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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

Ok everyone, sorry I took so long to get back at you all. But just yesterday I was able to pay a visit at my favourite local rental house to test the FF Rings made by Sean, and I have to say they all worked flawless.

ffring.jpg


Shitty photo I know, but the lighting there sucked.

I was in a bit of a rush while there, but I thought I'd roll camera a bit to try out the lenses agains a schneider focus chart... nothing scientific, but just out of curiosity.
I'll post some screens later today, or whenever I get a chance.

One thing that bothered me though, is that the focus on the 35mm 1.4 is very very stiff. But I don't think there's anything I can do about it, is there?

Cheers.
 
Can someone tell me which adapter is usable with Contax Zeiss and Canon 5D models? (without hitting the mirror). Is every prime usable?
This database makes me suspicious, ´cause of the "I" on the 5D models...
 
DAVID BARKAN said:
I was in a bit of a rush while there, but I thought I'd roll camera a bit to try out the lenses agains a schneider focus chart... nothing scientific, but just out of curiosity.
I'll post some screens later today, or whenever I get a chance.
Click to expand...

Much appreciated!!!!

DAVID BARKAN said:
One thing that bothered me though, is that the focus on the 35mm 1.4 is very very stiff. But I don't think there's anything I can do about it, is there?

Cheers.
Click to expand...

Probably the grease is old, it's a relatively simple job for a lens technician...just clean it off and re-apply some brand new grease, that's all! ;)
 
Tommaso Alvisi said:
Probably the grease is old, it's a relatively simple job for a lens technician...just clean it off and re-apply some brand new grease, that's all! ;)
Click to expand...

Kind of scary to leave it at a local shop here in Sao Paulo... I should probably wait till I go to NY in a couple of months and leave it at the Nippon Photo Clinic, they are great there.
 
DAVID BARKAN said:
Kind of scary to leave it at a local shop here in Sao Paulo... I should probably wait till I go to NY in a couple of months and leave it at the Nippon Photo Clinic, they are great there.
Click to expand...

Hey David, Nippon sounds like a great idea! I've been meaning to bring them lenses myself (my 135 f2 has similar focus issues, for ex)

@ Ben - lovely pics! You can see why it's easy to fall in love with the Hollywood! The bokeh is....just....breathtaking!
 
Ok all.
So here's my "bad" testing results... doesn't say much, but it's just for fun.

Everything was shot in video mode on the Panasonic Lumix GH3, 24fps, 1920x1080 72mbit ALL-I, Neutral Picture Style, using the Metabones Speedbooster C/Y to M4/3 adapter, at ASA 400, f/4.

25mm f/2.8
25.jpeg


35mm f/1.4
35_14_a.jpeg


35_14_b.jpeg


50mm f/1.4
50_14.jpeg


85mm f/1.4
85_14.jpeg


135mm f/2.8
135.jpeg


28-85mm f/3.3-4 @28mm
zoom_28.jpeg


28-85mm f/3.3-4 @35mm
zoom_35.jpeg


28-85mm f/3.3-4 @85mm
zoom_85.jpeg


28-85mm f/3.3-4 @85mm Zoomed in from the 28mm camera position
zoom_85from28.jpeg


and just out of curiosity with the X100 it has a 23mm lens, aps-c sensor (I cropped it to 16x9) at f/4 as well.
x100.jpg


Notice how sharp and contrasty the Zoom is compared to the primes. =)

Again, these were all made in a very unorthodox matter... it's just out of curiosity. I was there to test out the focus rings, and I decided to shoot the chart for the heck of it.

Next time I get a decent sized gig, I'll do a more professional test. They have a few Zeiss ZFs there and they have the Zeiss Sony Alpha zooms as well... will be interesting to put them all side by side with the Contaxes and maybe some Canon primes too.

Cheers.
 
@ Ben: No problems with the Contax glass on my A7R whatsoever. Since the wides are retrofocus designs for cameras with a mirror, the distance to the sensor plane is big enough not to have any problems (color shifts, smearing) in the corners like the rangefinder lenses can have. Of course, any weaknesses wide open show more on FF, the 25mm is not really great and the 28mm 2.8 is a tad weaker in the corners WO than the 'Hollywood' at the same stop. I might go for a Samyang 24 for my widest.

@ David: Yes, have it re-greased. My 35 1.4 is a bit stiffer than all the rest as well, they probably have a very large area of contact in the threads.

P.S.: Found one issue that needs a second look: the narrower throat of the E-mount may deform OOF highlights in the corners. Stay tuned…
 
Hello all.
Here's something I shot just a couple of weeks ago with the GH3+Speedbooster setup:


The exterior and interior cut aways were with the 35mm f/1.4, the interview itself with the 50mm f/1.4 and the stage shots with the 28-85mm zoom. Color done with FilmConvert.
I sent the client a ProRes LT version to upload, but I think they converted again since the quality is kind of shitty.

Here's some screens from the ProRes LT.

Outside I had a NDIR and shot at f/4
Jordana%203.jpeg


I believe the lens here was at f/2 or f/2.8 max, I really needed to erase this background
Jordana%203-1.jpeg


Here I remember keeping the zoom at f/5.6
Jordana%203-2.jpeg


Cheers!
 
Coming back to the subject of vintage lenses on a Sony A7R: I don't see any strange effects to OOF highlights in the corners with my Contax glass, not even my fastest wide, the 28mm 2.0.

I also checked with a Minolta 21mm 2.8 (I don't own the 21mm Distagon) and it looks OK. Only my widest FF lens, a Tokina 17mm 3.5 shows some deformed OOF highlights in the corners WO, but that was never one of the greatest lenses anyway.

What about longer lenses? Well, my 85mm 1.4 shows some cat's eye highlights WO (with beautifully even light distribution, BTW). But it's doing that on the RED too, or on a GH2 with the Metabones Speedbooster, and those throats shouldn't be too small for their sensor. No onion structures, BTW, as you can spot with most lenses that contain some aspheric glass.

So I don't think the narrow throat of the E-mount is a problem, it seems, as it came up in some forums. Maybe going FF with this mount was not an afterthought by Sony, but considered from the start…
 
DAVID BARKAN said:
Hello all.
Here's something I shot just a couple of weeks ago with the GH3+Speedbooster setup:
Click to expand...

Hey David, nice work!

I was wondering if you could illuminate a bit on the m4/3 + Speedbooster + Contax Zeiss equation?

If I am right, m4/3 is a 2.0 crop, but the contax makes things .71x wider. So a full frame 35mm lens, would end up being a 49.7mm with a 1 stop speed increase. This compares to a full frame 35mm lens on a Scarlet or APS-c size camera coming in around 56mm with an average 1.6 crop.

Does that sound about right?

Obviously the question angles at the GH4. I love my Scarlet and want to stay in the Red universe, but financials may push me over to the GH4 or BM4K with my Contax set.
 
Sounds about right. I'd rather wait for the GH4, the BMPC 4K seems to have quite a few problems still, the biggest being fixed pattern noise.

That said, the little BMPCC is not a bad camera for the money.
 
Jeffrey T. Morgan said:
Hey David, nice work!

I was wondering if you could illuminate a bit on the m4/3 + Speedbooster + Contax Zeiss equation?

If I am right, m4/3 is a 2.0 crop, but the contax makes things .71x wider. So a full frame 35mm lens, would end up being a 49.7mm with a 1 stop speed increase. This compares to a full frame 35mm lens on a Scarlet or APS-c size camera coming in around 56mm with an average 1.6 crop.

Does that sound about right?

Obviously the question angles at the GH4. I love my Scarlet and want to stay in the Red universe, but financials may push me over to the GH4 or BM4K with my Contax set.
Click to expand...

You're just about right. I calculated .7 instead of .71, but I just "calibrated" my mind as if the conversion would give a rough S35mm FOV. So the 35mm would be the same as in the RED for example, give or take.

And yeah, I haven't really tested to see if it's really a 1 stop, but from what my meter says, that's it's about it.

I love the combination of speedbooster+contaxes and how it makes the sensor size irrelevant, I just wish they had the Canon EF mount speedbooster so I could have all my lenses Leitaxed.

And yeah, I'm buying the GH4 as soon as preorder starts. Will be great for smaller projects, as well as my own stuff. I'll save the RED for narrative films and commercials. =)
 
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