Jeffrey, are you still using the a7r2 in combination with the two Contax-N zooms? With the Fringer adapter? If so, what can you say about it? I'm thinking of going with those lenses on the a7r for a backpacking/hiking/landscape setup and would appreciate any thoughts.
mhespenheide wrote:
Jeffrey, are you still using the a7r2 in combination with the two Contax-N zooms? With the Fringer adapter? If so, what can you say about it? I'm thinking of going with those lenses on the a7r for a backpacking/hiking/landscape setup and would appreciate any thoughts.
I used these two ZCNs with the fringer on the a7R2 for months. The combinations worked very well, but I tired of the Sony's clunkiness and bulk (w/batterygrip, which made it large enough to hold) and now shoot a Pentax K-1 system including three Zeiss ZK-mount manual-focus lenses.
Jeffrey Behr wrote:
I used these two ZCNs with the fringer on the a7R2 for months. The combinations worked very well, but I tired of the Sony's clunkiness and bulk (w/batterygrip, which made it large enough to hold) and now shoot a Pentax K-1 system including three Zeiss ZK-mount manual-focus lenses.
Okay, thanks for that update. I'm not personally in the market to switch systems, so I'll keep pondering the sony/contax-n combinations...
@ Jeffrey Behr, I am very interested in the K-1 as well, could you post some of your experiences and work with the Zeiss lenses in the Pentax K-1 images thread?
So I've picked up a Fringer adapter and both a N24-85 and a N70-200. I'm only in the preliminary stages, but the N24-85 looks very nice (especially paired with a FE16-35, where I can switch over at ~28mm).
The N70-200 is not happy with this adapter an an a7r. It doesn't autofocus, doesn't appear to change aperture, and won't even take pictures. I think I read something about this problem in my research here on FM, but now I can't find it. Can anyone point me towards the reference, or help with a diagnosis?
mhespenheide wrote:
So I've picked up a Fringer adapter and both a N24-85 and a N70-200. I'm only in the preliminary stages, but the N24-85 looks very nice (especially paired with a FE16-35, where I can switch over at ~28mm).
The N70-200 is not happy with this adapter an an a7r. It doesn't autofocus, doesn't appear to change aperture, and won't even take pictures. I think I read something about this problem in my research here on FM, but now I can't find it. Can anyone point me towards the reference, or help with a diagnosis?
Thanks!
I had the same issue with my A7r, but both lenses work perfectly with the Fringer III and my A6300.
As noted in the above thread, I built this camera so I could use my much-loved Contax N and Contax 645 lenses with movements, because I do a lot of architectural-related photography and hate to ding the image quality by correcting perspective post-exposure with software instead of pre-exposure with movements.
Here's the first test photo I took with this fourth revision of the camera and my Contax N 17-35/f2.8. The lens was zoomed out to 21-22mm and the aperture pre-set to f8:
I'm hoping to do some nighttime photography with this combo later tonight and also test it with the 24-85 and 70-200 lenses tomorrow.
UPDATE: I tested the 24-85 and even with the rear baffle removed, the image circle allows for only 2-4 mm of rise/fall movements across its range of focal lengths. So as much as I like this lens, it's useless for this project, because it offers next to nothing in terms of rise/fall and shift movements.
I also tested the 70-300 (didn't have the 70-200 handy, so will test that later) and its image circle allows for as much as 18 mm of rise/fall movements and a minimum of 8 mm across the focal length range. Not bad at all, although I'm primarily a wide-angle photographer, so won't have any reason to use this lens very often.
The 17-35 allows for 2-3 mm of rise/fall movement at the 17 mm focal length, increasing to 6 mm at the 21 mm focal length, and ultimately, 11-13 mm at the 35mm focal length. Fortunately for me, this lens covers a focal length range that works for 90% or more of the photos I'm likely to take and the rise/fall limits are likely adequate for most of my photos as well, so I suspect it will probably end up living on the camera most of the time.
Oh, and a test of my Contax 645 35 mm lens showed that it allows for approximately 25 mm of rise/fall movements, which is enough that I can readily stitch my way to a wider focal length whenever it's necessary, so it will likely see a lot of use as well. I'll try to test my 45 mm, 55 mm, and 80 mm lenses over the next few days (the 140 mm lens is likely to be used so rarely by me that I probably won't bother testing it.)
As much as I like -- no, make that love -- the Contax N 17-35, I'm afraid the Contax 645 35mm/f3.5 stomps all over it at 35mm:
This was taken this afternoon with an A7R mounted on my FrankenKamera IV, with the lens stopped down to f8 ... wow! And its image circle is large enough that it will accommodate ~20 mm of rise / fall / shift (or any combination thereof) so it can also be stitched into a much wider focal length if that's your pleasure.
For years I enjoyed the Zeiss images in the alt threads, they started me shooting c/y on a 5DII, and now with an A7RII. Today, I ran into an affordable, mint Contax N 24-85. Purchased before I saw that the non af Kipon adapter is hard to find. Looking at the price of the Fringer, I'm wondering now whether to return it, or double down. I was surprised how light the 24-85 felt, and love the idea of it being a single lens I can take for landscape work on a tripod. So, I've got to ask. Is the 24-85 all that?
