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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

hyperfocal mode - whose used it and can comment on it w/ contax glass?


Move the infinity mark to match the inner ring dof scale to the set aperature

so if shooting f/11 on the 28mm, move the infinity mark to be alined w/ the inner ring dof scale mark for "11"

now everything from a hair under 5' to infinity is in (good enough for casual) focus or great for wide vistas


Besides turning it up to "11", how do you folks like the hyperfocal look on contax?
 
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I never use it because the hyperfocal scale on the Contax lenses is meant for a full frame 35mm picture, it doesn't bear much relevance to the Dragon sensor.
For accurate DOF calculations I use the pCAM application. It also helps to show producers this app when they say they want a shot with deep DOF at 100fps but want to cheap out on the lighting required.
 
Daniel Reed said:
hyperfocal mode - whose used it and can comment on it w/ contax glass?


Move the infinity mark to match the inner ring dof scale to the set aperature

so if shooting f/11 on the 28mm, move the infinity mark to be alined w/ the inner ring dof scale mark for "11"

now everything from a hair under 5' to infinity is in (good enough for casual) focus or great for wide vistas


Besides turning it up to "11", how do you folks like the hyperfocal look on contax?
Click to expand...

You know what - we've never used this...but really should consider it!!

Thanks for bringing it up!!
 
Randy Rubin said:
Are you able to use a follow focus with the 60 S Macro or is the focus throw so large that the gears will become unaligned? I had this issue with the 100mm ZE Macro. I ended up attaching two focus gears to the lens.

Thanks!
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I had Stuart at Focus Optics add a wider focus gear to my 60mm.
 

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I got the idea from a rehoused version which was part of a super speed lens kit I used to rent way back when we were using a P+S DOF adapter to shoot national spots in glorious standard definition. MMMMM Tasty!
 
Looking to get the 60mm, there's a compact C version and the regular. Is there a major difference? I can't seem to find an MMJ version of the 60mm, was that ever made?

I'm also about to buy a 25mm, and was going to get the MMJ to match the rest of my MMJ lenses. But I think I remember reading that the AEG version might be better. Any consensus on this yet? Will the AEG have ninja star bokeh?

Thanks in advance and Happy New Year!
 
Adam E said:
Looking to get the 60mm, there's a compact C version and the regular. Is there a major difference? I can't seem to find an MMJ version of the 60mm, was that ever made?

I'm also about to buy a 25mm, and was going to get the MMJ to match the rest of my MMJ lenses. But I think I remember reading that the AEG version might be better. Any consensus on this yet? Will the AEG have ninja star bokeh?

Thanks in advance and Happy New Year!
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Little searching showed the C is only a 2:1 macro, and there are MM in both versions.

Still curious about the 25mm AEG vs MM though
 
Adam E said:
Looking to get the 60mm, there's a compact C version and the regular. Is there a major difference? I can't seem to find an MMJ version of the 60mm, was that ever made?

I'm also about to buy a 25mm, and was going to get the MMJ to match the rest of my MMJ lenses. But I think I remember reading that the AEG version might be better. Any consensus on this yet? Will the AEG have ninja star bokeh?

Thanks in advance and Happy New Year!
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Hey Adam, both Contax 1:1 Macros (60 2.8 & 100 2.8) are AE, but in their case...its confusing...as their serial numbers are often late 6's (67s, etc) and their look is quite MM. In fact, their AE designation seems perhaps less todo with AGE, and more todo with function: their macro functionality appears to have limited their aperture funcionality to the older AE mechanism, which is why they're "AE", but in terms of coatings and design... seem otherwise quite similar to MMs...

They do have a ninja star however, but we rarely notice it...

The smaller 60 2.8 C macro s reported to have a similar design to the larger AE 60 2.8 (which is 1:1), except its macro function is limited 50% to 2:1. General consensus seems to be the 1:1 is better, in general.

For the 25mm, the MM should be fine, but I've heard folk had issues with these wide open (maybe elements got dislodged?). AEs on the other hand seem well made. The AE does have a ninja star
...but the aperture blades are so tiny...we've never "seen" it.

Hope this helps!!!
 
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Well, I tried three samples of the Contax 25mm in pretty good condition, and none of them was as great in sheer optical performance as the 28mm or the superb 21mm. Plus, they are more like 26mm, so I passed and stayed with my Minolta 24mm VFC, which is really nice. The disadvantage is some grading needed whenever I mix.

OTOH, the 25mm has true character, and I don't mean to be sarcastic here. Beautiful flares and bokeh.

Regarding the 60mm 1:1 and the compact version, I couldn't find any difference when testing good samples against each other. And Nick is right, the later ones look more like MM even if designated AE.
 
Thank you for this guide. I'm waiting my 50 mm Plannar F1.4 and my Leitax mount. I'm just diving in the Contax prime world for my Scarlet. It make my more sense for me to go with old lense with caractere than to by a Rokinon "cine lense"
 
To Leitax or not to Leitax...

To Leitax or not to Leitax...

We have a fairly large collection of wonderful Contax glass which is being used on Scarlet MX, Sony A7s and rental Epic. Possibly on other cameras too in the future.

So far we have used a good Contax-Sony adapter on the A7s and cheap Canon adapter rings to Canon mount on Red. Now we cannot decide whether to Leitax the lenses to Canon permanently. It will be more solid, but we'll lose the ability to use extra macro extension options on the 60, as well as use of Mutar tele converters for the teles.

Any ideas, suggestions, workarounds?
 
Suggestions?

How about a second set. :001_tt1:

Sorry Soren, I know that is not what you wanted to hear.

I'm in the same boat. Mine are native C/Y, and I use adapters when needed as I use these lenses a bunch with SpeedBoosters on different cameras.
 
soren k jensen said:
We have a fairly large collection of wonderful Contax glass which is being used on Scarlet MX, Sony A7s and rental Epic. Possibly on other cameras too in the future.

So far we have used a good Contax-Sony adapter on the A7s and cheap Canon adapter rings to Canon mount on Red. Now we cannot decide whether to Leitax the lenses to Canon permanently. It will be more solid, but we'll lose the ability to use extra macro extension options on the 60, as well as use of Mutar tele converters for the teles.

Any ideas, suggestions, workarounds?
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A good way to go if you want to keep c/y is get the Red Leica m mount and then get a c/y to leica m adapter.
 
soren k jensen said:
... So far we have used a good Contax-Sony adapter on the A7s and cheap Canon adapter rings to Canon mount on Red. Now we cannot decide whether to Leitax the lenses to Canon permanently. It will be more solid, but we'll lose the ability to use extra macro extension options on the 60, as well as use of Mutar tele converters for the teles...
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Had Duclos "Leitax" my 21/2.8, 28/2.0, 35/1.4, 35-70/3.4, 50/1.4 and 100/2.8 and have never looked back. Don't have the 60 or anything longer than the 100. Much better (secure) fit than the adapters I was using.
 
Thanks for the advice Nick and Uli.

Got a good deal on the 25 MMJ, so i'll just see how it fairs and will change it if necessary.

My 21mm got delivered while I was away for the holidays. Finally got to break it out last night, holy moly, could tell instantly how fantastic it was!

It paired really well with an A7RII in both stills full frame and S35 crop for 4K video. Can't wait to see it on a 4.6K Ursa Mini (whenever that finally gets released).

Next up the macro. The 60mm interests me way more than the 100, but I know I'll end up using the 100 more, and it'll fill in the my gap between the 85 and 135.
 
Adam E said:
Thanks for the advice Nick and Uli.

Got a good deal on the 25 MMJ, so i'll just see how it fairs and will change it if necessary.

My 21mm got delivered while I was away for the holidays. Finally got to break it out last night, holy moly, could tell instantly how fantastic it was!

It paired really well with an A7RII in both stills full frame and S35 crop for 4K video. Can't wait to see it on a 4.6K Ursa Mini (whenever that finally gets released).

Next up the macro. The 60mm interests me way more than the 100, but I know I'll end up using the 100 more, and it'll fill in the my gap between the 85 and 135.
Click to expand...

For whatever its worth, we use the 60 a lot more than the 100!
 
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