Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

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

11731632_977963115587935_534339432186311396_o.jpg


Been shooting out in the forest last sunday with the 35-70 3.4 and 80-200 4. The 100-300 has yet to arrive. I find that 80-200 is much better without a mutar attached to it.
Graded using filmconvert and loving it. I think the contax glass lineup compliments what filmconvert tries to do. On a sidenote, I got lost during filming couple of times in the bush.
Almost went to the point of panic until I eventually found my way back. Never knew I would need orienteering skills for filming. Thank god I took minimal gear that day.
Below is the video.

 
Hi all, my Contax set is coming along nicely. I am still looking for MMJ 100 f2, 21 f2.8, 35 f1.4 and 35pc 2.8 which I understand was only ever built in AE. I have a beautiful 100-300 in trade or will buy outright. Addiction is a mild description for Contax fever.
 
Sammi Kim said:
11731632_977963115587935_534339432186311396_o.jpg


Been shooting out in the forest last sunday with the 35-70 3.4 and 80-200 4. The 100-300 has yet to arrive. I find that 80-200 is much better without a mutar attached to it.
Graded using filmconvert and loving it. I think the contax glass lineup compliments what filmconvert tries to do. On a sidenote, I got lost during filming couple of times in the bush.
Almost went to the point of panic until I eventually found my way back. Never knew I would need orienteering skills for filming. Thank god I took minimal gear that day.
Below is the video.

Click to expand...

Sammi this looks great! The 80-200 really KILLS in this piece! Love the reflections of headlamps, etc. The tones and "feel" of your footage is awesome too. Awesome job!! Looks super organic.
 
Neither have I ever seen a 35PC, but if it's similar to (or even better than) my Minolta 35mm Shift CA, it should cover sensors beyond anything announced for filming until today.

One of my students used it to shoot a POV scene in the mirror without distortion or the camera in the frame, maybe I can get it for posting here.
 
Nick Morrison said:
Sammi this looks great! The 80-200 really KILLS in this piece! Love the reflections of headlamps, etc. The tones and "feel" of your footage is awesome too. Awesome job!! Looks super organic.
Click to expand...
Thank you Nick, you are too kind. That means a lot :) Contax glass is really helping me nullify the video feel from GH4 footage, even more so with filmconvert. Next up is anamorphic adapter test on the set up I think.
 
Finally got my hands on a 100-300. It is sharp, good color rendition and details. Can't believe this is a telephoto zoom lens. Let alone a vintage.
It's been a journey to get this lens and I am very grateful that I took the time and effort to do so. Amazing piece of glass. Can't wait to take it out for a stroll now.

11705255_978945418823038_3415388525069378182_n.jpg
10985024_978945408823039_3483384422703461337_n.jpg
11053208_978945522156361_3696947714512074968_n.jpg
11264858_978945475489699_4427579331126980131_n.jpg
 
Good stuff Sammi! Keep that GH4 / ZC footage coming. I'd actually like to see a "before/after" sample of the Mutar you're using.

Alright, so I have an anamorphic adapter question. Does anyone have experience with that combo? I'm thinking about buying a Kowa 2x. I see that there's quite a few variations 16-A, 16-H, etc.. and that the only difference is their rear thread dimensions... I'd be curious if anyone owns a Kowa (or any other anamorphic, Bolex Moller, Sankor...) and has used it with their Contax lenses? Particularly I'd be curious to hear about what clamp you're using to attach it to your lenses.
 
liam howlett said:
Good stuff Sammi! Keep that GH4 / ZC footage coming. I'd actually like to see a "before/after" sample of the Mutar you're using.

Alright, so I have an anamorphic adapter question. Does anyone have experience with that combo? I'm thinking about buying a Kowa 2x. I see that there's quite a few variations 16-A, 16-H, etc.. and that the only difference is their rear thread dimensions... I'd be curious if anyone owns a Kowa (or any other anamorphic, Bolex Moller, Sankor...) and has used it with their Contax lenses? Particularly I'd be curious to hear about what clamp you're using to attach it to your lenses.
Click to expand...

Hey Liam, I have a Isco ultra anamorphic lens coupled with FM for single focusing. And I use a rail system rather than a clamp because its a pain in the ass to change the lenses on the fly and also its gets way too front heavy with a clamp anyway. Some people use railsystem and a clamp for more solidity. EOSHD would be the place to go for anamorphic stuff. Also there are some good fb groups on the subject. I've found that using double lenses is really time consuming and takes a lot of practice to get your own workflow smooth and relevantly fast. Both in shooting and post production. I wouldn't use it for anything that needs a quick turnaround.

In terms of the image quality with the ZC lenses. Its great in the sense that it doesn't lose any of the ZC image qualities with the anamorphic attachment. The microcontrast, color rendition etc(at least in my set up). It adds different elements like barrel distortion, oval bokeh and flare shapes though.

Here is a video of me testing some taking lenses for my setup. Not many ZCs in there as this was quite a while ago. But this was all shot using Isco ultra and FM. Hope it helps a bit.

PS : In my excuse for the ugly subject matter, I couldn't find anyone else at the time haha
 
Ben Scott said:
Finally saw a Contax 70/86 ring going cheap(ish) for the 18mm f4. $50 is still a lot for a tiny ring of metal but I've not seen one cheaper than £250 before that!
Click to expand...

We had a lot of vignetting on ours (once you add a Cordvision 80mm BACK to it)...

RP lens's 80OD delrin cap "ring" was a big help for us...
 
Thanks Nick for sharing that. Its a good read.
Chris! Wonderful work. I should say thank you because I saw some of your work on Vimeo for Contax lens reference when I was just getting into them.
Really great stuff.
 
Ben Scott said:
Chris, that is utterly brilliant. Cutting my reel at the moment and now feel I want to give up! Inspirational work.
Click to expand...

Haha...thanks Ben!

Sammi Kim said:
Thanks Nick for sharing that. Its a good read.
Chris! Wonderful work. I should say thank you because I saw some of your work on Vimeo for Contax lens reference when I was just getting into them.
Really great stuff.
Click to expand...

Yea, it's really because of Nick that a good chunk of us have converted - full time so to speak - to the Contax line. Thanks for the compliments Sammi!
 
Chris McKechnie said:
For all those who doubt Contax glass...my latest reel was shot entirely on them. :-) Contax FTW!


iOS Link: https://vimeo.com/133702831
Click to expand...

Well done Chris.
Agree with Ben, I was going to post some 25mm samples but I'll pass my way today. :)

I dig the mood colors and contrast of the shots with the ambulance.
Cheers
B.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top