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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

Awesome write-up, thank you Nick! :thumbsup:
 
I'm turning into a junkie... and I feel the need to share. Here are some .r3d's of my two favorite primes wide open.

CZ 50mm F1.4 Planar wide open (F1.4): https://dl.dropbox.com/u/51913995/A001_C002_0102N0.0000838F.R3D
(F2.8): https://dl.dropbox.com/u/51913995/A001_C002_0102N0.0000096F.R3D

CZ 135mm F2.8 Sonnar wide open (F2.8): https://dl.dropbox.com/u/51913995/A001_C001_010269.0000963F.R3D

The 50 has a bit of a spherical aberration and CA wide open, but if you add a bit of contrast, it goes away and gives a nice soft look. A lot of people mistake this 'glow' wide open for the lens not being sharp... sharpness is there, it just needs a bit of work to come out. This is going to be my mainstay lens for closeups.
The 135 is very sharp and punchy wide open, best bargain Contax lens there is. Very solid focus throw and build quality also.
 
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Uli Plank said:
Try the 50mm 1.7 !
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I'm planning on finding a very recent copy, serial number into the 8XXXXXX if I can to try out. From what I've heard is that they're very sharp wide open. I'm loving the 50mm 1.4 though, got it at a bargain price on eBay and love it's compact size.
 
Did Contax actually reach and pass into the 9xxx serial range? I was under the impression they ended somewhere around 89xx

I have yet to see Contax lens with a serial starting at 9xxx - if anyone's got one, please do show :coolgleamA:

Nick Morrison said:


...MM’s, especially later ones (8s, 9s, etc), can look a bit cleaner, more modern. But it’s subtle...
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Uli Plank said:
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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You mean the famous "Beer Can" that they also licensed to Leica? It's a 35-70 f4 right? That lens is AWESOME. Has lots of fans, and it's own beloved following, if I know it's reputation correctly....
 
Daniel Reed said:
Did Contax actually reach and pass into the 9xxx serial range? I was under the impression they ended somewhere around 89xx

I have yet to see Contax lens with a serial starting at 9xxx - if anyone's got one, please do show :coolgleamA:
Click to expand...

I do, one of my 50 1.4's is in the high 9's. Nick Pasquariello has a lens in the 1,000,000's!!! These are obviously end of era lenses, possibly from the 2000's, right at the end of Contax's "life" before Zeiss moved to ZF/ZE (which also have 1,000,000+ serials).



 
I'm not sure if the 35-70 f4 is dubbed "beer can", I think that's the 70-200mm Minolta zoom.

The 35-70 is very compact. I always admire it's mechanics: the f-stop is kept constant by adjusting the aperture internally when zooming – not many still cameras zooms do this.

BTW, if you want to mount Zeiss Contax lenses which can't be 'leitaxed' to RED cameras, you could go the route I took for Minoltas: get the Leica-M mount, there are adapter for this from China: http://stores.ebay.de/sjjobs/_i.html?_nkw=contax+leica+adapter&submit=Finden&_sid=1082187991
 
Uli Plank said:
I'm not sure if the 35-70 f4 is dubbed "beer can", I think that's the 70-200mm Minolta zoom.

The 35-70 is very compact. I always admire it's mechanics: the f-stop is kept constant by adjusting the aperture internally when zooming – not many still cameras zooms do this.

BTW, if you want to mount Zeiss Contax lenses which can't be 'leitaxed' to RED cameras, you could go the route I took for Minoltas: get the Leica-M mount, there are adapter for this from China: http://stores.ebay.de/sjjobs/_i.html?_nkw=contax+leica+adapter&submit=Finden&_sid=1082187991
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Or just use the All Star Mount, which is what I plan to do...
 
I think I might need to check in with Nick and test some of these lenses using my Allstar mount. Very curious....
 
Steve Sherrick said:
I think I might need to check in with Nick and test some of these lenses using my Allstar mount. Very curious....
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Anytime. Whenever you're next in NYC, lemme know. I'm getting my set modded pretty soon. And once it's on the A-Mount, it will be ready to really rock and roll.
 
I'll post a photo of my lenses tonight to confirm the absurdly high serial on my 50/1.4.

You guys are unhealthy for my wallet; I just ordered an EX+ 35-70 f3.4 and an UG 80-200 f4 on Keh ($570 and $94 respectively) based on all the gushing in this thread.
 
Nick Pasquariello said:
... You guys are unhealthy for my wallet; I just ordered an EX+ 35-70 f3.4 ...
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I think we you will be very happy with the 35-70. Even though the prices have gone up, I doubt you will ever lose money on that lens.

__________________________________
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
 
Taken with my phone, back when I first posted the serial numbers, just so I didn't have to write them down.

czserials.PNG



And yeah Bill, from what everyone has said about the 35-70, even if I have to sell it, I can't imagine doing so for a loss. Whereas with the 80-200, I figured for under $100, worst case scenario is I sell it on eBay for around the same.

I'll tell ya, the deciding factor for me for starting to go all in on Contax Zeiss rather than other glass, is that I can see the trend of the lens prices going up and up for the next few years. It's pretty nice knowing that the worst thing that will happen, is that I sell them and break even, as opposed to selling other gear (bought new) at a loss.

That, and the memory of the first time I stepped behind a piece of Zeiss glass; it was love at first sight.
 
You won't sell your 35-70, trust me... the pictures it produces makes you think you've got a much more expensive lens.

That 50 1.4 is insane... definitely must have been made in the mid 2000's... just before they stopped making lenses for the Contax line. Wonder how it will stack up to an early ZF/ZE 50 1.4.
 
Nick Pasquariello said:
Taken with my phone, back when I first posted the serial numbers, just so I didn't have to write them down.

czserials.PNG



And yeah Bill, from what everyone has said about the 35-70, even if I have to sell it, I can't imagine doing so for a loss. Whereas with the 80-200, I figured for under $100, worst case scenario is I sell it on eBay for around the same.

I'll tell ya, the deciding factor for me for starting to go all in on Contax Zeiss rather than other glass, is that I can see the trend of the lens prices going up and up for the next few years. It's pretty nice knowing that the worst thing that will happen, is that I sell them and break even, as opposed to selling other gear (bought new) at a loss.

That, and the memory of the first time I stepped behind a piece of Zeiss glass; it was love at first sight.
Click to expand...

That serial number on the 1.4 is mind boggling!!

You can see the evolution of the coating just from these shots. Look at the glints/flares on the 50 1.7. Mixture of greens, blues, and some purples (it's a healthy AE with serial in the 64s). The older Contaxes trend more towards greener flares, with some purple mixing in a bit. My 85 2.8 (very old serials) is all green. Where as look at your bonkers 50 1.4 and its crazy modern serial (dude that must have been made in 2005, cuz I've seen ZF's with serials only a bit higher)....the flaring is all a healthy purple. If you point that at a direct source you'll notice less veiling flare, but a greater tendency towards purple "splotches" at the points where the coating gets overwhelmed. But the flaring will be more controlled, better managed.
 
Yeah, when I opened the package from Keh, my first though was "...counterfeit?" based on what everyone had written on the serial numbers.

I'm certainly up for getting it in the same room as an early Contax 50/1.4 and a ZE/ZF 50/1.4 to see which it looks closer to.
 
Shervin Mandgaryan said:
That 50 1.4 is insane... definitely must have been made in the mid 2000's... just before they stopped making lenses for the Contax line. Wonder how it will stack up to an early ZF/ZE 50 1.4.
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Wondering same thing. How close it's coating is to ZF/ZE.
 
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