Long Time Contax Owner, First Time Poster

[smimark]

Hello,
I have been a Contax user since I acquired my first RTS in 1981 and I was later hired by the Yashica/Contax dealer who sold me that camera. Over the years I have continued to expand my collection of Zeiss lenses, Contax cameras and accessories. I have adapted all of my lenses so that I can use them on my Canon DSLRs and those “old” lenses outperform all of my expensive Canon L glass.
I am looking forward to interacting with other Contax devotees on this forum.

 

[dirk]

WelcomeatCI1

 

[biggles3]

Hello,
I have been a Contax user since I acquired my first RTS in 1981 and I was later hired by the Yashica/Contax dealer who sold me that camera. Over the years I have continued to expand my collection of Zeiss lenses, Contax cameras and accessories. I have adapted all of my lenses so that I can use them on my Canon DSLRs and those “old” lenses outperform all of my expensive Canon L glass.
I am looking forward to interacting with other Contax devotees on this forum.

Hi, welcome to the Forum. It's always good to meet another long time user of the marque. I still use my first RTS which I bought in the mid-1970s soon after its launch. Like you, I have acquired a large number of Contax, Yashica and Zeiss items over the decades. When it comes to Zeiss glass, I have a wide variety too between the 15mm and the 500 f4.5. My only rule is that all the cameras, drives, lenses and flash units must be used every three months. And you are absolutely right in saying that the old Zeiss glass can outperform many of today's fine lenses made for DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. It's a great time to be a photographer!

 

[MarcWilliams]

Long time Contax lover and user.

Sadly I had to transitioned away from Contax when Kyrocera abandoned the Brand.

I professionally used a huge variety of Contax Cameras and a broad array of Zeiss lenses. Commercial work for ad agencies, portraits, and even a ton of weddings.

My last Contax cameras were the 6 meg FF Contax N Digital, and the Contax 645 with a digital back. Had a wide range of the corresponding lenses. Prior to that I had just about every Contax film camera made and many fab lenses like the 28mm "Hollywood", 85/1.2 and 50/1.2 Anniversary lenses made in Germany.
I kept touch when I moved to Sony A900 because of the A mount Zeiss AF lenses still available (I still use an A mount Zeiss 24-70/2.8 adapted to Sony FE Mirrorless. In fact, I'm now mostly Sony Mirrorless with workhorse optics for pro work including a few Zeiss optics ... but I also love to adapt Leica M mount lenses to Sony E mount cameras (including use of a AF adapter).
Interestingly, despite all the technical/optical advancements from Sony, my favorite lenses from the Sony FE line up are Zeiss. My absolute favorite is the ZA 50/1.4 Zeiss lens. see attached shot.

My Medium Format camera is now the Leica S(006) with six CS (central shutter) lenses, and one 100/2 ... the S camera is a dual shutter capable system ... leaf shutter or focal plane shutter. Of interest is that the fabulous Contax 645 Zeiss lenses can be adapted to the Leica S in focal plane mode, and they perform wonderfully; providing the character and clarity that made them so desirable.

• SONY - ILCE-7RM4
• FE 50mm F1.4 ZA
• 50.0 mm
• ƒ/1.4
• 1/8000 sec
• Pattern
• Manual exposure
• ISO 100

 

[dirk]

:z04_herz:

 

[biggles3]

Good to know another C645 fan! I have 3 of them and two are used with digital backs: Hasselblad Ixpress 528C for recording art and a CF22 for non-tethered general use. I also use a Fuji GFX medium format camera with the Fringer AF Adapter which allows the Zeiss 645 lenses to be used in AF mode on the Fujis. While I love the 80mm f2, I am now a huge fan of the 45-90 which is my 'go to' lens for country walks. The only Contax camera I've never owned is the RXII - why bother with a cut-back version of a really good camera? The one non-production Contax I'd love to have owned was one I saw as a guest of Yashica at the 1982 Photokina which was the 137AF and its 3 Zeiss AF lenses; amazingly, someone has managed to dig it out along with the 50mm AF lens and has shown it on YouTube. Kyocera really messed up by dropping that option as it continued to use the C/Y mount; another Photokina '82 model they cancelled was the Yashica FX-A but mercifully not before a few hundred had been manufactured; I've managed to grab 4 and its Honeywell Focus Confirmation system is a gem to use and pre-dates the RX by a few years.

Sadly I had to give up trying to use the N-Digital as its sensor failed regularly although I have continued to use a brace of N1s. The N series was always going to be problematic for those of use who'd invested heavily in Zeiss (and Yashica) manual focus glass. But there is one Contax digital camera I take with me every day: the i4R. It sneaks into any pocket and even at only 4Mp, it takes a mean photo.

For your amusement, I've added a piccie of my two favourite, if contrasting, C/Y reflex 500mm lenses: the stunning, tiny Yashica ML 500 f8 (reckoned to be the best in its class) and the slightly larger Zeiss 500 f4.5 Mirotar. They look a bit like a mother and child...

• OLYMPUS CORPORATION - E-M1MarkIII
• OLYMPUS M.30mm F3.5 Macro
• 30.0 mm
• ƒ/3.5
• 1/60 sec
• Center-Weighted Average
• Auto exposure
• ISO 6400

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that my 35mm Contax inventory runs to 136 cameras, 111 Zeiss lenses and some 300+ accessories. Like you, I enjoy using the three f1.2 Planars; that 55mm remains one of the sharpest lenses I've ever used. What amazes me is that despite using the system since the 1970s, I'm still finding stuff I never knew existed (especially, though perhaps not surprisingly, in Japan) such as a recent purchase of an underwater case for the 137MA + 28 f2 with a cable connector to another case, this time for a TLA30 flash. And the seals still hold!

One of the under-appreciated lenses for the C645 is the 45mm yet it's one of those that exhibits that classic Zeiss' '3D' pop - the piccie below was shot with one on a C645 using an old Ixpress 384C back which is now replaced by the 528C. That flower jumps from the background... You gotta love that glass.

 

[MarcWilliams]

All this Contax talk has triggered many memories: How fun is this!

I also used a brace of N1 cameras to shoot weddings ... loved the 85/1.4 for that mount! I liked the wide zoom except it was a bit noisy. I didn't have any issue with the N Digital other than it was the worse camera I ever owned for power management. I solved it by securing a bunch of battery carriers and just swapped them out as I shot. That was a revolutionary sensor ... the first full frame 35mm digital camera using the Phillips 6 meg sensor that some MF cameras of the day used. Not sure I have any images shot back in the day with that gear. Around the same time Canon offered an APS 3 meg camera (which I also owned and used).

I did keep some C/Y lenses and used them on an AX ... then converted them to Canon. I did NOT keep the really fast Zeiss lenses like the 85/1.2 because I was collecting and using Leica R and M optics at the same time, including Noctiluxes and other ultra fast lenses: ($$$$$$$$$$$$$). I still have a good selection of Leica stuff that I use daily. This includes a 500/8 mirror designed by Leica with Leica optics and assembled by Minolta (then Sony after buying Minolta) ... on a Sony A7R-IV it is Auto Focus and Image Stabilized!

Some years ago my eyes were aging out and I thought I'd have to abandon my beloved Leica M system. I sold the Ms and secured two black Contax G2s and a full set of lenses. I was unable to emotionally connect with that beautiful kit being a "rangefinder guy" at heart. Fortunately I discovered my eye issue was cataracts and had it corrected. I now am back with a M Rangefinder and a group of select M mount lenses.

Here are some Contax 645 images: The image with the Cherub looking on was shot with the Contax 350mm, the best long lens I ever owned. I even used the Contax 645 for candid work like the "big hug" shot. The B&W one in front of the "Turtle Fountain' was shot on film if I remember correctly. I think the others were with a Kodak Digital DCS Pro 645C digital back.