfectly in my Epic & Old Glass philosophy... thanks again!

And happy new year!
 
Take the time off Nick, you've done a service to this community and housed a whole wealth of information in one thread... I don't think you should add anymore things without a proper breather first!
 
Thanks, Nick!

If I may add one thing: you wrote about Fotodiox adapters: "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."
While all of your other information is great, I wouldn't subscribe to this, at least as far as wides are concerned. Retro-focus designs for wides – in particular those with floating elements – are getting critical when the flange distance they were calculated for is not kept.

I'm going to write a Minolta Rokkor survival guide one of these days to pay back.
 
So I decided to go into the relative unknown and purchase the CZ Vario-Sonnar 35-70 F3.4 to see if it's 'variable prime' status was actually up to par... and boy does this lens deliver.

Albeit the lens is a bit slow at F3.4, it's very, very sharp wide open and has basically the same IQ and Zeiss look as my 35 1.4 stopped down to the same aperture. Totally blown away by the macro ability at 70mm on this zoom but that mode is unusable if you want to pull focus into a macro shot because it's a bit jerky and there's alot of breathing. The actual zoom range from 35-70 without it's macro feature is very nice and the lens does sustain focus while zooming in an out... so it is parfocal. Colors are rich and it has that nice zeiss punchy look that CP's or ZE/ZF's deliver. My particular copy is MMJ in the 74XXXXX range and would play well with my other MMJ lenses.

I've attatched a quick shot of my dog (German shepherd jack russel mix if anyone is wondering... yea... I know...) in .r3d for you to see what this lens can do, wide open, at 70mm and with no color correction. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/51913995/A001_C008_1231VW.0000963F.R3D You may want to bring up the iso to 800 to see some of the finer detail... I shot this really quick handheld and forgot to shoot it as native ISO.

Here's another one wide open showing how fine the detail is: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/51913995/A001_C003_0102CK.0000165F.R3D

Nick, you've got me hooked, lined and sunk on these lenses...
 
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Shervin Mandgaryan said:
So I decided to go into the relative unknown and purchase the CZ Vario-Sonnar 35-70 F3.4 to see if it's 'variable prime' status was actually up to par... and boy does this lens deliver.

Albeit the lens is a bit slow at F3.4, it's very, very sharp wide open and has basically the same IQ and Zeiss look as my 35 1.4 stopped down to the same aperture. Totally blown away by the macro ability at 70mm on this zoom but that mode is unusable if you want to pull focus into a macro shot because it's a bit jerky and there's alot of breathing. The actual zoom range from 35-70 without it's macro feature is very nice and the lens does sustain focus while zooming in an out... so it is parfocal. Colors are rich and it has that nice zeiss punchy look that CP's or ZE/ZF's deliver. My particular copy is MMJ in the 74XXXXX range and would play well with my other MMJ lenses.

I've attatched a quick shot of my dog (German shepherd jack russel mix if anyone is wondering... yea... I know...) in .r3d for you to see what this lens can do, wide open, at 70mm and with no color correction. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/51913995/A001_C008_1231VW.0000963F.R3D You may want to bring up the iso to 800 to see some of the finer detail... I shot this really quick handheld and forgot to shoot it as native ISO.

Nick, you've got me hooked, lined and sunk on these lenses...
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Shervin, congratulations. Just so you know, and we're clear, if you go into the stills forums, you will find that this lens has a real CULT status. There are several Contax lenses that have recieved this type of frothing cult status, and make the manual focus vintage lens enthusiasts go bat shit crazy (these are the same guys that love the Nikor 85 1.4, the Leica 90 f2, etc).

They LOVE the 35 1.4, because wide open the BOKEH is sick. Look up sample shots on flicker and you'll see countless, near macro dreamy shots with this lens. The near focus is almost an inch. Mind blowing.

The 21 2.8. This lens has an MTF rating of about 98 WIDE OPEN. And 98 stopped down. It's a monster. It may be the best lens they ever made. The stills guys love to test this lens and compare it to others but none have beat it. Not even the (admitadelly amazing) Nikon 14-24 2.8.

The 28 2.8 gets a lot of love. Stopped down, the MTF is so sick, they go bat-shit crazy for this on a 5D for landscapes.

And then there's the 35-70 3.4. This lens has it's own THREADS. The resolution stopped down is off the chain. The MTF ratings are in the strong 90's. At all focal lenghts. Remember, Zeiss is VERY HONEST with it's MTF scores. So they are consertive numbers compared to other manufacturers (Canon doesn't even post theirs). I've seen one guy compare the Macro function of this lens alone to a Canon 50mm Macro, and it actually out-resolved it. So the Macro funtion is no joke. But mostly, it's the travel photographers that ADORE it. On the 5D, the 35mm looks like a 21mm, with superb resolution. And the 70mm is ideal for portraits. And the Macro is great for details. There were reports of one well known travel photographer that basically took it as his main lense. The stills forums are full of ravishing travel shots and landscapes. It is a very, very high resolution lens. Stopped down at 35mm, it delivers specatularly.

You have a GEM.

For a while, this lens used to be $350. Then it's cult status began to drive up prices (and supply) and prices hit $800. It looked like it was going to crest over $1,000. But then calmer minds prevailed, and it's back to $500-600.

But I think...in several years, when supply runs short (they no longer make it)....and the word begins to travel in our community and others...this rare, amazing bionic gem will soon, no doubt, start to fetch way over $1000. In my book, it's worth $1500. Its reputation deserves that much.
 
The 35-70/3.4 is a real gem of a lens, and, as Nick has said, it, along with the 21/2.8, has achieved real cult status. Think of the 35-70 as a set of variable primes (just a little on the slow side). The only thing you may want to consider if you use the 35-70 a lot is that it tends to act as mini vacuum cleaner. Being a push-pull design, it does tend to suck in a bit more air and dust that eventually finds its way to the sensor. It is something I really see when I use it for several days straight on my 5D MkII ... there will be dust spots on the sensor. The same thing with my Scarlet (but dust on the sensor seems a lot less visible-w-motion sequences). In either event, it is something that can be usually remedied by a few quick squeezes of air from a bulb-blower. Now, start looking for a 21/2.8.

__________________________________
Scarlet X # 1859 “Bettie Page”
“… preparing to ‘whip’ the competition …”

Zeiss Lenses:

CY 21/2.8
ZF 28/2.0
CY 35-70/3.4
CY 50/1.4
ZF100/2.0

Nikon Lenses:
G 14-24/2.8
G 24-70/2.8
D 80-200/2.8

Tokina Lenses:

11-16/2.8
 
Just did some outdoor tests with this lens earlier today and my god, I'm still speechless. If it weren't for the push/pull zoom feature and the rotating front, this lens would've been a cinematic masterpiece of a lens a while ago.

I'm going to deal with some of the mechanical setbacks of this lens on set just because I love this thing way to much. If you're reading this and wonder what the hell Nick, Bill and I are talking about, pull out your wallet and go hunting for a copy of this lens. I'm still in awe. The IQ speaks for itself.
 
Shervin Mandgaryan said:
Just did some outdoor tests with this lens earlier today and my god, I'm still speechless. If it weren't for the push/pull zoom feature and the rotating front, this lens would've been a cinematic masterpiece of a lens a while ago.

I'm going to deal with some of the mechanical setbacks of this lens on set just because I love this thing way to much. If you're reading this and wonder what the hell Nick, Bill and I are talking about, pull out your wallet and go hunting for a copy of this lens. I'm still in awe. The IQ speaks for itself.
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Haha, I love you right now Shervin. Also goes to show how conservative Zeiss's MTF charts are. Even then, if you compare this to a lot of their primes it's frequently their equal (or better). I think it's conservative speed helps in this regard. Zeiss are big fans of publishing MTF charts and telling you what a lens if for. They don't like to hide, and like engineers, tell you very directly what a lens is for. They advertised this and the 28-85 as lenses that could match primes...and they weren't fucking kidding. If they SAY that, they mean it. Remember, these guys don't say anything they don't back up. You can find an MTF chart for just about every stills lens they've made since the 60's (believe me, I've spent most of the holidays reading a lot of them).

Yeah...if if weren't for the push pull, this lens would be THE DESTRUCTOR. It's an amazing piece of glass. Currently, it's probably the Contax Zeiss glass with the greatest cult status (among three or four that are vying for first place). Which is why it was one of my EARLY targets. I got one at Adorama for $350, before they realized what they were selling...

Again, would not surprise me if this lens is worth over $1,000 by 2015. It's worth $1,500.
 
If you are looking for something similar, but two-touch, watch out for a Minolta 35-70mm, it's a construction they developed for Leica. Prime level too.
Admitted, it doesn't have the Zeiss look, but it's a great piece of glass on it's own and still cheap, you can get one in mint condition for less than 100,-

That said, I have a nice set of Zeiss Contax primes too, but I still hesitate to hunt down a zoom with one-touch.
 
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