Theyre much cheaper than modern lenses, yet share similar designs and performance. AE lenses also show ninja-star bokeh when stopped down, which is a major turnoff for some folks. Are usually 3.5 and F4. One last note on their generations, MMs were mostly made in Japan, so theyre called MMJs, while AEs were made in Germany and named AEGs. Its the one I always took with me and it gave me gorgeous shots. The 35 f2, 25f2, 50 f2 lenses are all completely new and completely superb. As a reference, my main set of lenses at this time was a Soviet kit that I put together because of their imperfections and organic look. Zeiss has their own language, their own nomenclature, for lens designs that is very useful to be familiar with as you start hunting for lenses. They are made in Spain, cost about 60 euros each and you install them on the back of the lenses using the provided screws. . In fact, at 5.6 Contax, Supers and Standards looked IDENTICAL. Speaking of good prices, many links in this post will take you directly to eBay searches of each specific lens! Im sure that approach had similar benefits with cinema lenses and Hasselblads. After aperture was made smooth and clickless I still had my 3d printer hanging around, so I printed aperture gears as well. Many have much more. All Time Today Last Week Last Month. In my experience, ALL AEs have the Ninja-Star. In this guest post, Vancouverbasedfreelance filmmaker and an anamorphic lens freak TitoFerradans,is exposing us to hisContax Zeiss CineTune-Up Guide. Im still weighing if I need it or not. Now Im gonna move into streamlining it for shooting and making it the best possible lenses to handle on set. Remember me Log in Forgot password or user name? AE lenses were made between 1975 and 1984. This page was generated at 05:50 PM. My 21mm CP.2 is probably my favourite lens that I own, lovely, lovely piece of glass. For me the 35mm F/1.4 has become a go to lens while working as a DP. Contax Zeiss Survival Guide - REDUSER.net Heres the full line of glass. In my previous buyers guide Ive shown you how to build a Zeiss Jena Mini-Cine set for $1000, but if you have a bit more money to spend then ContaxZeiss is the way togo! This wraps the first step in building a set of lenses: getting the glass. But if you want SPECIFIC tailored performance, than RPPs, Cookes, or Ultraprimes are probably a better choice (for many times the budget). Sony Information & communications technology Technology . ONLY "RTS". Copyright 2007-2022. After I got the five Contax I went to look for more info and found Nick Morrisons Contax Zeiss Survival Guide at REDUser. This gave me a great set of lenses ready for action, all I missed was a way of getting them to said action. They have a pleasing organic rendering that is not dissimilar to Contax. So far I had been using adapters on them, and they sucked. Of course, that was way before RED and Leitax adapters. This is another trick to make lens swaps faster, since you wont need to adjust your follow focus back and forth on the rig. The Hollywood is indeed a star and the image that comes out of it is much more appealing than the 28/2.8. Your 50/1.7 is an AE lens, based on it's serial number and lack of green last numbersince made in Japan, it is an AEJ. The wides are slow. The 60/2.8 AE can do 1:1 magnification, while the MM can only reach 1:2. It was, perhaps, the first standard zoom of truly decent quality throughout its range. Almost six months after I wrote this guide, I decided to update it with a quick survey of what lenses to consider - a general overview of the Contax lineup, if you will. If you like vintage flaring, the AEs are great. Zeiss made the jump to MM's in order to enable camera control of the aperture. Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* (C/Y) 35-70mm f3.4: A review (I read the Contax Survival Guide, thank you Nick . You have a wide range of lenses to pick from and equally different price tags. remained behind in the ruins of the city of Jena, trapped behind the Iron Curtain. Im a big fan of these lenses and have been building my own set for the last few years, but Im nowhere close to creating a buyers guide, so Im very happy that a good friend of VLFV, Tito Ferradans has written the amazing guide below, which doesnt just introduce and explain various aspects of ContaxZeisslenses but will also show you how to tune them up for video use! There are MMG lenses out there I was weary of that for quite a while, since its not mentioned clearly anywhere. The two rivals would go to war over the name Zeiss until the end of the Cold War (it was the longest court case in the history of East Germany). These I ordered from MOO, because they offered me more variety at a much lower price. Contax is more low-con, and more organic, to my eye. Contax Zeiss Survival Guide - REDUSER.net Evin Grant's comprehensive lens database Login or Sign Up Logging in. Copyright 2007-2022. Having them separate also gives me versatility on pricing, since the main set can still go out without them for a more accessible price. I don't want to feed your addiction or be your pusher or cause a break-up in your marriage or relationship but KEH has a "like new" 21/2.8 Distagon for $1,950.00. Luckily for me, out of the five lenses I only messed up really bad on one (the 85mm, which was also the first one I tried). As many of you knowI have been a strong proponent of Contax Glass on REDUSER for a while now. Heres a very interesting article that summarizes tech papers published on these designs and their differences, pros and cons. Contax / Zeiss Planar 100mm f2 (A7ii + X-T1) - FujiX-Forum There are a lot of photo/video cameras that have found a role as B-cameras on professional film productions or even A-cameras for amateur and independent productions. Its regarded as one of the best 21mm ever made, and to this day they still use the same formula for the 21mm f/2.8 ZF/ZE primes. Now Im gonna move into streamlining it for shooting and making it the best possible lenses to handle on set. It's taken me a few years to build this set, and I absolutely love the look I get from them The 21mm is still regarded as one of the best wide angle lenses you can buy, hence why it is one of . Contax I. I will leave you with a few beautiful videos that will definitely help you make up your mind! Ron also offers the full mod service for great prices, including focus gears and lens mounts. Impressive performance and also the fastest 35mm I ever owned. check out the. Im still weighing if I need it or not. Like ZF/ZEs, they have fantastic barrel rotations (often 180 degrees or more). Its the one I always took with me and it gave me gorgeous shots. Thats when I learned of Leitax and their mount replacements. Next came the 60mm f/2.8 Macro. Fuck!). Anyone have/had one? Th 85 1.4 at an F2 for portraitsis KILLER. I've noticed these designs are more likely to create punchy, contrasty images, too. Contax Zeiss Survival Guide - REDUSER.net Nick P. - lenses like your 35/2.8 and 50/1.4 with the last (largest) number on the aperture ring in green are MM lensessince made in Japan, they are called MMJs. Its a very charming (or annoying, depending on your POV) design to the aperture blades that looks like a crooked ninja throwing star. This wraps the first step in building a set of lenses: getting the glass. So I respond to that more. http://www.pebbleplace.com/Personal/Contax_db.html, QuineCore Question - how to solve your production woes, If this is your first visit, be sure to The only thing I could maybe do later is update the markings on each lens with fluorescent paint like what you see here, by Moritz Schierenbeck on VLFVs facebook group. Fast continuous shooting, reliable autofocus and great battery life are just three of the most important factors. Heres a very interesting article by Edward T. that summarizes tech papers published on these designs and their differences, pros and cons. The questions get dizzying. You can see our informal results. First I measured the slip-on caps I got from SIMMOD and created a Photoshop template with that size. He's obsessed with the technical aspects of his projects and how each piece of glass in front of the sensor will affect the final look. Theres a lot of discussion whether the 135mm f/2.0 has a clear advantage over the f/2.8, especially when you take into account the price difference. Their disadvantages are that they don't have matching T stops (hey, theyre still lenses!). It's a weird, over-the-top kind of effect, but when you need it (as I did a few weeks ago) it's actually pretty helpful. By the 1960s, competition from the Japanese led to the eventual shuttering of both subsidiaries - even as the larger Zeisss stayed in business. By giving you that extra latitude in the blacks and highlights, they were letting photographers dial in how much black and contrast they wanted later in the dark roomwhen they were printing. Really. The main difference being that a normal . 28mm comparison: 28/2.8 on the left, 28/2.0 Hollywood on the right. The Contax I is a high-end 35mm rangefinder camera made by Zeiss Ikon to compete with Leica models. Regards. I always took the 135 with me and some of my favorite photos come from that time. check out the. I almost went for the wrong one with my MM obsession, but I was warned by my followers on Instagram about the edge the AE had over the MM. It's more like the image jumps! It was not a problem as a starter set. Wide open, the 35 1.4 and 85 1.4 are fine (circular bokeh). To me, Contax are a GREAT way to affordably get a very real cinematic look from a golden age in Zeiss optics. Anyone who tells you otherwise is full of shit. This was a game changer. With less glass comes more consistency. The Sony FE 2/28 is brand new and the most expensive one at 450. Search. I also added the f-stop for each lens and its minimum focus in meters and feet. The downside of such magnification is that the focus ring travels a lot, pretty much doubling the physical length of the lens. Zeiss AE lens information I found a link to this awesome Zeiss Contax lens brochure, dated October 1975 (12 MB). Bill that is an insane price for the 21, it's been hovering around 2,000 for as long as I can remember. This website or its third-party tools use cookies, which are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the cookie policy. Could it be that yours was bumped once in it's lifetime, if it's not the adapter? On the 918 I keep the main six lenses of the set plus variable NDs and other filters. You can unsubscribe at any time via an unsubscribe link included in every newsletter. But dont expect them to have the even performance of a set of Ultraprimes or Masterprimes (where many of the primes are not only similar in size and weight, but also perform similarly at matching T stops!). . Lucky for me my 50 and 85/1.4 were already MMJ. I remember someone doing a test a when the epic first came with stills lenses and noticed it too. It's definitely not lens breathing. Collapse. Quite remarkable sharpness at F2.8 for such a small and cheap lens. I know I stopped mentioning how sharp these lenses are, but the 60mm is worth highlighting. I'm not too sure where they got their findings, but apparently this was a series of tests possibly published on Zeiss's website. Enjoy! Im gonna stop saying these lenses are sharp, because at this point its just standard! This page was generated at 05:50 PM. If I have a motor on the iris, itll have to be adjusted every time the lens is swapped. I like to add 0.3mm to the measurement to give me a little wiggle room after printing. This is a guide for people that love handling gear and tweaking little things here and there. Blackmagic Forum View topic - CONTAX Zeiss lenses | BMPCC 6K I still dont know when to use them, though! This is an endeavor Ive been working on and off for the last two years and now I can see the finish line. I managed to get a bunch of black C/Y adapters, step up rings, and some lens gears from eBay and decently cobbled together a set. 06-22-2022, 04:47 PM Hey, everybody, I know we have the awesome Contax Zeiss Survival Guide but looking at building a set of Zeiss lenses myself from bargain finds and fixer uppers I've collected, I wondered what anybody's experiences might have been with mixing Zeiss lineups together? These have even less elements (5?). Its really not a huge deal. Learn how your comment data is processed. Certainly sharper than both its larger brothers, the 100 planar and 100 Macro. Generally speaking, these fall into 3 lens types, categorized by how fast and complex they are. I'm liking my 28:2.8 AE. B) They share very similar designs as the ZF/ZE/CP2 lenses, but for or the price. We've been putting it through its paces. What's the word on that lens? I have a mixed set and barely notice the difference. Introduction to Contax Zeiss + Cine Tune-Up Guide We've been taking a look at what it offers and what it's like to shoot with. Its history criss-crosses wars, politics, and conjures up the never-ending battles between Leica and Zeiss. The main difference being that a normal human can afford Contax Zeiss but not Leicas. The Soviets were good enough for my own projects, but I needed something more reliable on this one. Contax 100mm f/2 vs ZE/ZF - FM Forums DxO PureRAW 3 review: Give Adobe's apps a much-needed boost with modern AI algorithms, The best cameras for family and friends photos in 2022, Best affordable cameras for sports and action in 2022, May 2023 Part 1 This Month Through Your Adapted Lens. There is a bit of breathing when rack-focusing. Building this set was a great experience throughout. In my experience, the gears never fit on the first try. All times are GMT-8. Zeiss was making Hasselblad lenses for Medium Format. If you are referring to breathing, there is some, but less than in many other still lenses. Otherwise, you should notice no optical or mechanical difference between the two lines. Great help. Its a gradual process, guys. These are way more common in AE, but I was lucky enough to find a MM coming straight from Japan. It all started when I stumbled upon a post on Craigslist from a guy selling his Contax Zeiss set. Then I sent that to be printed at StickerYou in vinyl stickers. On digital, these things are a home run, like Standards and Super Speeds. check out the. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisels Cinematography Tips on Filming a Blizzard in June, Useful Tips on Working with LED Walls in Mixed Reality, Creating Full Soundscapes The Huge Impact of Foley and Sound Effects, DJI Inspire 3 Drone Everything You Need to Know, In the Spotlight With FUJIFILM Featuring Anna Andersen and Nilu Amin, In the Spotlight With FUJIFILM Featuring Rachael Porter, In the Spotlight With FUJIFILM Featuring Gina Hackett, In the Spotlight With FUJIFILM Featuring Adriana Bernal Martnez, Im selling all the gears I made for my set on eBay, I made a tutorial on how to make focus gears, but I was warned by my followers on Instagram about the edge the AE had over the MM, he can provide caps with stickers already on them, see here, by Moritz Schierenbeck on VLFVs facebook group. That would be asking a lot of these budget lenses. Oh and I believe that where the results are for "Real Aperture" in those tests may actually be the measured T-Stop? Contax Zeiss Survival Guide : r/SonyAlpha - Reddit Wake the fuck up. Distance between first and last lens vertex: 33.6 mm 51.8 mm Weight: approx. I'm only saying that because the guys on the photography forums use these charts to compare numbers with other lenses they all refer to that page as the 'source'. Zeiss AE lens information brochure, "The Finest Optics by Zeiss", Contax Zeiss lenses are the gems for sharp yet vintage glass. Lastly, now that we have a great Contax guide on VLFV, my plan is to concentrate on individual Contax Zeiss reviews, so look out for those in near future. Conveniently for me as I was finishing the set, SIMMOD Lens came into the picture, with very competitive prices, impressive customer service and super high-quality products. B) They share very similar designs as the ZF/ZE/CP2 lenses, but for or the price First I measured the slip-on caps I got from SIMMOD and created a Photoshop template with that size. Contax Zeiss Survival Guide In reply to Giovanni_1968 Nov 30, 2021 While this site is targeted to adapting Zeiss Contax lenses for video, it also seems to be the go-to guide for the rest of us with respect to these lenses. I havent tested these much yet, and I ended up not doing standard outside diameters. The 135mm f/2.8 was a great lens. Each page with eight stickers costed me about $10. I won't bore you with the history lesson, but Pentax worked with Zeiss when the Contax series was developed and they came out with a suspiciously similar multi-coated lens at the same time. Not saying the 135/2 isnt worth it the investment, its just much heavier and harder to carry as a walk-around lens. Fairly "affordable" as well. Thank you, that was very informative! I get asked lots of questions. C) They have the older Zeiss T* coating that we also find on Hasselblads, Super Speeds and Standardsand as such have a more organic rendering on digital than ZF/ZE/CP2s. Only 4 lenses were "officially" improved during the jump to MM: the 25 2.8, 28 2.8, 135 2.8, and 135 f2. See the photo below! So I kept using an adapter on that one (the best adapter I had). Total newbie question about connecting Zeiss Contax lenses to BMPCC It was released in 1932. But Leica Rs are certainly more expensive, so take that into consideration if you are on a budget. Then, near the end of last year I decided to round out the set and make it suitable for renting. Even the 21 is only a 2.8. Its by no means unusable, but dont expect a Contax at F2 to perform like an Ultraprime. If you are like me and are interested in building up a large, varied kit of lenses that can fit every jobthen Contax are a great choice. Filter. Though I have to say, until you put in a lens review on each lens, I think you will continue to be fairly regularly PM'd :)) Though I'm sure that info is pretty well covered actually if you read through your post history :), Phil Holland - Cinematographer - Los Angeles. You can either build a $1500 set or a $10000 set and youll always impress with the results. VLFV family also gets 10% off any order you make with this companies, just add a promo code VLFV (SimmodLens) or VINTAGE (FollowFocusGears.com) on checkout. On my set some were MMJ, others AEG. Last point on the focus gears: the same way you always want to have a constant outside diameter, you want to place them on the lenses at the same distance from the mount. This makes life easier when grabbing gear to go out and renting it as well. In fact, i'm almost considering selling my 85mm f1.4 for that reason. Also almost twice as big and heavy as the previous one. Those were the days. Also the low-con coating does give you more latitude. You have to admit they look sexy. Are often more traditional designs. There is a lot of good information about which lenses were improved optically between the earlier AE and later MM versions, as well as lots of user comments. I own them both. The Zeiss ZF is phenomenally sharp and modern, which I found good for general and macro photography but I found unpleasant of for portraiture. I started using these lenses casually. I repeated the technique for the rear caps, this time with only the focal length written on them. Still on the DIY train, a friend and I had just bought a 3d-printer, so I started making my own focus gears. I shipped all of them to SIMMOD for declicking and a quick checkup. I plugged in the focal length in white so theyre easy to read in dark sets. Its not. Contax / Zeiss 100mm f3.5 Sonnar c/y need info | FujiX-Forum Damn Nick! I then redesigned and printed new focus gears for these and ordered more Leitax mounts and that was good for another five months. The 21/2.8 was a must. Distagon, Planar, Sonnar, Tessar, Biogon and Hologon. My copy has some fungus in it and other copies might be better. One last note on their generations, MMs were mostly made in Japan, so theyre called MMJs, while AEs were made in Germany and named AEGs. If you wanna follow this path, theres no way to dodge reading the Survival Guide. It also has built-in color filters which I freaked out when I realized how to turn them. Wide open these are more likely to deliver a strong image that is consistent up and down the aperture. Contax/Yashica Lenses - Which are the best? - FM Forums Im a fan of DIY, so I decided to install the mounts by myself. RED V-RAPTOR 8K VV Lab Test: Rolling Shutter, Dynamic Range and Latitude plus Video! Its agreed that MM lenses perform better and have cleaner results than AE lenses, theyre also less prone to flaring. No comparison. It was not a problem as a starter set. All times are GMT-8. You can also tell their place of manufacture based on whats written on the lens! Whereas Contax is an F4 at 18mm, and 2.8 at 25mm. Contax Zeiss 60mm f/2.8 Macro AEG: Infinity focus on the left, minimum focus on the right. Also because Soviet glass was super cheap. Slowly I fell in love with them. Leica Rs are much prettier. The fastest "wide" is the 28 f2. The f/2.8 never really impressed me, even though its regarded as one of the best budget 28mm out there. The 60/2.8 AE can do 1:1 magnification, while the MM can only reach 1:2. Be patient, use heat and sandpaper, and youll get there. Eastern Zeiss instead consolidated all their smaller name brands into PENTACON. If you wanna follow this path, theres no way to dodge reading the Survival Guide. Another trick is to heat them up with a blow dryer or even your house heater. Contax Zeiss Survival Guide. At this point the price argument was adding a lot of weight. The issue that came up from was the stickers were having a hard time sticking to the material of the lens caps and were peeling off on their own. The issue that came up from was the stickers were having a hard time sticking to the material of the lens caps and were peeling off on their own. From the Contax Survival Guide: 100 3.5 - Like the 85 Sonnar, but slower and possibly even sharper. I didnt think too much about them when designing, they just needed to fit around the ring, and our printer was painfully slow (M3D, Im looking at you). Posts; Latest Activity; Photos . was migrated to Stuttgart under the watchful eye of American troops. The planar 35mm F/1.4, 50mm T1.4 and 85mm F/1.4, are among some of them. After I got the five Contax I went to look for more info and found Nick Morrison's Contax Zeiss Survival Guide at REDUser. Since the filter threads across the set are wildly different (from 55 to 72mm), standardizing the filter threads to 77mm allows you to own one single set of filters which can quickly switch lenses without the need for tons of step rings. The optics in these Zeiss are very similar, if not the same as the current Zeiss still lenses, a different coating on the glass is the main difference. At T2 they beat out Supers and Contaxes. This one was only made in Japan and it doesnt exist in AE, just MM. Happy with 35-70(macro too) 3.4 & 85 1.4 on a6300(with speed booster). Contax Zeiss Survival Guide: Adapted Lens Talk Forum: Digital You can use the code CINE at check out for a nifty discount! You can skip ahead and read that HERE. I needed the one extra stop of light though, for consistent f/2 or faster through the main set. The rubber grip on the focus ring of the lenses is awesome because it prevents the gears from sliding, but its also a pain because it makes the fitting a lot harder. Shervin, thank you so much for posting those R3ds. Collapse. That's what I'm thinking, though no official sources have been cited on the tests, it may have been pulled from articles or done independently, not sure. You have to admit they look sexy. THE CONTAX LENS GUIDE - 2015 EDITION The most up-to-date guide to almost every Contax lens ever made. 80mm is the outside diameter of the rings, and that number is so specific because its a standard size for clip-on matteboxes. A) They are FULL FRAME and will cover Dragon, and it would seam, even VISTA VISION WEAPON. These babies were bleeding me dry. If you want to get in the same room and do a test to compare the 50/1.4 to a ZE/ZF, I'd be more than willing; just shoot me a line. I needed a proper case! The process turned out alright and the gears worked great, but later on I learned some useful tricks. An instant hit, it became synonymous with innovation. Contax Zeiss Survival Guide - REDUSER.net The 135 mm 2.8 MD lens can keep up with the big boys, some say it is one of the best tele lens of all time. Zeiss and Yashica lenses are all in all rumored to be better, but are much more expensive. 300 g Possibilities of combining Carl Zeiss lenses with Mutarconverters for use with the ContaxSLR camera system Carl Zeiss Photoobjektive D-73446 Oberkochen Telephone (07364) 20-6175 Fax (07364) 20-4045 eMail: photo@zeiss.de http://www.zeiss.de For a little over a year, this was enough. Just to be clear (think you left that part out, haha). How can i get those lenses from you? Contax Zeiss Survival Guide - REDUSER.net On my set some were MMJ, others AEG. send me payment method & how many days it will take? Another major advantage to the Contaxs is the sheer SIZE of the lineup. You can also tell their place of manufacture based on whats written on the lens! So far I had been using adapters on them, and they sucked. Look for an MM with serials in the 8's. Then Nick Morrison went on and on and on about the 35-70. I prefer the FOV of a 25, but for the budget.the 28mm is amazing. You NEVER SEE it wide open, because the blades arent engaged. Also, Super Speeds are a 1.2/1.4 at 18mm and 25mm. I know I stopped mentioning how sharp these lenses are, but the 60mm is worth highlighting. I also feel that the ninja-star may funkify the bokeh a bitgive it a touch of painterly magicbut that may just be meand this wild opinion is something I may need to test out a bit more!