Feedback on Leica lenses trickles in on a somewhat regular basis, but I can't remember the last time I received an email on Contax / EOS combo. There are still plenty of "TBD" in the table, so lets see if we can't get some of those cleaned up.
If you used a lens / camera combo marked "TBD", send me an email or PM. If the combo was problem or took several tries, we really need that information. The Contax DB page gets around 2000 hit per month, so people are using it. Lets button this page up.
I have 3 types of adaptor: happypage, fotodiox, and huppert.
I have had no problems with the following on 5D:
85 f2.8
200 f2
200 f3.5
500 f8
28-70
I have had no problems with the following on 1D(s)3:
85 f2.8
200 f3.5
500 f8
I have 3 copies of the 35f1.4, none of which have had problems on the 5D. I suspect that bad enough adaptors could cause problems with many lenses which would otherwise have adequate clearance.
Multiple copies of the 45 f2.8 did not work on two 5D's for me. That's serious because I think you may be in danger of encouraging people to buy lenses which won't work.
As you know, with the 5D, it just depends on the specific body and adapter. For example, you've got a 'yes' next to the CZ21 but many people have had to shave their mirror and notch the mirror box for it to work yet some lucky few have had it work no problem. For 5D, you probably need to report the number of uses by adaptor by lens with and without mods.
One thing that should be added is pre-EF-s crop bodies. My Zeiss 50mm, for instance, will scratch the mirror box if I try and put it on my 10D. I may file down the flange a bit so that it won't scrape, but it is an issue. It fits inside the EF-s ring on my 30D.
Richard, thank you for the inputs. The responses in the table are from users such as yourself. If a lens/camera combo is marked as "YES", that's because somebody reported a positive outcome. If there are conflicting reports, then a lens is marked "IFFY" - which is how the 45/2.8 will read shortly. 10,000 of thousands of people have hit the page - and the feedback has been less than 5 emails during the past year. That's a bit lop-sided. Without continuous feedback, the table will always be lacking.
Another FM'er just emailed saying the 35/1.4 would not work on his 5D. Should that lens be marked "YES" because you had 3 positives? You don't know if the other part had an adapter issue, lens issue, 5D issues - or a combination thereof. Should the 35/1.4 be marked "YES" because you had 3 positives? Or, should it be marked "NO" because another member had 1 negative?
I point this out because you said "Multiple copies of the 45 f2.8 did not work on two 5D's for me. That's serious because I think you may be in danger of encouraging people to buy lenses which won't work." Keep that in mind when you talk about the 35/1.4. When it comes to the 5D, there aren't many absolutes.
My Distagon 35/2.8 was IFFY on my 5D. It would hang up the mirror on its downward return to shooting position. A partial rotation of the lens in dismount direction would free the mirror, and it would then drop fully down on its own. I trimmed the aperture lever shield tab last week, and now there is no interference at all.
Jon & JMAN - I encourage you to use the forums feature. The number of possible permutations is beyond what a simple table can capture. The forums are intended as a net to capture & compile all that loose information in one centralized location.
Much of the Contax information has been posted in various threads across multiple forums over long periods of time. Photographer XYZ comes along and wants to find out if lens XYZ works on camera ABC. Finding those answers is time consuming, so to save people time - the tables were created. The forums were subsequently added so people could add unique comments about adapters and various combo's which do and don't work.
Ideally there would be a thread for each problem-child lens, and then users can add their experiences to that thread. Then lenses with an "IFFY" result can by hyper-linked to their associated thread.
John Black wrote:
...Another FM'er just emailed saying the 35/1.4 would not work on his 5D. Should that lens be marked "YES" because you had 3 positives?
Not at all. The problem with IFFY is that if 1 in ten thousand photographers has a problem and tells you then the table is fairly misleading. Having spent a couple of years hanging around here I haven't heard anyone mention problems with the 35 f1.4. Your news is the first, for me. As a result I think it would be more helpful if your table was a bit more fine-grained. For instance it might help to say how many have reported success and failure instead of just iffy. It might also help to go into more detail about adaptors and lens versions, as others have mentioned. I have had 28 f2.8's which were fine, and others which weren't.
Well, it's me My 35 f/1.4 AE hangs the mirror on my 5D but not on the 1DsII. I use a consumer grade Fotodiox adapter (which is 1.4mm, a little too thin in my opinion). The mirror clears if I shake the camera 2-3 times, but I guess this could not be considered as normal practice to shake the camera after every picture
John, thanks for your efforts to get the facts straight. Your site is the first I visit when I have concerns about mirror clearance.
Have you thought about accepting reports from only people who have adapters that are known to be produced with some measure of precision? I wouldn't consider any reports from el-cheapo eBay specials to be reliable at all.
Here's my report, all Kindai adapters and 5D.
28/2.8 - hangs every 30 shots or so. Variation in the mirror swing path is obviously to blame, and this has nothing to do with vertical or horizontal, or up or down orientation.
35-70/3.4 - no problem
80-200/4 - no problem
21/2.8 - no problem
45/2.8 - mirror hits lens shroud, not the rear element though
New Page Listing Exceptions Noting Exceptions Listed in this Thread: Specific Lenses
And most important (IMO), threads have been set-up for the lenses discussed in this topic. There is no way to capture all the possible combinations of adapters, lenses and camera bodies in a tidy table. Quantitative data can be packaged and filed away in data tables, but qualitative data doesn't fit into databases easily. The forums are intended to capture all that information.
I encourage everyone to log their experiences in those forums - especially if a specific combo was a problem. When it comes to the 5D, nothing is black & white, so accumulated user experience is the best we can do. To help speed things along, I've copied most the comments posted here into the threads.
If Apple sees fit to embellish iWeb with some snazzy table, database and input features, then I'll re-evaluate what can be done. I'd love to see flashy bar charts showing success percentages by adapter, etc., but that is not possible right now. Another hurdle - the data doesn't exist. This a very niche segment, so there are inherent limitations.
Thank you for everyone's input, and we'll keep plugging away at it.
My results on the 5D with Fotodiox Pro adapters are:
28/2.8 - mirror catches slightly at infinity
35/2.8 - OK
50/1.7 - OK now i've trimmed the aperture fin
85/2.8 - OK
135/2.8 - OK sometimes mirror hangs on verticle shots
35-70/3.4 - As above
Ihave the 21 unmodded and no problems with the 5D. I have both a happypageHK and the more expensive black one that Son was providing the name of which I can't remember right now. Both work just fine.
Mike
jonboring wrote:
John
As you know, with the 5D, it just depends on the specific body and adapter. For example, you've got a 'yes' next to the CZ21 but many people have had to shave their mirror and notch the mirror box for it to work yet some lucky few have had it work no problem. For 5D, you probably need to report the number of uses by adaptor by lens with and without mods.
My 35 f/1.4 AE hangs the mirror on my 5D but not on the 1DsII. I use a consumer grade Fotodiox adapter (which is 1.4mm, a little too thin in my opinion). The mirror clears if I shake the camera 2-3 times, but I guess this could not be considered as normal practice to shake the camera after every picture