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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

After a week of being held ransom at the Malaysian Customs Office, our little Dragon finally hatched. So to celebrate we took it out to check the Kuala Lumpur nightlife with a 21mm MMJ, 35mm Sigma ART, 60mm macro AEG and an 85mm f1.4 AEG. This morning I was astounded by the images. The Dragon sensor is a wonderful piece of science and allied with these superb lenses you cannot fail but shoot cinematic images, even under horrible mixed light sources. Here are some random shots, the only processing of which is Dragon Colour and Red Colour 4. All white balances are 5600K 0 Tint.I can't work out how to embed reasonably sized images with links to the full ones, so the album is here http://imgur.com/a/pwvQE#0, and some samples are below.
 

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Great stuff Chris.

Something a little different. Shot but not edited or graded by me. Corporate shoot for a construction project in London. I think the closest to being grading is a redcine export.

Timelapses: Canon 6D, 60D, 5D mk3
Video: Red scarlet-X
Lenses: All Contax

pw: tower

 
Last edited:
@Ben - great looking piece! Your timelapses are sick! Gotta pick your brain about those!

I'll be posting a bunch of recent work soon (right now, it's mostly still in edit)...but I've been shooting A LOT these days. Mostly for History and Lifetime, on travel jobs, interviews, BTS, and we're really been giving the gear a good pounding. Out of all of this, I'll have to say the Contax ZOOMS have really started to win over my crews. The 28-85 is a workhorse. I know the 35-70 is iconic, but the 28-85 just has so much range, so buttery to the touch, and its short MINIMUM FOCUS gives it fantastically shallow DOF at the long end. Superb for run and gun, and versatile indoors too. We've been using it all the time. I'm tempted to get a second one...

The other is the 80-200. Another INSANE workhorse. It's not CRAZY sharp wide open at F4 (like the 100-300), but still very sharp and very forgiving on skin. What makes this zoom SICK though is its short minimum focus from 80mm through 200mm - exceedingly short 4feet all the way through (my Nikkor 200mm f2 can't focus closer than 10 feet...by comparison). This means it's effectively a MACRO zoom at 200mm. Yesterday on a Mary Kay shoot for Lifetime, our operator could just blast in on fantastic closeups of models' eyes as makeup was being applied, and you could just hear squeals of delight from clients at these breathtaking macros...and then we'd pull back to an 80mm for the closeup again. In fact, I was so in love with the 80-200 I instantly bought another...last night! It was killing me we didn't have a second one covering the makeup artist! Can't wait to send it to RP Lens - Peter's mods are SUPERB!

Hope you are all doing well, and thriving with your Contax glass!

best
 
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Nick Morrison said:
In fact, I was so in love with the 80-200 I instantly bought another last night!

best
Click to expand...

Dammit Nick, you are making me want another 80-200. I am thinking of excuses as I type.

I have said this too many times, but if someone only could get 2 Contax lenses, I would say the 28mm 2.8 and the 80-200 can do the most for the least.
 
Jeffrey T. Morgan said:
Dammit Nick, you are making me want another 80-200. I am thinking of excuses as I type.

I have said this too many times, but if someone only could get 2 Contax lenses, I would say the 28mm 2.8 and the 80-200 can do the most for the least.
Click to expand...

Have you or has anybody compared the 80-200 with the 70-210?
 
scott devitte said:
Have you or has anybody compared the 80-200 with the 70-210?
Click to expand...

I've never used the 70-210, but it's an older design, and very expensive. The MTF's seen to suggest it's considerably softer wide open than the 80-200, which would probably limit it's effectiveness indoors.

best
 
Jeffrey T. Morgan said:
Dammit Nick, you are making me want another 80-200. I am thinking of excuses as I type.
Click to expand...

Haha. Yeah, I came home and instantly bought a second! Trying to control myself and not get a second 28-85 (the mods at RP lens add another expense, so I need to always keep that in mind).

But I agree with you, for bang for buck...the 80-200 is pretty hard to beat, under any circumstance.
 
Nick Morrison said:
@Ben - great looking piece! Your timelapses are sick! Gotta pick your brain about those!

I'll be posting a bunch of recent work soon (right now, it's mostly still in edit)...but I've been shooting A LOT these days. Mostly for History and Lifetime, on travel jobs, interviews, BTS, and we're really been giving the gear a good pounding. Out of all of this, I'll have to say the Contax ZOOMS have really started to win over my crews. The 28-85 is a workhorse. I know the 35-70 is iconic, but the 28-85 just has so much range, so buttery to the touch, and its short MINIMUM FOCUS gives it fantastically shallow DOF at the long end. Superb for run and gun, and versatile indoors too. We've been using it all the time. I'm tempted to get a second one...

The other is the 80-200. Another INSANE workhorse. It's not CRAZY sharp wide open at F4 (like the 100-300), but still very sharp and very forgiving on skin. What makes this zoom SICK though is its short minimum focus from 80mm through 200mm - exceedingly short 4feet all the way through (my Nikkor 200mm f2 can't focus closer than 10 feet...by comparison). This means it's effectively a MACRO zoom at 200mm. Yesterday on a Mary Kay shoot for Lifetime, our operator could just blast in on fantastic closeups of models' eyes as makeup was being applied, and you could just hear squeals of delight from clients at these breathtaking macros...and then we'd pull back to an 80mm for the closeup again. In fact, I was so in love with the 80-200 I instantly bought another...last night! It was killing me we didn't have a second one covering the makeup artist! Can't wait to send it to RP Lens - Peter's mods are SUPERB!

Hope you are all doing well, and thriving with your Contax glass!

best
Click to expand...

Can't wait to see some of your work Nick. :drool5:

The 80-200 is one of my favs as well. So versatile. Just had my second operator using it on a B-cam to match the primes I was using on a job up in Yosemite. Constant F4 all the way, close focus ability, crazy sharp at 5.6...LOVE!! Best Run-N-Gun lens EVER! I just wish it wasn't a push/pull. haha
 
Ben Scott said:
Great stuff Chris.

Something a little different. Shot but not edited or graded by me. Corporate shoot for a construction project in London. I think the closest to being grading is a redcine export.

Timelapses: Canon 6D, 60D, 5D mk3
Video: Red scarlet-X
Lenses: All Contax

pw: tower

Click to expand...

Forgot to say good job on the piece Ben. :thumbup1:
 
Here's something I can't wait any longer to share.
A little collaboration with a local make-up artist, Fancy Rosie, and a lovely model, Sarah Noori.

With a nod to Phil Holland for some influence. :-)

Shot with the Contax 50mm f1.4 AEG, 85mm F1.4 AEG, the 60mm Makro AEG. I also used a Canon 180mm macro for the ECUs.



Graded in Resolve from RedLog Film, Dragon Colour.
 
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