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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

Hey guys, got a genuine, non-hostile question. Can someone educate me on why getting the 18mm F4 Contax is a good idea when there are 18mm that go down to 2.8 or lower now. Is it merely for matching other Contax glass, having the full set, or is there something special about the look of it. Like if I wanted to use the 18 in lower light than usual (non-controlled light situations), F4 seems to be too slow for those type of shoots... but I'm guessing less noisier ISO on newer cameras (RED included of course) is the reason to​ get 18 F4?
 
liam howlett said:
Hey guys, got a genuine, non-hostile question. Can someone educate me on why getting the 18mm F4 Contax is a good idea when there are 18mm that go down to 2.8 or lower now. Is it merely for matching other Contax glass, having the full set, or is there something special about the look of it. Like if I wanted to use the 18 in lower light than usual (non-controlled light situations), F4 seems to be too slow for those type of shoots... but I'm guessing less noisier ISO on newer cameras (RED included of course) is the reason to​ get 18 F4?
Click to expand...
In my opinion, you would get the 18mm F4 if you need that focal length to match the rest of your Contax set, you shoot to a stop, i.e. you can light to an F4, and it has the right combo of character in terms of distortion, bokeh, edge sharpness, etc.

WA at fast apertures are a mixed bag, so getting something like the Sigma 18-35 that actually performs decently wide open is not an easy task.
 
liam howlett said:
Hey guys, got a genuine, non-hostile question. Can someone educate me on why getting the 18mm F4 Contax is a good idea when there are 18mm that go down to 2.8 or lower now. Is it merely for matching other Contax glass, having the full set, or is there something special about the look of it. Like if I wanted to use the 18 in lower light than usual (non-controlled light situations), F4 seems to be too slow for those type of shoots... but I'm guessing less noisier ISO on newer cameras (RED included of course) is the reason to​ get 18 F4?
Click to expand...

Hey Liam, I'm not adding anything new that Steve hasn't already said, but the 18mm has value for a number of reasons, which may or may not serve every shooter.

1) It has fantastic coverage for a vintage Zeiss 18mm. Unlike say a Zeiss 18mm Superspeed (which portholes/vignettes badly at Dragon 6K), the 18mm F4 is full frame and covers 6K Dragon EASILY.

2) It has very little distortion, less in fact than the 21mm...even though it's wider.

3) It's very small and has fantastic close focus.


The downsides are there too:

1) It doesn't have a filter thread. I ended up having Visual Products mod ours with a delrin ring at the front...to accept 80mm clamp on shades.

2) At F4 it's quite slow yes, and performs better outdoors at 5.6 and f8.

Brandon Kelly said:
Jean,

The fronts and caps are cordvison. http://cordvision.com They step up to 77mm filter with 80mm outers. The focus rings come in most/all of the costax lenses to size already. http://www.followfocusgears.com/product/show/158 and you will need an adapter to mount to canon. Leitax are the best by far, http://www.leitax.com/Zeiss-Contax-lenses-for-Canon-cameras.html
Click to expand...

+1.

What he said!!
 
Just received a 35-70mm f/3.4 in absolute mint condition.
Waiting for the new C/Y to M43 mount to get here to try it out on the BMMCC.
Also waiting on a Formatt Hitech filter and 2 x 512GB SD cards.
Then we'll be cooking.

Also bought the Hollywood off Ben Scott which I've put on my NX1.
 
Cameron_S said:
Just received a 35-70mm f/3.4 in absolute mint condition.
Waiting for the new C/Y to M43 mount to get here to try it out on the BMMCC.
Also waiting on a Formatt Hitech filter and 2 x 512GB SD cards.
Then we'll be cooking.

Also bought the Hollywood off Ben Scott which I've put on my NX1.
Click to expand...

Nice!
 
First day testing with the 28MM F2 AEG. I've worked with footage shot on this lens before for HBO's doc series on Gonzaga basketball that was filmed on F55 and F5. Lovely footage from what I saw.

This was me throwing the lens on my Red One and filming handheld. I was simply testing to make sure everything was working correctly as the lens just came back from Duclos with a Leitax mount, de-clicked and new focus gear. In other words I was shooting sloppy, but so be it. Dirty, stacked 77mm filters, no lens shade, no matte box. Here's a link to the R3Ds. These were shot at 640 iso, 180 shutter, 5600. No other tweaks. My first impression (just looking at the images on a laptop) is that they are soft. Handheld, stacked filters, adjusting to the focus ring on the lens, etc may have all contributed. Some of it was wide open, some if it was stopped down but never stopped down past F4 if I remember correctly. Over the next month I hope to have more sample footage, hopefully more controlled then this. :-)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zszwv1mvftgy0rb/AABc-wGKeLo7M0sr6QBjaiFHa?dl=0

pass: reduser
 
Steve Sherrick said:
First day testing with the 28MM F2 AEG. I've worked with footage shot on this lens before for HBO's doc series on Gonzaga basketball that was filmed on F55 and F5. Lovely footage from what I saw.

This was me throwing the lens on my Red One and filming handheld. I was simply testing to make sure everything was working correctly as the lens just came back from Duclos with a Leitax mount, de-clicked and new focus gear. In other words I was shooting sloppy, but so be it. Dirty, stacked 77mm filters, no lens shade, no matte box. Here's a link to the R3Ds. These were shot at 640 iso, 180 shutter, 5600. No other tweaks. My first impression (just looking at the images on a laptop) is that they are soft. Handheld, stacked filters, adjusting to the focus ring on the lens, etc may have all contributed. Some of it was wide open, some if it was stopped down but never stopped down past F4 if I remember correctly. Over the next month I hope to have more sample footage, hopefully more controlled then this. :-)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zszwv1mvftgy0rb/AABc-wGKeLo7M0sr6QBjaiFHa?dl=0
Click to expand...

What's the pass?

Here's a shot we did with our 28 Hollywood!




Same setup tighter, on 50 or 85mm I believe:




And then finally on the fabulous 180mm!!

 
Cameron_S said:
Just received a 35-70mm f/3.4 in absolute mint condition.
Waiting for the new C/Y to M43 mount to get here to try it out on the BMMCC.
Also waiting on a Formatt Hitech filter and 2 x 512GB SD cards.
Then we'll be cooking.

Also bought the Hollywood off Ben Scott which I've put on my NX1.
Click to expand...


Hope you're enjoying it mate :)
 
Saw that just as I finished another listing!

They are a great option for Weapon. I've only been selling because a) the nature of my work has changed and shifted towards a more modern rendering and I don't have the cash flow to have multiple sets of different glass laying around and b) I've been using contax glass pretty much exclusively for several years and fancy mixing it up and re-inspiring myself with a different look. I'm sure I'll come back to it. I already have once, and repurchased a set.
 
Hey guys, here's a recent campaign we did for LMN! Shot on 3 Epic Dragons, two of them paired with Contax glass (a 21mm on A-Cam, and the 80-200 on B-Cam). The C-Cam had a Standard Prime 24mm that we've custom modded to EOS mount (this is the handheld cam walking around ala "BTS").

Enjoy!


LMN Casting Calls - Twins
https://vimeo.com/174933454


LMN Casting Calls - Waitress
https://vimeo.com/174933453


LMN Casting Calls - Gatsby
https://vimeo.com/174933451
 
Lee Kelly said:
I have noticed several sets of contax AND Leica Rs being sold recently. Is there a reason people are getting rid of these as Weapon 8k is closer than ever?
Click to expand...

Truth is, the glass market is getting so much competitive now - much more so than it was 3 years ago. So people have a lot more choices.

Now there are Rokinons, OTUS, Milvus, Sigma ART glass, GL Optics Mods, Xenon's, etc.

None of that existed 3 years ago.

Contax and Leica R still give you the greatest VARIETY of glass (from 15mm to 300mm, with zooms and macros). And they have TONS of character. Which is why I believe both are still very popular.

But truth is there are just more options, so I can see folks trying out different things - selling one set here, picking up another there.

We live in an age of options and choices - and experimentation has certainly become the new normal.
 
hi
i just tried to search a step down ring on ebay without success. I currently used a varial light craft ND filter 82mm. So if I want to use it on my CONTAX lens with front caps cordvision 80mm, I should find a step down ring 82-80mm
it seems this product don't exist can you confirm please ?
Can you tell me wich kind of ND filter you use with your contax ?
thanks a lot
 
Jean baptiste said:
hi
i just tried to search a step down ring on ebay without success. I currently used a varial light craft ND filter 82mm. So if I want to use it on my CONTAX lens with front caps cordvision 80mm, I should find a step down ring 82-80mm
it seems this product don't exist can you confirm please ?
Can you tell me wich kind of ND filter you use with your contax ?
thanks a lot
Click to expand...

We use Firecrest NDs 77mm. On Cordvision fronts.
 
ok so 80mm is the outside diameter, of the cordvision caps ring ?
and 77mm is the inner size diameter ?
thanks
 
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