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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

Finally got round to picking up my set.

18mm f4.0 MMJ
25mm f2.8 AEG
28mm f2.8 AEJ
35mm f1.4 AEG
50mm f1.4 MMJ
85mm f1.4 AEG
135mm f2.8 AEJ

Just want to add the Simmod Lens front custom caps now and have a custom pelican made.

20zo6ed.jpg
 
Light Transmission

Light Transmission

Hi,
Do you kwow where I can find the real light transmission number (T-stop) for each of the Contax Zeiss lens ?
Is it reasonable to say that it's about 90% of the F-stop ?

Thx
 
Hi, Nicolas.

Well, basically nowhere. If u have some, u can send some to me for testing on a bench. Wood be nice post for my Insta.

It could be even more, like in the area of 92% or so.

Though, it is not Contax' Datasheets, but I presume u can get some considerations from this ARRI/ZEISS Superspeeds and Standard speeds datasheets, same era of late '70-s, same coating and glass:

(A link to Arri New 35 mm Zeiss-ARRIFLEX 'SUPER HIGH SPEED and standard lenses'.pdf lens layout datasheets scheme diagram)

There u can see that typical Superspeed has T1.3 and f1.2 whilst Standard has T2.1 and f2.0

Still, many consider that quite an optimistic measurement done by Arri...they are less in reality. It's not clear how precisely they made the measurement and what the process was.
 
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Thank you Ilya for the formulas ! It's very useful.

On DXOMARK, most recent Zeiss lenses are all in the area of 95%.
I think that 92% seems fine for an old Contax Zeiss.
 
Anybody having an original mount ring for Contax/Yashica lying around after getting a Leitax or Simmod for yours?

If you'd like to sell it to me, please PM.

Edit: Sorry, forget it, I just got informed that those go on top of the original mount.
 
Here's a music video I recently shot with my contax AE set. One lens not a lot of people talk about here is the 15mm such an amazing lens. Close focus incredible. Camera was the bmpcc4k thx to ilya at hotrod cameras #bestcamerashopever
 
steven strobel said:
Here's a music video I recently shot with my contax AE set. One lens not a lot of people talk about here is the 15mm such an amazing lens. Close focus incredible. Camera was the bmpcc4k thx to ilya at hotrod cameras #bestcamerashopever
Click to expand...

Dude this looks great!
 
Hi!

Looking for mattebox recommendations to use with my contax zeiss set. I've had some trouble with ghosting/reflections given that clamp on matteboxes put too much stress on the lens. What's been working for everyone? Thank ya.
 
Which Mattebox were you using?

The Bright Tangerine Misfit Atom is probably one of the lightest on the market at the moment, give that a go?

Ivy Chiu said:
Hi!

Looking for mattebox recommendations to use with my contax zeiss set. I've had some trouble with ghosting/reflections given that clamp on matteboxes put too much stress on the lens. What's been working for everyone? Thank ya.
Click to expand...
 
Josh Birch said:
Which Mattebox were you using?

The Bright Tangerine Misfit Atom is probably one of the lightest on the market at the moment, give that a go?
Click to expand...

Been using the Tilta MB-T12, which is a clamp on, but I use it with the 15mm rod attachment. Comes with an 80mm quickback but given that the lenses need room to travel for focus, I have to use a larger quickback. Still hunting for a good donut to use with it.
 
Hello guys. I wanted to ask everybody what's their experience with the 100mm f2.8 Macro.
I have two copies and both have quite the amount of CA at f2.8, that won't go away for a couple of stops. Tried them on a few cameras too just to make sure.
I'm used to CA on the 1.4s but I expected this lens at f2.8 to be pretty clean.
Are both of my copies bad or is this the expected performance of this lens?
Both lenses are AEJ 73xxxxx serials. Funny thing the one that has haze in one of the elements, has slightly less - but still much noticeable - CA.

I got the f2.8 with the idea of having a macro lens but at the same time to cover the 100mm focal length.
I have found myself having to desaturate the magenta/greens every time I had to use it to ease the CA a bit.
Having to go to f5.6 for a sane image feels quite restrictive.

If that's also your experience, any ideas on how the 100/2 compares to that matter? Is it fairly clean at f2.8 or so?
If that's the case, I might sell both my 100s and get a 100/2 and a 60 macro instead which for the brief time I had it seemed quite okay regarding CA.


Thank you.
 
I can only speak for the 100mm f3.5 which has very low CA, hardly noticeable even fully open.
My Macro 60mm is great too.
 
Thank you guys. It's indeed a bit weird, since both of my lenses perform like that. I'm guessing it's down to what my expectations were. I thought it was because of my first copy which had some slight haze so I bought the same lens again but the performance is the same.

I had my eyes on a private sale of a 100/2 locally that was selling for just $600. After inquiring and requesting photos I found out it's actually an MMJ and in very mint condition (the seller has bought it new back in early 2000s and barely used it). I'm meeting him tomorrow to check in person and if it's all good I will grab it no questions asked. Then I can compare with the macro and think what to do after that.

If anybody is looking for a dirt cheap copy of the Contax 100/2.8 macro by the way, I'm selling one of mines for an honest price of $325 paypal and shipping worldwide included. The lens does have some slight haze (between the 3 and 4th element as far as I can tell), but I did lengthy and brutal comparisons against my other "good" copy including strong lights tests from all angles and I found no differences - the hazy copy even has slightly less CA somehow. It's a 73xxxx serial AEJ with 1:1 macro capability (100/2.8 MMs were never produced). The focus ring is very smooth - smoother than my other copy - and the lens has been converted to Nikon mount permanently allegedly by cineconversions expert Kimcamera, here in Korea (old C/Y mount not included). Currently clicked but I can get it decklicked and lubed for you with no extra cost. Can be of course used in EF with a cheap Nikon to EOS adapter. Body is in good condition with a couple of dents here and there but nothing extreme. Normal dust inside. Anyways, it's just siting at my drybox. If interested let me know.
 
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Hello everyone,

I decided to make a set of these lenses. Love them. Having great results. Massive thanks to everyone here for their contributions.

Two of my lenses are having an infinity focus problem though. I just noticed that distant objects, when the lens is focused at infinity, are not sharp. I can see that they are not sharp when I toggle on 'magnify' and look at the area on the LCD that is in the distance.

Is there anyway to adjust the lens to fix this?

thanks

chris.....
 
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