Carl Zeiss lenses for Contax rts II

[alanpiga]

Whih Carl Zeiss lenses can be used with an RTS II?
Which Zoom lenses?
Which ones are recommended?
I'd like to use a zoom from 35 to 80 or more.
Any suggestions?

 

[pkipnis]

Any of the Y/C lenses are designed to work with the RTS II (and I and III, RX AX Aria as well) All of them are excellent performers and will give you wonderful images. Some of us like to use wide angles, some like the convenience of zooms, or the compactness of the 45/50mm lenses. What you shoot will also determine the choice of lens. Portraits are best shot with short telephotos. Sporting events require long telephotos. News Photographers like short to medium fast lens or zooms. There are tradeoffs to consider. Faster lenses are heavier, Zooms often change f/stops due to mechanical/optical constraints. Wide angle lens distort near objects and the horizon. In short there is no one perfect lens for anything. The choice of which lens to select is subjective. Imagine if you will, each lens is a different brush used to create your canvas. The beauty of each lens is that it gives a specific perspective to the final image. Stop worrying, Go have fun!!

 

[dirk]

Hi Alexis,

if you go shopping for your RTS II you have to pay attention only to 2 things:

1. The lens mount
2. The colour of the smallest aperture on the lens

The RTS II has a C/Y mount, so all lenses with this mount will fit. This can be Zeiss lenses, Yashica lenses or third party lenses (i.e. Sigma etc.)

In the 1984 (after the RTS II), Contax added Program Mode and Tv to the new camera models. From this time on, the new manufactured lenses got a mechanical modification to be able to be used in P and Tv. To check whether a lens can use these 2 modes, you simply look at the smallest aperture. If it is coloured in green, then it is possible, if it is cloured in white, only Manual and Av is possible with that lens.

The RTS II has only M and AV. No P or Tv mode. So for this camera it does not matter. But the second hand price differs, so it is good to know the facts. Also if you are planning to upgrade later on to anotzher Contax camera with C/Y mount (digital or analog), it would be better to buy only the green market lenses.

Dirk

 

[rcnet]

Hello Dirk =20 I was wondering in your advice on different lenses based on color dot = at lowest aperture

Why didn't you call the "green" marked ones, MM lenses. That is their = designation, correct?

Thanks=20 Ralph

 

[dirk]

Hi Ralph,

the term MM is absolutely correct for the lenses with the green markings. And AE for the other ones.

But if somebody new to the C/Y system is looking for second hand lenses the term MM is not helpful for him since it is written nowhere on the lens. If you look at ebay, basically all lens-description in the title are added with "mm". Sometimes they mean with it the focal lenghth, sometimes they mean the technically modification. And some sellers like to let the buyer guess what it is

Dirk