while searching for some info, Google suggested this forum, and I remembered that I used to post here a long time ago :-) So I figured I will leave an invite to my hobby page, where I show some unusual and alt. lenses and cameras that I modify and make :-) I think some of you may find both cameras and pictures interesting :-) So here it is, please feel free to visit :
I must say, I was most impressed with the Contax Planar conversion - Contaxrita! I hope I am not asking any secrets- stop me if I am! Did you have to destroy the original lens barrel to adapt the lens? Where the donor lens body came from - custom made? I love the idea and the results, even though I suspect it could be way above my abilities. I would actually prefer to use Contaxrita than a modern sleek looking body! Saying that Mamiya looks cool as well, but I would be afraid to damage the lens!
With Contaxrita, the lens had to be destroyed completely, only the optical elements were used. The lens body and focusing mechanism was custom made to my specs. Contax Planar 80/2 is an amazing lens, but in the same time is very complicated mechanically and impossible to be converted in whole. But the optics can be extracted and used with custom made shell on 6x6 camera :-) The new owner is delighted with it, soon more pictures will be availiable here:
As far as Contaxiya 80/2, back of the lens had to be modyfied to fit Mamiya mount on it, but the body of the lens could be used, so it was much easier job :-)
In both cases, lenses can not be used on Contax 645 anymore :-)
And I was hoping it was possible to secure it on some helicoid with the norita mount . You have to be very skilled to play with the glass elements and swap the barrels. What do you reckon - would it be possible to make a simpler conversion if the focus was limited - did not reach the infinity?
Btw, why 80mm Planar? I guess that beside the special character it is also the cost?! I just checked and the Norita also has an 80/2 but they cost even more than contax. It is a paradox that Zeiss is the least expensive option here!
I was going to suggest zeiss 110/2 but that is again one step above in price.
Edgars Kalnins wrote:
And I was hoping it was possible to secure it on some helicoid with the norita mount . You have to be very skilled to play with the glass elements and swap the barrels. What do you reckon - would it be possible to make a simpler conversion if the focus was limited - did not reach the infinity?
Btw, why 80mm Planar? I guess that beside the special character it is also the cost?! I just checked and the Norita also has an 80/2 but they cost even more than contax. It is a paradox that Zeiss is the least expensive option here!
I was going to suggest zeiss 110/2 but that is again one step above in price....Show more →
It may be possible to use helicoid from norita lens, I didn't have any to try. But from what I've seen, in Norita lenses thread is put directly one the barrel of the optical element, so only outer ring could be used. It would be more work than to do one from scratch, I think If infinity focus was not needed, it would be possible to attach Norita mount to Planar, but not without modding the lens anyway. Contax mount would have to be unsoldered and removed, so it wouldn't be possible to do it by the way of simple adapter
And why the Planar 80/2 ? Because in my opinion it is the best medium format portrait lens by far And when I say "best", I mean it makes the best looking pictures, as judged by my eyes I'm a big fan of what is happening in the background, aka. bokeh, and this lens produces most amazing bokeh I've seen All of it is my subjective opinion, of course
This is how it started, I fell in love with this lens on Contax 645, but I really like the square format. And since no other lens in 6x6 made me say "wow", I converted one that did I've had all the fast lenses in 6x6 medium format, I think - Hassel 110/2, Rollei 80/2, Norita 80/2, converted Pentax 105/2.4 - and Planar 80/2 in my eyes is way better than all the rest
I like several of the portraits and enjoyed looking through the albums. My favourite may be image 8 (second row, rightmost image) in the Contaxiya vol 1 album.
Hmm. That is also one of the less artsy images, and one where the lens properties aren't that important. Many of the other images worked very well together though. Well, that's me.
Jonas B wrote:
I like several of the portraits and enjoyed looking through the albums. My favourite may be image 8 (second row, rightmost image) in the Contaxiya vol 1 album.
Hmm. That is also one of the less artsy images, and one where the lens properties aren't that important. Many of the other images worked very well together though. Well, that's me.
Thank you for sharing your stuff!
Thank you very much ! :-)
thminhduc wrote:
wow this is really amazing. Are you going to provide this modification service?
Is it my eye, or those Mamiya photos look like to have more vignette than the Norita photos?
Thank you :-) I don't think I will provide this as a service, my mechanic lives in Poland and I doubt that I will find anyone in NY that will do this kind of work for reasonable price :-)
Vignette was added to Contaxrita images in postprocessing :-)
Hi, I noticed your new idea - the flexible adapter. I like the idea - very handy for portraits! Just happened to find a well priced contax 80mm f2 I might try with something similar (provided the purchase of the lens is completed successfully).
Do you plan to make them commercially? It could be a nice niche product. In any case I will follow your blog for more details.
Edgars Kalnins wrote:
Hi, I noticed your new idea - the flexible adapter. I like the idea - very handy for portraits! Just happened to find a well priced contax 80mm f2 I might try with something similar (provided the purchase of the lens is completed successfully).
Do you plan to make them commercially? It could be a nice niche product. In any case I will follow your blog for more details.
Thank you :-) Yes, it is great for portraits and I make them for others :-) "Commercially" is too big of a word, but if someone is interested, I can make them :-)
