Bah, my 5D2 mirror hangs on my new CY28/2.8. I am guessing it's either the fin or the aperture lever. If I remove the 4 screws on the mount to remove it and work on it apart from the camera, does the whole lens sproing apart ala the CY 35-70 I don't wanna go through that again. There is not enough hard liquor in the house nor enough dollars for the swear jar.
Trying to decide if I want to mod it or sell it and move on (maybe to a ZE for auto aperture).
mco_970 wrote:
Bah, my 5D2 mirror hangs on my new CY28/2.8. I am guessing it's either the fin or the aperture lever. If I remove the 4 screws on the mount to remove it and work on it apart from the camera, does the whole lens sproing apart ala the CY 35-70 I don't wanna go through that again. There is not enough hard liquor in the house nor enough dollars for the swear jar.
Trying to decide if I want to mod it or sell it and move on (maybe to a ZE for auto aperture).
Hi,
I don't use 5D2, but for my D700, I converted MM CY2.8/28. Conversion required removing the 4 screws on the mount, then taking apart the aperture ring, then attach the Leitax mount to it using those 4 screws again. Only part that got loose in this process was the aperture ring + ball bearing. Luckily, fin on the back did not hit mirror, so I did not have to do anything, but as far as I could see, that 'fin' was integral part of the rear element. If it had hit the mirror,I was going to shave off part of that 'fin', if we are talking about the same element on the lens. I enjoy this lens, although it is not the 'best' zeiss lens I have experienced, light weight makes it very handy. I can not say whether it is worth the trouble or move on. ZE 28 is substantially more expensive, but it is also f2.
Thanks for the heads up. I had the ball bearing come loose in my 35-70 and don't really want to do that again. Think I might just sell it off and buy a ZE. Too bad, because I like the lens quite well on NEX.
When I look at my copy of the 28/2.8 (MM) the fin protrudes a fraction of a millimetre beyond the aperture lever.
Looking at the construction of the lens, I don't see an easy way to remove the part with the fin. You could just tape up the rear of the lens real good and keep the lens upside down while grinding the fin. I've done this with two other lenses (actually grinding part of the rear element retaining ring). I think it's a simple operation and the lens definitely is worth trying.
Thanks for the link to the Leitax site. Seems like it will be a bad idea to take the mount off.
I'll take another look at filing it, but it seemed like the aperture lever sticks up about to the same height as the fin, so I'm not sure if I'd need to file both of them down. After my last two mods that didn't go well, I'm chickening out, I guess.
It's not aided by the fact that I like my OM28 alot - it's a great copy - very tiny and tack sharp wide open on NEX. The ZE would be exclusively for my Canon kit.
I think it is the aperture lever. I either had to file it very slightly or bend it a little to get it out of the way - it didn't take much. I'm not at home where I can check it.
edited to reflect my mistake - I meant aperture lever, not fin
akul wrote:
... I enjoy this lens, although it is not the 'best' zeiss lens I have experienced, light weight makes it very handy. I can not say whether it is worth the trouble or move on. ZE 28 is substantially more expensive, but it is also f2.
Good luck with your decision
The beauty of the C/Y 28/2.8 is in it's performance stopped down. Comparison with the Nikon AIS 28/2.8 and Olympus 28/2.
"...at f8/f11 the Zeiss does magical things. You can chimp the Nikon and Olympus to look a bit similar, but it's not the same. It's not a perfect lens: it has barrel distortion, the vignetting at f4 is a throwback to pre-war portraiture, and you really do have to stop it down - but, like a turbocharged sportscar, when it comes good, it is breathtaking."
pdmphoto wrote:
I think it is the aperture lever. I either had to file it very slightly or bend it a little to get it out of the way - it didn't take much. I'm not at home where I can check it.
edited to reflect my mistake - I meant aperture lever, not fin
Yeah, please let me know if you bent or filed it. I covered the rear of the lens with electrical tape and filed the fin a bit yesterday and it still hangs. Boo!
Yep, I read that review before I bought my lens. I really should test it before I decide to sell it, works fine with liveview on 5D2.
However, I am on the lookout for a well priced 28/2 ZE.
grahamb3 wrote:
The beauty of the C/Y 28/2.8 is in it's performance stopped down. Comparison with the Nikon AIS 28/2.8 and Olympus 28/2.
"...at f8/f11 the Zeiss does magical things. You can chimp the Nikon and Olympus to look a bit similar, but it's not the same. It's not a perfect lens: it has barrel distortion, the vignetting at f4 is a throwback to pre-war portraiture, and you really do have to stop it down - but, like a turbocharged sportscar, when it comes good, it is breathtaking."
Update - got it working, finally! Just a bit more filing and it's golden on my 5D2. Woot! IQ looks great from a limited bit of shooting (c'mon Spring!).
I had picked up a ZF25/2.8 in the meantime, now to decide which to keep.
gpop wrote:
any chance you can post an image of the offending part?
I'm curious how much material you had to remove.
I think I took off 1-1.5 mm from the fin? A bit less off the lever.
Photo is of the mount with a CY > EOS chipped adapter - the fin is the rounded hump on the left sticking up above the glued on chip. Lever is the nub on the right.
Excellent to see you got it working. Your not alone, that little ball bearing got me on my 50 1.7 and drove me nuts for a day or two of searching. In the end, as far as I'm concerned, it was all worth it.
MarkJones wrote:
Does anyone know what this fin actually did on Contax camera bodies? Some of the N series lenses had them too.
The fin ensures that when the lens is placed on a surface on its rear (without a cap), the rear element won't get scratched and the aperture pin won't get bent.
I don't wanna go through that again. There is not enough hard liquor in the house nor enough dollars for the swear jar. 
Too bad, because I like the lens quite well on NEX.
I really should test it before I decide to sell it, works fine with liveview on 5D2.