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Contax Zeiss Survival Guide

Some 6D / 28mm Hollywood shots from today's 20min walk in the park

Sunny day in Greenwich Park by Soma Pics, on Flickr

Sunny day in Greenwich Park by Soma Pics, on Flickr

Sunny day in Greenwich Park by Soma Pics, on Flickr

Sunny day in Greenwich Park by Soma Pics, on Flickr

Sunny day in Greenwich Park by Soma Pics, on Flickr

And totally non Zeiss related but just for fun - Tamron Adaptall 90mm f2.5 macro plus Raynox 250

Sunny day in Greenwich Park by Soma Pics, on Flickr



Sunny day in Greenwich Park by Soma Pics, on Flickr

Sunny day in Greenwich Park by Soma Pics, on Flickr
 
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Yeah, I got a $10 adapter off of ebay, just to check it out because it was so cheap. It is actually very nice, it has a clip that clicks into the original mount and is very sturdy. It isn't to hard to take off to put the mutar on either. So far I am very glad I went that route instead of going with something like the tamron 150-600! I also have leitax with my other contax lenses, which I was going to get with this lens, but figured mine as well try a removable one for this reason. I am quite happy with the images that I got today.

I have the original al mount. So should I worry? The lens isnt all that heavy really, just long, and a support seems a bit trickier with the push pull. Looks like the 100-300 plus mutar weighs in at 1175g. I was using the canon 70-300L before this and it weighs 1050g.

Weve been shooting all weekend on 80-200 and sometimes 100-300 and so far been fine w/out additional support. As you say, the 100-300 really isnt that heavy.
 
Some new shots I got this weekend with the 80-200 on my GH4, starting to get use to the push pull design of the lens. All these are frame grabs with no editing.
 

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Ah, the Tamron 90mm!
One of my very few third party favorites.
 
Thanks Nick :)

And Uli, yeah I love it. Sadly I think my copy has internal damage or fungus spots inside the rear element so I either buy a new one or finally get a Contax Macro. Tough decisions.

But anyway, EVERYONE needs to buy one of those raynox toys :)
 
Some new shots I got this weekend with the 80-200 on my GH4, starting to get use to the push pull design of the lens. All these are frame grabs with no editing.


Russell, talk to me about the GH4. How is it with movement? Is the rolling shutter controlled enough to be able to use it handheld okay?

As soon as I sell my 6D I'm going to pull the trigger on one. I think. :)
 
Some screen grabs from a web series I am shooting, Contax on GH4 (sorry Scarlet). Primarily 85 1.4, 28 2.8 and 80-200 f4.





















A couple color corrected samples:





 
Hey Ben,

Its a sweet camera for the price. the images are amazing but of course you cant compare it to a RED overall like some people are doing. It will make a great B Camera. The AF is super fast, I have owned the 5D3 as well and this is faster. The rolling shutter is the biggest let down for me. I dont shoot a lot of moving shots just locked off but when handheld it can show up in 4K, just have to watch it. In HD mode it doesn't show up to me. The low light isnt the best but I know that going into it and dont care since I dont shoot at night.
 
No Problem, I feel like this camera will be making some great content for sure, and its the go to for Gimbal or Heli work if you need 4K for a cheap price. It will be our A camera till we can get the cash to own a RED and no rent them. Hopefully Scarlets will drop and I will pick on up and then just keep upgrading.
 
Apologies for spamming and I know there's a marketplace but as I'm always taking far too much stuff out on shoots ahead of upgrading my Scarlet to an Epic I am going about downsizing my lens kit to just some core primes and 2 zooms to make travel easier so I'm going to offload the following.

25mm AEG with fotodiox pro Canon adapter and focus gear
35mm f2.8 AEJ with Leitax Canon mount and focus gear - IRIS DECLICKED
135mm f2.8 AEG fotodiox pro Canon adapter and focus gear
300mm f4 MMJ with Leitax Canon mount

In addition to cold hard cash I'm also after other bits and pieces (Redmags/Matte box/Contax Macro/Monitor etc) so if you're interested drop me a PM
 
Jeffrey, amazing shots!!!



Thanks Nick! That means a lot.

This isn't a GH4 forum, so instead I will say that using the Metabones Contax > M43 is a lot of fun! You get an extra stop, the frame size is around scarlet, and the MTF is improved (as opposed to just cropping in). The tough thing is that my 85 and 50 fit great, the 80-200 is wiggly and the 28 is too tight. Have to look into it. The inexpensive chinese EF to m43 reducer I use for my Contax 28-85 with a leitax adapter is very very good for 1/4 the price.

It was such a suprise to go back to using native Contax mounts I had to buy replacement back caps cause I have no idea where my originals went, lol.

I must say the Lumix 12-35 is nowhere near as close inlook and feel to Contax as the Sigma 18-35 1.8 is. Miss the 18-35.
 
Really good to hear about the cheaper adapter, can you pm a link to the one that you bought. Been wanting to test it out.
 
Nearly all of the shots in my reel were shot on my contax glass --
25, 50, 85, and 135. There may be one or two that were lenses on CP2s, but honestly, I love, love, love the look of my contax glass. Strangely, I've shot on another set and the ones I have look quite a bit different than the other set.. (but better, imo) I've kind of revolved them in/out as some of the others were creamier / had more of a strange magenta hue on skin-tones whereas the 25/50 handle a more tungsten-y orange to them. Anyway, hope everyone enjoys - I've been blown away with what I've been getting with my glass, obviously lighting is everything, but -- the quality you can get out of these is remarkable.

Cheers!

-Joshua

 
Did a fun NASCAR/HISTORY CHANNEL shoot recently (3 long days) with fellow RU Ryan DeFranco, with 3 Scarlets, and the Contax push pull zooms were invaluable. They allowed operators to zoom/focus all in one smooth movement, and with cams mounted on heavy Monopods, we were able to cover events very effectively. Ryan fell in love with the 80-200 (RP modded). We also used RP modded 28-85 and 35-135 primarily (the 35-135 is a BEAST), and for longer reach in/out of stadium...the RP 80-200 and 100-300 were superb.

For wider shots, we relied on the RP Modded Sigma 18-35 (paired with 1/8 BPM), an RP Modded Tokina 11-16, and two fisheyes: Canon FD 7.5mm, and Contax 16 2.8 (both also modded by RP)

We also experimented with a Motion Mount for first time, and first impressions were very favorable. Being able to stop down w/ the side handle, and shoot clean with no more than .9 ND...AND have a global shutter...was impressive. Our B-CAM is noticeably GREENER because of all the additional ND we had to use.

We are in early stages of editorial. Will do my best to share creative over coming weeks! Should be fun to see what these zooms bring/add to such a broad, sprawling project.

best.
 
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