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Leica R Glass VS Contax Zeiss

A

Aaron Hunt

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Have any of you had any experience with both? From the rare comparisons I've seen the Contax's come off a little contrastier, and saturated, as expected, and perhaps a bit sharper too. But perhaps the whole point of vintage glass is to recede from that sharp edge -- I'm also curious to know if either set plays better into grading. I've seen some wonderful work by Ed David on the Leica R's, have yet to see much from the Contax.
 
Check out the amazing Zeiss Contax thread started by Nick Morrison...longest ongoing thread in RU history. Lots of stellar samples at that that glass is capable of. I love the look of Contax...personally think it's one of the best lens sets on the market...and it's crazy cheap.

I've used both sets...and prefer the Contax
 
Really comes down to personal taste. I looked up Ed Davids stuff, looks great. Very stylized lifted blacks with lots of grain added. I have a few contax myself, and they are amazing. But today, I did buy a Leica R 28mm to help satisfy my interest in them. Both are amazing lenses, great build and function, comes down to what look you like more. Go on flickr, and check out the Leica R thread, and the contax thread here on reduser. Sounds like you are set on Lecia already from your last statement.
 
I just haven't seen much from the Contax, but the dominant opinion of them seems glowing. I will scour that thread!
 
Though I just purchased a set of Leica's because I love their stylistic look, I also love Contax lenses. They remind me a lot of old Superspeeds. For great examples of Contac images, look up Justin Derry on Vimeo. I think most of his stuff is shot on Contax (though some is not so be sure to check description).
 
Brandon Kelly said:
I shot this a few weeks back to test my contax on scarlet-W. There is 2 shots with the canon 70-300, but the rest are contax 25 2.8 and 50 1.4.

https://vimeo.com/166847510
Click to expand...

Nice stuff. So easy to spot the feel of the Contax. I have a nice set aswell including the 28mm Hollywood. Seems to have the same type of flare, where the white just explodes and creates this dreamy feeling.
 
Would have to say to be fair, especially for people really not familiar with these types of lenses, that it really comes down to a lens by lens story. The year of manufacture and the specific build and character of the lens. There is no winner. Both types of lenses produce great results on all cameras and can really elevate a camera like an FS7 for example. But not all Contax and Leica R are equal. The two threads here on Reduser about each are amazing resources and have pretty much said it all. For me in the end I see Contax as the more specialty of the two. People refer to the 'feel' of them a lot due to how their color, contrast and their flares etc... But some Leica R, esp late model to my mind are an amazing combination of character but with amazing precision optically and more useful all around. Just depends what you need for what you are doing. A lot of the aficionados that weigh in on these threads own sets of both so that tells you something right there.
 
Can't go wrong with either! Obviously...Im a huge fan of Contax...and their organic look...almost everything we shoot is on Contax glass.

My good friend Ed David shoots on Leica Rs.....there is no right or wrong here...
 
Nick Morrison said:
Can't go wrong with either! Obviously...Im a huge fan of Contax...and their organic look...almost everything we shoot is on Contax glass.

My good friend Ed David shoots on Leica Rs.....there is no right or wrong here...
Click to expand...


Sorry Nick, didn't see your survival guide before this and had no idea it also talked a bit about the Leica R's in comparison.
 
I went from Contax to Leica back to Contax. The Leicas are amazing for some things but I found the Contax gave me more options, plus for some reason 90% of the Contax glass that came my way was still perfect mechanically whereas every Leica Lens I've bought except 1 (from here) had to be serviced and regreased. There's is a very large premium on the best quality Leica Rs.
 
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