I've been peeping at this nascent thread for a bit so it's probably time to contribute something.
Here three shots taken with the Contax/Zeiss 120mm APO-Makro with a converter for use on the 5DII. It is an impressively sharp lens with very nice color "out of the box". For these shots, though I did punch up the "zest factor" with saturation and vibrance in P'chop. I think I shot them via live view, and it was pretty windy up on that hill. It's possible I've dribbled out one of these before on FM, but I forget where, so apologies in advance if anybody's seen them before.
This last shot is with the 350mm Tele-APO Tessar. While nowhere near as fast as any ring-type Canon USM telephoto, it can get good moving images if you are persistent and patient. I think this is wide open. For some reason, when using the Conurus adapter on the 5DII there is a noticeable horizontal vignette on the bottom of the frame. It shows up in skies in particular. I haven't used the lens setup on any other full-frame body so I don't know if it's endemic to the converter + lens or the 5DII mirror box or what-have-you. It is very sharp, with great color - and huge, so a monopod is a must.
I think all the C645 lenses are really sharp even on a Canon, and they give what I'd describe as pretty uniform color. Needless to say, the two APO lenses offer very little color fringing, that I can see. It's a weird and wonky way to get Zeiss autofocus lenses for a non-Minolta/Sony mount, but it does work. I think a body with manual adjust is mandatory as things don't always match what you'd like. If Conurus (Cyberstudio here) could fabricate a mount from the ground up, instead of having to convert existing Contax/Kyocera hardware, I think quite a few people would jump into this particular (conversion) pool.
Bo-Ming, if you're reading this...is there a possibility of somehow expanding your conversion sets, by using the C645 extension tubes as a base, in lieu of the NAM-1?
Dergiman wrote:
Thanks Gunzorro for sharing your findings on the 80-200/4!
BTW what kind of gear do you use for your architecture photography?
In Olden Times, B.D. (Before Digital), I used 4x5 Toyo G, and mostly Nikon 65/4 and Fujinon 90/8.
Today I'm all "35mm" DSLR. (Well, the occasional crop frame! ) My two main lenses on the 5D or 1Ds2 are the 24TSII and the 16-35L II. Depending on the type of shot, it could be a zoom like my 24-70 for some twilight shots. Now the ZE 21 and 35 might be in the mix -- I have to see how they do with point light sources and edge details at night. I haven't used medium format in quite a while, but my fairly well known Staple Center shot was taken with that about a decade ago using the Pentax 67II and 105/2.4 lens. I almost never use the film cameras anymore.
With the commercial real estate market so abysmal now, you could say that I use all imaging types, or no imaging types!
carstenw wrote:
sirimiri, now that is really interesting, as I own and adore this lens! What kind of adapter do you have?
Carsten, it's an (auction site) Contax NAM-1 that I sourced from abroad, then sent to Canada so Conurus could modify to EF mount at the rear and futz with the databus so it "speaks" both C645 and Canon EF protocols. It reads the C645 lens data, including focal length and aperture, and the Canon side picks it up and adds it to the EXIF.
It's a real rigmarole but I'm glad I did it. The total cost for everything is nuts, but you do get AF Zeiss on Canon. The APO-Makro is such a stonkin' good lens.
I'll note that Bo-Ming's shop did a solid job on the modification, the replaced/modded parts are very solid.
hello friends!
sorry for my english...
i have a 5dmk1 with the contax planar 100/2, im really interested in c/y distagon 28 2.8
i had the ef 17-40 f4L,great colours and versatile because zoom,but i sold it for poor corners and only f4 aperture..im searching a more luminous wide prime lens.
don't need f1.4 or 16/17/18mm wide,for me is good a 2.8 and 24/28 mm..
how is the contax 28 2.8 in comparison with the ef17-40L??(on canon 12mpx fullframe,in term of colours,sharpness,flare, image quality!)
i need some samples please!eheh!
Gunzorro wrote:
In Olden Times, B.D. (Before Digital), I used 4x5 Toyo G, and mostly Nikon 65/4 and Fujinon 90/8.
Today I'm all "35mm" DSLR. (Well, the occasional crop frame! ) My two main lenses on the 5D or 1Ds2 are the 24TSII and the 16-35L II. Depending on the type of shot, it could be a zoom like my 24-70 for some twilight shots. Now the ZE 21 and 35 might be in the mix -- I have to see how they do with point light sources and edge details at night. I haven't used medium format in quite a while, but my fairly well known Staple Center shot was taken with that about a decade ago using the Pentax 67II and 105/2.4 lens. I almost never use the film cameras anymore.
With the commercial real estate market so abysmal now, you could say that I use all imaging types, or no imaging types! ...Show more →
I'm not going to say this it the "best" Zeiss lens ever made, but it is a Zeiss lens! Colors look great and detail is very good. I'm finding best results with mine at around f/8, as might be expected with most lenses.
I tried it on a 60D yesterday, with the following results.
One quirk I've found with both the 1Ds2 and 60D is that using Av mode, metering is accurate wide open, but as I stop the lens down, it jumps toward greater and greater over-exposure -- to around +1.7 EV at f/11. I tried repeating in Manual mode, based on the initial wide open exposure and adding 1EV shutter speed for each aperture number shift, and exposure was accurate all the way through the range. But if I followed the meter in Manual, I got the same over-exposure as Av! Something odd in the metering with this lens, that I've not seen in Nikon, Pentax or other Alt lenses.
@Gunzorro: That is what I have noticed with every alt lens that I have used.
It's not particularly interesting to list the EC with your pictures though. I don't think anyone will try to replicate your shots with the same settings.
For the first time, I'll be using one of these so-called "Alt Lenses" tomorrow and through the weekend. I rented a Zeiss ZF.2 100mm f/2 Makro-Planar for Nikon from www.lensrentals.com and it's supposed to be here tomorrow, so I can play with it over the weekend. Let me see what the fuss is all about for myself.
I assume it is directly mountable on a D7000 and does not need any fancy adapters or require that I saw off parts of the lens or camera. Thanks for any input.
) My two main lenses on the 5D or 1Ds2 are the 24TSII and the 16-35L II. Depending on the type of shot, it could be a zoom like my 24-70 for some twilight shots. Now the ZE 21 and 35 might be in the mix -- I have to see how they do with point light sources and edge details at night. I haven't used medium format in quite a while, but my fairly well known Staple Center shot was taken with that about a decade ago using the Pentax 67II and 105/2.4 lens. I almost never use the film cameras anymore.
