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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

Thanks Nick. The gig stuff is from years back actually. I was one of a bunch of shooters on that promo but just used my shots :)

Yes it was an original v1 Lensbaby.

All my stuff seems to be very grimy and dark both in terms of lighting AND tone. Need to find an excuse to do some nice high key happy people shots :)
 
Straight from camera

Straight from camera

Some of my most favorite moments in production is when I head over to the DIT station just to get glimpses of footage shot and I'm ALWAYS blown away by these lenses, and how magically the Epic MX captures colors. People are loving dragon, and rightfully so, but man, my Epic MX still kicks A**

Below I've got some straight from camera grabs for you...have lots I can't post yet, but here are just a few from recent productions along with a BTS shot here and there so you can get an idea as to what the setup was. All shot on Contax glass...most of these shots all had movement, so sometimes hard to get tact sharp frames.

Music Video Shoot - 1 long day of production





Here's what Megan's mobile beauty lighting rig looked like:





Music Video Production 2: Shot in 1 day on a small stage





And some BTS picts:






Music Video Production 3 - One day shoot, single take music video (releasing this week). Used Tiffen Vari ND




Brand Shot


National Commercial airing on FOX soon. Tiffen Vari-ND used again:




BTS Picts:



Sorry for the long post, but I hope you guys enjoyed! hehe
 
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A credit to Contax but I was going to say it's all in the lighting. Then I saw the mobile lighting rig!

Chris, that camera rig looks like just about the most uncomfortable one I've seen to date. Does it come with it's own 'muscleman' or is it better balanced than it looks?
 
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Its amazing that even after a few years, this thread is very much active and alive. Such a treat whenever I come in here and check what people have created.
I finally got to test out the 100-300mm f4.5-5.6 properly after going through such an ordeal to get it! I used it with the mutar1 in this video but it is noticeably better without the mutar. But still, even with the mutar on, it is worlds apart from the 80-200mm I must say.
The 80-200 is amazing for its price and what it can do but this is just next level. Wider shots in the video are by 35-70mm f3.4

 
Slowly building my collection of Contax zooms to compliment my collection of primes but after using the 28-85m, 35-70mm and 80-200mm, I see the 'ideal starter kit' for outdoors work would be the 21mm f/2.8 prime plus the 35-135mm and 100-300mm zooms.
 
Nick Morrison said:
Chris those frames look GORGEOUS!!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!! Awesome work, as always. You're killing it!!
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Thanks as always Nick! It has for sure been a fun year and I'm excited for the rest of it to play out!

Craig J Marshall said:
A credit to Contax but I was going to say it's all in the lighting. Then I saw the mobile lighting rig!

Chris, that camera rig looks like just about the most uncomfortable one I've seen to date. Does it come with it's own 'muscleman' or is it better balanced than it looks?
Click to expand...

Haha! Thanks Craig! Actually it was quite comfortable. The Tiltamax Armorman saved me though...being able to not only go for long takes, but take after take would have been undoable without some sort of support device. Having the golf-cart enabled me to keep up with the talent on roller skates. I wasn't about to put on old-fashioned roller skates and attempt to skate backwards. haha! I used to play in-line hockey, but not while holding on to $50+k worth of gear.
 
Sammi Kim said:
Its amazing that even after a few years, this thread is very much active and alive. Such a treat whenever I come in here and check what people have created.
I finally got to test out the 100-300mm f4.5-5.6 properly after going through such an ordeal to get it! I used it with the mutar1 in this video but it is noticeably better without the mutar. But still, even with the mutar on, it is worlds apart from the 80-200mm I must say.
The 80-200 is amazing for its price and what it can do but this is just next level. Wider shots in the video are by 35-70mm f3.4

Click to expand...

are there any zooms that are not push and pull? and do any come close to staying parafocal? or just no…thanks!
 
Yes, there's the little Zeiss 28-70mm which may not be a 'true' Contax but does have the T* coating. I used one with a matte box for a year or two and it works very well in this mode as there is little if any length change.

Note: Both the 35-70mm f/3.4 and 80-200mm f/4.0 are constant aperture (though are push/pull)
 
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jordan levy said:
are there any zooms that are not push and pull? and do any come close to staying parafocal? or just no…thanks!
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As Craig mentioned above, only Contax RTS zoom that's two touch is the 28-70. However it's not a "real" Zeiss. It was a third party zoom (Sigma?) licensed by Zeiss as a "kit" lens. Leica R also appears to have this same zoom in their ranks...

However - we've found many of the push pull Contax zooms appear to be quite "parfocal"...even if it is a little tricky to hold focus as you push/pull in and out. My DP Ted has gotten pretty good at it, and often marvels at just how "parfocal" a number of these zooms are. Just last week we noticed the 80-200 was pretty good. We were zooming in and out on some closeups, and it hold focus pretty well.

For whatever it's worth!
 
Sammi Kim said:
Its amazing that even after a few years, this thread is very much active and alive. Such a treat whenever I come in here and check what people have created.
I finally got to test out the 100-300mm f4.5-5.6 properly after going through such an ordeal to get it! I used it with the mutar1 in this video but it is noticeably better without the mutar. But still, even with the mutar on, it is worlds apart from the 80-200mm I must say.
The 80-200 is amazing for its price and what it can do but this is just next level. Wider shots in the video are by 35-70mm f3.4

Click to expand...

PS - looking good Sammi! Love that you got the 100-300!!
 
Craig J Marshall said:
Slowly building my collection of Contax zooms to compliment my collection of primes but after using the 28-85m, 35-70mm and 80-200mm, I see the 'ideal starter kit' for outdoors work would be the 21mm f/2.8 prime plus the 35-135mm and 100-300mm zooms.
Click to expand...

The 35-135 and 100-300 are great, only issue is they are relatively slow. Other than that, LOVE THEM. The 35-135 is a swiss army knife. The Macro is SUPERB on that as well.
 
Looks good Sammi, what is on the end of your 100-300mm lens on your youtube page?
 
adam fitz said:
Looks good Sammi, what is on the end of your 100-300mm lens on your youtube page?
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Hey adam thats just a completely different setup on its own haha. Its a anamorphic attachment with the 80-200 ? I think. Photo was before i got the 100 300
 
@ Chris,

I really like how you handled such a fast shooting situation! Were the BTS shot with a Sony? The way it reacts to blue reminded me…
 
Uli Plank said:
@ Chris,

I really like how you handled such a fast shooting situation! Were the BTS shot with a Sony? The way it reacts to blue reminded me…
Click to expand...

Thanks sir! All the BTS stuff was shot with an iPhone, then used Snapseed & VSCOcam hehe
 
Hey guys, I just found out my mutar has some dust specs I can't remove by cleaning. I will have to purchase a new one i think. I have the Mutar I X2 at the moment.
In your experience, which is the best mutar opticswise? I'm looking to couple it with the 100-300 and 80-200 mostly.
 
Sammi Kim said:
Hey guys, I just found out my mutar has some dust specs I can't remove by cleaning. I will have to purchase a new one i think. I have the Mutar I X2 at the moment.
In your experience, which is the best mutar opticswise? I'm looking to couple it with the 100-300 and 80-200 mostly.
Click to expand...

Best Mutar is generally the III, which is a 1.4x...not sure if works with 80-200 or 100-300...would need to check!
 
Nick Morrison said:
Best Mutar is generally the III, which is a 1.4x...not sure if works with 80-200 or 100-300...would need to check!
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Thanks Nick! Would you say the II is better than the I ? Or is it just different to each lens? Looks like I might be getting all three lol
 
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