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Archive 2014 · contax 645 on sony a99

  
 
SEJohnson83
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · contax 645 on sony a99


Ok, so my a99 arrived today and my 24-70mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar T will be arriving over the weekend. I also have a Contax Zeiss 645 AF Sonnar T* 140mm f/2.8

I'm wondering if I could mount that to the sony a99 with this adapter? There are no reviews and I've used adaptors from this company before (not the best) but if it will allow me to use that lens on this body, I could hold off on the 135 1.8 for awhile


Any thoughts?


http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Adapter-Aperture-Control-Cameras/dp/B00AUKDRGO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1393528488&sr=1-1&keywords=contax+645+to+sony



Feb 27, 2014 at 03:08 PM
AhamB
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · contax 645 on sony a99


Adapters with a built in aperture like that are probably not really worth their money -- they do increase DOF somewhat, but not comparable to what the aperture in the lens does, and they give a lot of vignetting when stopping down (normally, stopping down decreases vignetting).
On the other hand, Fotodiox Pro adapters are quite good mechanically and I wouldn't be surprised if the Contax 645 140/2.8 performs well wide open.

Edited on Feb 27, 2014 at 03:37 PM · View previous versions



Feb 27, 2014 at 03:35 PM
SEJohnson83
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · contax 645 on sony a99


AhamB wrote:
Adapters with a built in aperture like that are probably not really worth their money -- they do increase DOF somewhat, but not comparable to what the aperture in the lens does, and they give a lot of vignetting when stopping down (normally, stopping down decreases vignetting).
On the other hand, Fotodiox Pro adapters are quite good mechanically and I wouldn't be surprised if the Contax 645 140/2.8 performs well wide open.



Thanks for the reply! I figured if I ordered this, I could use the 140mm again. I don't own the Contax system anymore and I'd rather use this lens then sell it at a loss... (no one seems to be attracted to the 140, only the 80mm f/2)



Feb 27, 2014 at 03:37 PM
AhamB
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · contax 645 on sony a99


I'd love to have the Apo-Makro-Planar 120/4. Have seen some amazing images from that lens here.


Feb 27, 2014 at 03:38 PM
peterv
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · contax 645 on sony a99


From what i've seen, the Apo-Makro-Planar 120/4 is a truly outstanding lens. I think it's still one of the best in it's class. MF would not be a problem on the A99, but it's too bad one cannot controll the aperture, since there's no electronic coupling. DOF in macro is very, very shallow with this lens so being able to stopdown would probably come in quite handy. For medium distances wide open would work quite well, i guess. I lusted for this lens when I briefly had the Leica S - Contax 645 adapter. At the moment I use the 120 mm S and all is good.

I sure hope Conorus will makr a Contax 645 - E- mount adapter one day soon. You can leave a request on their forum:

Link



Feb 28, 2014 at 03:52 PM
SEJohnson83
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · contax 645 on sony a99


oh crap that's right! I won't be able to adjust the aperture, right? Not even manually...


Feb 28, 2014 at 04:07 PM
peterv
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · contax 645 on sony a99


That's right, I'm sorry to say. Your best option is this dumb adapter you mentioned. You could control the amount of light with the - sort of - diaphragm which is built in to the adapter, but it will probably cause vignette and effects DOF in an unpredictable manner. Of course you can try the adapter and/or always shoot wide open.
Please let us know you findings.



Feb 28, 2014 at 07:05 PM
SEJohnson83
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · contax 645 on sony a99


Bummer, should have thought that out better... I prefer to shoot as wide open as I can anyway but I'll post up some results. If it's too cumbersome I'll try to return it. Should arrive in the mail in 5-7 days so stay tuned

peterv wrote:
That's right, I'm sorry to say. Your best option is this dumb adapter you mentioned. You could control the amount of light with the - sort of - diaphragm which is built in to the adapter, but it will probably cause vignette and effects DOF in an unpredictable manner. Of course you can try the adapter and/or always shoot wide open.
Please let us know you findings.




Feb 28, 2014 at 08:53 PM
adamdewilde
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · contax 645 on sony a99


I use the 140 wide open all the time, I never stop down any of my Contax645 lenses. No point, when scanning film the film is curved, so I don't really see an increase in sharpness either way, just an increase in DOF, and when shooting the contax, I'm really not looking for DOF.. If I wanted high quality thick DOF I'd just use one of my many other smaller camera systems.

I'd just suggest you buy a basic adapter, and give it a shot. I've taken shots with the contax lens and nex5 before, just buy using cinefoil and holding the lens and camera and walking to focus (for the heck of it, but kinda cool).



Mar 01, 2014 at 01:50 AM
phuang3
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · contax 645 on sony a99


If you are Canon user, there is Contax 645 to EF electronic adapter already. I got one, and it works great.


Mar 01, 2014 at 04:47 AM
SEJohnson83
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · contax 645 on sony a99


As an update, the aperture is adjustable manually via a dial on the adapter itself! Super excited to test it out! I'll update tomorrow with some random shots


Mar 05, 2014 at 09:19 PM
phuang3
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · contax 645 on sony a99


I wonder how your adapter works. The aperture is electronically controlled on all Contax 645 lenses. Unless your adapter can communicates with the lens, there is no mechanical way to control it.


Mar 05, 2014 at 10:21 PM
SEJohnson83
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · contax 645 on sony a99




phuang3 wrote:
I wonder how your adapter works. The aperture is electronically controlled on all Contax 645 lenses. Unless your adapter can communicates with the lens, there is no mechanical way to control it.









Mar 05, 2014 at 10:22 PM
SEJohnson83
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · contax 645 on sony a99


The adapter has it's own aperture blades


Mar 05, 2014 at 10:23 PM
SEJohnson83
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · contax 645 on sony a99


Here is a shot I grabbed this morning. 140mm @ 2.8, ISO6400, 1/320

No sharpening, just auto-tone from lightroom and exported as .jpg







Mar 06, 2014 at 10:11 AM
telyt
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · contax 645 on sony a99


SEJohnson83 wrote:
The adapter has it's own aperture blades


I've read less-than-glowing reports of the usefulness of the adapter's aperture blades. Have you made any photos with the aperture stopped down at all?



Mar 06, 2014 at 11:07 AM
SEJohnson83
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · contax 645 on sony a99


telyt wrote:
I've read less-than-glowing reports of the usefulness of the adapter's aperture blades. Have you made any photos with the aperture stopped down at all?



Yeah, not impressive... looks like all it does is vignette it, haha.. oh well.. I had a lens that was of no use laying around to now using on the a99 at wide open, I'll take it..



Mar 06, 2014 at 11:14 AM
SEJohnson83
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · contax 645 on sony a99


Here's another wide open in natural outdoor light. Minimal processing, just sharpened for screen in LR.







Mar 08, 2014 at 11:52 AM
peterv
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · contax 645 on sony a99


Glad to see the adapter is working out for you. Using this wonderful lens wide open on the A99 gives nice opportunities. Please post some more photos.

OT: your dog looks a lot like a Rhodesian Ridgeback (we have two RR's)



Mar 08, 2014 at 07:15 PM
SEJohnson83
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · contax 645 on sony a99


She may very well have some RRB in her. She was a stray that I rescued from Turks & Caicos while vacationing there. I never got her DNA tested but you're not the first to ask if she had any RRB She very well may

peterv wrote:
Glad to see the adapter is working out for you. Using this wonderful lens wide open on the A99 gives nice opportunities. Please post some more photos.

OT: your dog looks a lot like a Rhodesian Ridgeback (we have two RR's)




Mar 13, 2014 at 05:10 AM





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