Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Register Log in
  • 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

Well, of course it's a matter of taste, but OOF highlights with an extender look nearly like from a mirror lens ;-)
 
Uli Plank said:
Well, of course it's a matter of taste, but OOF highlights with an extender look nearly like from a mirror lens ;-)
Click to expand...

Yea, I'm not convince yet by the extender, too many CA to control under highlights.
I'm getting better, but I don't think at the end it make justice to the zoom.
B.
 
I can't believe I've forgotten to post this! Here's acomedy pilot we shot on CONTAX GLASS and Canon DSLR's, early in 2012, before we got the Scarlets. Was a NYTVF "COMEDY CENTRAL" FINALIST , and developed by ALT comedian Victor Varnado (Marc Maron's WTF, Comedy Central, Pluto Nash, End of Days) and stars a number of hilarious NY comics. Victor is a comedian I've known and admired for years, and it was a blast to work alongside him.

Shot, Produced and Edited by Astronaut. Created and directed by Victor Varnado.

THE TROUBLE WITH CHARLIE

 
Ben Scott said:
Nice Brice :)
I have to say I am more than happy with my 300mm f4 for wildlife. Even on full frame it looks incredible. More Canon 6D goodness...
Click to expand...

Nice one Ben.
So I can post without feeling guilty. ;-)

More 100/300 love
1048432_10201381061434871_3240734_o.jpg




1009172_10201381067395020_1656852777_o.jpg


Best
B.
 
Nick Morrison said:
I can't believe I've forgotten to post this! Here's acomedy pilot we shot on CONTAX GLASS and Canon DSLR's, early in 2012, before we got the Scarlets. Was a NYTVF "COMEDY CENTRAL" FINALIST , and developed by ALT comedian Victor Varnado (Marc Maron's WTF, Comedy Central, Pluto Nash, End of Days) and stars a number of hilarious NY comics. Victor is a comedian I've known and admired for years, and it was a blast to work alongside him.

Shot, Produced and Edited by Astronaut. Created and directed by Victor Varnado.

THE TROUBLE WITH CHARLIE

Click to expand...

Ha ha that was a nice piece Nick.
A lot of urban poetry into that.
I don't know why but those two guys (the gamer and the puppet) remind me the two principal characters in My name is Earl.

Best
B.
 
Great video nick! Really good excecution! The extra latitude and contrast the contax glass gives you worked well with the canon dslr's! I always found that zeiss ZE's were a little too punchy for my tastes when working with something like a 5D. They looked great just super punchy.
 
Matthew Robertson said:
Great video nick! Really good excecution! The extra latitude and contrast the contax glass gives you worked well with the canon dslr's! I always found that zeiss ZE's were a little too punchy for my tastes when working with something like a 5D. They looked great just super punchy.
Click to expand...

Thanks Matthew!

Totally agree. The Contax glass made our DSLR's much more forgiving. My love affair for Contax begun early on during this 60D/7D/5D phase. Couldn't believe how much better the Contax glass made everything look! (The mechanics were a big plus as well).

I had created another pilot earlier when I was still lens agnostic, and I found the DSLR workflow cumbersome. But once I starting building the Contax set, things started to get easier. A great consistent look. Easier mechanics. It was simple for me to check what F-stop everyone was at (as a producer I like to be aware of what's going on; esp on multicam shoots).

The Trouble With Charlie is actually the project which convinced me to start dramatically EXPANDING my Contax set. After an AC came by and asked "if I had a third 50mm prime", I realized then and there, for the kind of multi-cam shooting I like, getting multiple copies of certain key primes would very likely be in my future.

I still dream of doing a shoot where I get to use THREE 135mm's (one of my fave focal lengths!).
 
Hoping some of you 85 1.4 users can chime in. I love my AE 85 1.4. I went ahead and picked up a second 85 1.4 but in MM a few months back. I didn't have much time to experiment with it but I have noticed that at 1.4 the MM seems to have more glow around edges. When stopped down to f2 it is gone. Has anyone else had a similar issue or do I have a copy that is bad? I have only tested it mainly indoors in daylight. I guess I need to find an appropriate subject to photograph to fully test it. Any suggestions?

I should add that I was testing on a 5D Mark III
 
looking at grabbing the 135 or 180 hoping someone can advise...

I had heard the 135 isn't the greatest lens in the contax zeiss lineup...especially when compared to the canon 135 f2

and the 180 I don't hear much about at all

anybody using these lenses?
 
Samir Patel said:
Hoping some of you 85 1.4 users can chime in. I love my AE 85 1.4. I went ahead and picked up a second 85 1.4 but in MM a few months back. I didn't have much time to experiment with it but I have noticed that at 1.4 the MM seems to have more glow around edges. When stopped down to f2 it is gone. Has anyone else had a similar issue or do I have a copy that is bad? I have only tested it mainly indoors in daylight. I guess I need to find an appropriate subject to photograph to fully test it. Any suggestions?

I should add that I was testing on a 5D Mark III
Click to expand...

The differences btw the 85 1.4 AE and MM were supposed to be wide open. So, it would make sense you may see a slight difference btw the two. That "glow" isn't uncommon with fast lenses wide open.
 
Mike Harrington said:
looking at grabbing the 135 or 180 hoping someone can advise...

I had heard the 135 isn't the greatest lens in the contax zeiss lineup...especially when compared to the canon 135 f2

and the 180 I don't hear much about at all

anybody using these lenses?
Click to expand...

The Contax 135 2.8 MM is a great lens - sharp wide open, and from edge to edge. I love it. For the absurdly low price of $300, you'd be hard pressed to find a better deal. The 135m f2 is pretty soft wide open, so the extra $1000 you are paying hardly seems worth it. I have both, and though I do like the character of the f2, I do consider myself lucky for having found the f2 absurdly cheap (and I mean...absurdly). Stopped down both primes are pretty much equal, so I do personally consider the 135 f2 a bit of a vanity purchase.

The 180 2.8 is a great lens. Both on full frame and S35mm.

For both the 135 and 180, the MM's were supposed to be slightly improved, so look for these newer versions vs the AE's, unless you specifically want some of the extra "character" of the AEs.

The focus throw on all these primes is tremendous, FYI.
 
thanks Nick...I think you just made my mind up

I had just bought the 35-70 and love the quality....I would love to build a contax zeiss set....

The only issue I see now is a guy can go out and get a new zeiss for canon set for almost the same price....based on what i see on ebay
 
Thanks Nick for the input. I think Mike was referring to Canon 135f2 for comparison. I will tell you Mike that I love my Canon 135f2. One of my favorite lenses for shooting stills. I have a Contax 135 f2.8 AE (bought it mainly to just complete the set) I rarely use it but again for the price it is better to keep it on the off chance that I need it in the future. I haven't used the MM version as Nick has described but due to Nick's thread here I suspect that I like many others on here will never be satisfied until I have have a complete set of both AE and MM versions of the main focal lengths. Yeah I blame you Nick.
 
Ya I was referring to the canon 135....

I just grabbed a 135 2.8 MM for $200 (10 minutes ago)....so can't really go wrong there

Anyone know if this is the wide or narrow contax mount for a leitax adapter (MM).....?
Mine is on its way and its pretty hard to tell by the pictures of the mount
 
Samir Patel said:
Hoping some of you 85 1.4 users can chime in. I love my AE 85 1.4. I went ahead and picked up a second 85 1.4 but in MM a few months back. I didn't have much time to experiment with it but I have noticed that at 1.4 the MM seems to have more glow around edges.
Click to expand...

Samir, I experienced the same. I had a mint example of 85mm 1.4 MM (Japan) since 2002 which has more halation and it's softer WO than the 85mm 1.4 AE (West Germany) I bought last year!!!!
 
Samir Patel said:
I think Mike was referring to Canon 135f2 for comparison. I will tell you Mike that I love my Canon 135f2. One of my favorite lenses for shooting stills.
Click to expand...

Almost everyone who owns one says the exact same thing....
 
Tommaso Alvisi said:
Samir, I experienced the same. I had a mint example of 85mm 1.4 MM (Japan) since 2002 which has more halation and it's softer WO than the 85mm 1.4 AE (West Germany) I bought last year!!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks Tommaso. I thought my mind and unsteady hands were playing tricks on me. I love the AE lenses mainly for the silky smooth focus ring. I am thinking for the future to stick to AE to build out my set and just buy the new CP.2s in the future if I want to newest coatings.
 
Mike Harrington said:
Ya I was referring to the canon 135....

I just grabbed a 135 2.8 MM for $200 (10 minutes ago)....so can't really go wrong there

Anyone know if this is the wide or narrow contax mount for a leitax adapter (MM).....?
Mine is on its way and its pretty hard to tell by the pictures of the mount
Click to expand...


Its a narrow mount
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top