Contax Carl Zeiss Lenses

n0chex

n0chex

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Contax Carl Zeiss Lenses MMJ & MMG versions what are your thoughts on these and are they worth it over the standard Canon's.

looking at some reviews and samples they give a great amount of detail and the colour is wondeful and i would even say 3D looking if that makes sense.
 
Anyone have any comments on the above please and don't be shy positive or negative comments alike.
 
Alll positive here. Contax lenses are the ***** man.

I have

50mm 1.7 Planar
28mm 2.8 Distagon
35-70mm 3.4 Vario Sonnar

All top rated and boy do they deliver. Check out wikipedia for the first one, renowned for being one of the sharpest lenses ever made.

I use them with an adapter on my Canon 5d Mark 2 and an LCDVF on the LCD for super close focus with live view. Works a charm
 
All Contax lenses have a fabulous T* coating, meaning they are contrasty and have great dimensionality / pop. I have:

Distagon 25/2.8 - I have the AE version which has slightly soft corners at wide apertures (MM version fixes this)

Distagon 28/2.8 - I have the MM version which is superb, the AE version is also excellent but again slightly softer corners on the AE version

Planar 50/1.4 - The is my main lens on my 5D - it's just stunning

Planar 85/1.4 - incredible for portraits, wonderful pop

Makro-Planar 100/2.8 - beautiful bokeh

Sonnar 135/2.8 - loads of pop

Vario-Sonnar 35-70/3.4 - Very sharp, great pop, decent macro capability

Vario-Sonnar 80-200/4 - Great pop, slight CA in bokeh

Vario-Sonnar 100-300/4.5-5.6 - My greatest lens, full stop. Way better pop than my L lenses and no CA. Just amazing, but very hard to find.
 
Just bought the 28mm.85mm - 3.4-4 cost me £299 do you think that is a fair price mint boxed.

I was looking at the 50mm-1.7 but they state the 28-85 is brilliant all the way through the zoom range.

I know where there is also a mint boxed Vario-Sonnar 100-300/4.5-5.6 but £699 .

Also i would just say i don't think everyone knows about the Contax range and what stunning results can be achieved and prices can only go up in value as they become harder to source.
 
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Don't forget about the original Contax C/Y mount lenses. Yes they are totally manual, but with an adapter (cheap!) work very well on EOS cameras. Have a look at http://www.pebbleplace.com/Personal/Contax_db.html for compatibility.
I am very happy with my 25mm F2.8 (on a 5D Mk1 and 1D Mk4 + various film bodies - which is supposed to be the worst of them! It compares very well (if not better) than my 17-40 and 24-105 L's for MF work at 25mm.
 
manualfocus-g said:
All Contax lenses have a fabulous T* coating, meaning they are contrasty and have great dimensionality / pop. I have:

Distagon 25/2.8 - I have the AE version which has slightly soft corners at wide apertures (MM version fixes this)

Distagon 28/2.8 - I have the MM version which is superb, the AE version is also excellent but again slightly softer corners on the AE version

Planar 50/1.4 - The is my main lens on my 5D - it's just stunning

Planar 85/1.4 - incredible for portraits, wonderful pop

Makro-Planar 100/2.8 - beautiful bokeh

Sonnar 135/2.8 - loads of pop

Vario-Sonnar 35-70/3.4 - Very sharp, great pop, decent macro capability

Vario-Sonnar 80-200/4 - Great pop, slight CA in bokeh

Vario-Sonnar 100-300/4.5-5.6 - My greatest lens, full stop. Way better pop than my L lenses and no CA. Just amazing, but very hard to find.
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Ahha, another CZ believer. Good collection man, must have cost you an arm and a leg to get all this together. These lenses are still in high demand. Have you leitax-ed all of them or use the cheap adapters with some electric tape jobby for infinity?

BTW, could you please leave feedback for the Carl Zeiss strap I sent over for you? Hope you like it. I discovered that strap in a movie "The Big Year" earlier this year.
 
n0chex said:
Anyone have any comments on the above please and don't be shy positive or negative comments alike.
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The way you've phrased the OP suggests you already have the Zeiss rose tints on. You're either into old heritage primes with their incredibly tedious all-manual everything, or you're not.

I had a bag full of Contax in the 80s, and very nice it all was too - in its day, and fitted to the correct camera body. But not now.

They're good optically, but not as sharp as a modern equivalent and all this stuff about 3D and pop is just nonsense. If you want bokeh, I don't think they have rounded apertures either.

The Contax lenses were also mechanically very light, with alloy mounts and barrels. Sweeze them a bit and the focus locks up. Not that this should be a problem if they've not been abused and you're careful. And the price is right.
 
Hoppy Uk i would have to disagree with some of your comments I'm afraid and having had canons L lenses in the past and my friends Contax Zeiss 35-70 3.4 is outstanding much much better than his 24-70 £1000 plus L lens he said so himself and looking at the pictures he has taken with both lenses i have to agree.

The colours on the Contax are incredible unreal and 3D looking as mentioned above and i myself prefer that look and quality over the canon look.

You say light i have the 28-85 3.3-4 and at near 800 grms i would not call it like but more heavy and the quality just oozes when you have it in your hand and feel how smooth it operates on the zoom and focus ring.

But then again the Contax range is not everyones cuppa tea as only MF as you say but when you have took the picture and you have seen the results thats what counts.

I appreciate your reply though many thanks.
 
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Hoppy, I've had no mechanical issues with my Contax lenses, I even dropped the Planar 50/1.4 from 5 foot onto concrete after the adapter failed, and it was fine other than a small dent to the mount!

The lenses fair very badly when shot against test charts at close range, but blow modern Canon lenses out of the water at infinity, so it's horses for courses.
 
Well my 28-85 3.3-4 come this morning and what a suprise it was as i think they have sent me a brand new lens including box all paperwork which looks like a certificate signed by someone and the lens itself is Awsome.

The quality just oozes and feels and looks so nice , what a QUALITY piece of equiptment it is.
 
I have just bought a 28 mm 2.8, incredible bargain, just £150, mint condition with box!

I'm waiting for the adapter to be delivered, can't wait to try the lens out. I will post the results.
 
n0chex said:
Hoppy Uk i would have to disagree with some of your comments I'm afraid and having had canons L lenses in the past and my friends Contax Zeiss 35-70 3.4 is outstanding much much better than his 24-70 £1000 plus L lens he said so himself and looking at the pictures he has taken with both lenses i have to agree.

The colours on the Contax are incredible unreal and 3D looking as mentioned above and i myself prefer that look and quality over the canon look.

You say light i have the 28-85 3.3-4 and at near 800 grms i would not call it like but more heavy and the quality just oozes when you have it in your hand and feel how smooth it operates on the zoom and focus ring.

But then again the Contax range is not everyones cuppa tea as only MF as you say but when you have took the picture and you have seen the results thats what counts.

I appreciate your reply though many thanks.
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The canon 24-70 is not a great example to use lol

I agree with hoppy far too much hype and fanboyism surrounds Zeiss lenses. Don't get me wrong they are good but not shining out your arse good as most Zeiss fanboys profess.
 
POAH said:
The canon 24-70 is not a great example to use lol

I agree with hoppy far too much hype and fanboyism surrounds Zeiss lenses. Don't get me wrong they are good but not shining out your arse good as most Zeiss fanboys profess.
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canon is great if its a good copy but there is plenty of lemons about. mkII is supposed to improve the optics even further. With the benefit of AF that wins over Zeiss in the long run. No matter how much pop there is, OOF shot is not cool
 
The Vario-Sonnar 35-70/3.4 is quite simply incredible. At infinity everything is sharp, unlike any other zoom I've seen. Problem is the range, so I've bought a Tamron 28-75/2.8 to cover the wider end. The Tamron is pretty good on my 6D actually and I only paid £150.00 :)
 
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