Some shots with Contax 645 Apo-Makro-Planar 120mm ƒ4 from today. I have to say this lens beats everything else I've tried before. It's pretty big though, not what you'd call pocketable I think 120mm is a difficult focal length on crop for general shots, but it works great for macro and closeups.
The colors from this lens are just awesome. All shots shot wide open.
wow, especially #2 and #8 are truly great.
May i ask how much that lens cost? I would also like to see a picture of it in the pictures of Nex with Alt glass thread.
thanks
Phillip Reeve wrote:
wow, especially #2 and #8 are truly great.
May i ask how much that lens cost? I would also like to see a picture of it in the pictures of Nex with Alt glass thread.
thanks
Thanks Phillip. It was my most expensive lens purchase ever at €700. That's however the lowest price I've ever seen this lens go for, so I'm happy anyway.
You should be aware that there is no way to change aperture setting on the lens, as it's electronic. You need a Contax 645 or a Contax N1 with NAM-1 adapter to change aperture, and you wouldn't belive what those items cost.
The lens can be used on a converted NAM-1 adapter on Canon bodies, but again, the cost is astronomical. I wouldn't buy this lens just for shooting on NEX, I have other plans for the future, but for now, I'll be using it on NEX since I can.
briantho wrote:
Thanks Phillip. It was my most expensive lens purchase ever at €700. That's however the lowest price I've ever seen this lens go for, so I'm happy anyway.
You should be aware that there is no way to change aperture setting on the lens, as it's electronic. You need a Contax 645 or a Contax N1 with NAM-1 adapter to change aperture, and you wouldn't belive what those items cost.
The lens can be used on a converted NAM-1 adapter on Canon bodies, but again, the cost is astronomical. I wouldn't buy this lens just for shooting on NEX, I have other plans for the future, but for now, I'll be using it on NEX since I can.
I'll post some pics of it on NEX later this week....Show more →
thanks for the info :-).
I was expecting even more, just asked out of curiosity, thats totally out of my reach, i'm broken because i just bought a Nex-7 (I Really need the hotshoe ) and look forward to the evf, better operation and 24mp.
Yeah those 120/4 shots really are amazing. Word to the wise - the Hasselblad version is vastly different. I looked at the MTF charts, and wow. The H. version looks actually really quite bad, though it improves at 1:2. The 645 are great to begin with; awesome at 1:2 and incredible at 1:1.
Taylor Sherman wrote:
Yeah those 120/4 shots really are amazing. Word to the wise - the Hasselblad version is vastly different. I looked at the MTF charts, and wow. The H. version looks actually really quite bad, though it improves at 1:2. The 645 are great to begin with; awesome at 1:2 and incredible at 1:1.
Thanks, yes, the Hasselblad 120 is a different design.
Phillip Reeve wrote:
I was expecting even more, just asked out of curiosity, thats totally out of my reach, i'm broken because i just bought a Nex-7 (I Really need the hotshoe ) and look forward to the evf, better operation and 24mp.
Congratulations on your NEX-7. The 24 megapixels of the NEX-7 looks more interesting to me now with this lens, but I'm waiting until the next model is released unless I find one really cheap.
Here are some second rate images that didn't make it to the post above
Your Apo-Makro-Planar looks exactly as expected, brilliant.
If you don't need 1:1, a Leica Apo-Macro-Elmarit 100/2.8 might be more convenient though (you get aperture control, f/2.8 and less bulk/weight), and it doesn't need to be much more expensive (have seen them for 999 euros on ebay).
I manually focused each lens and shot each on a tripod at their widest open, and again at f8. I did the test twice, on two different days (because somehow I forgot to test the Voigtlander in the first round).
The results surprised me. The Rokinon was clearly the sharpest across the frame and into the edges and corners. At f2.8 it was noticeably superior to the slower lenses.
Below is a photo I took a couple of days ago with the Rokinon. (shot at f22 to try and smooth out the water)
AhamB wrote:
Your Apo-Makro-Planar looks exactly as expected, brilliant.
If you don't need 1:1, a Leica Apo-Macro-Elmarit 100/2.8 might be more convenient though (you get aperture control, f/2.8 and less bulk/weight), and it doesn't need to be much more expensive (have seen them for 999 euros on ebay).
I agree with the sentiment, and love my Leica Mac, but the Zeiss 120 is, in my opinion, the best reason to shoot a Contax 645. Maybe Brian's planning to acquire one in the future.
Thanks for the comments, and thanks for the advice Aham. You're right Freak, I do plan to get a C645. I also have the N1 to use it on. I'm sure the Leica is amazing too, but I'm happy using Zeiss and I'm a big fan of Contax gear.
partitura wrote:
The results surprised me. The Rokinon was clearly the sharpest across the frame and into the edges and corners. At f2.8 it was noticeably superior to the slower lenses.
Interesting! I am thinking about picking up the Tokina 11-16 to serve my UWA needs. Nice pic either way (assuming this was the test pic).
Taylor Sherman wrote:
Yeah those 120/4 shots really are amazing. Word to the wise - the Hasselblad version is vastly different. I looked at the MTF charts, and wow. The H. version looks actually really quite bad, though it improves at 1:2. The 645 are great to begin with; awesome at 1:2 and incredible at 1:1.
Not surprising - the Hasselblad MP was designed to perform across a much larger capture area. I am sure it's just a matter of time before somebody posts the format size comparison. Either way, the Contax version looks excellent on the NEX!
