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Regarding the 85mm f1.4

T

tcbphoto

Member
I just bought a used 85mm f/1.4 AE made in West Germany. I haven't received it yet, So here is my question. Does it have a built in lens hood? or do you need to get a 67mm lens hood? If you need to get one, is there any reason to use a conatx specific hood over a generic metal hood?

Thank
rob
 
>no, the lens hood in not built in. You can use a thread in plastic or metal hood, but they may not do a proper job, depending on how they are designed. The contax hood should be matched to the angle of view of the lens. Your choice.
 
Rob, I just got a 85/1.4 (Germany) as well! Although mine has seen some action, the glass is still clean. It comes with a 67-86 (or is it 82 or 87... can someone please correct me...) step up ring, and the metal hood to fit. Funningly enough, this is also the setup for the 50/1.4 that I got, except it was a 55-8x step up ring.

In my understanding, the hood should be ideally matched the focal length and film format. Typically, this produces a flower type hood. However, in practice, I believe that any shading that will keep direct sunlight off the front lens surface when the sun is not in the picture, will perform sufficiently. Hence, the notion of a hand or hat to shade. The only caveat is the hood should not be too large as to vignette the lens, especially prominent in the corners. However, before reaching a vignette conclusion, ensure that the corners of the lens are not normally vignetted anyway due to the design. My 50/1.4 shows slight darkening at the corners.

Given that, I think the large 8x metal lens hood is good. It is much larger than the lens, and being made of metal will protect your lens much better than a collaspsible or smaller hood. Best of luck and hope you enjoy your new lens!
 
I need someone's help! I just bought 85mm/1.4 yesterday as "Demo" condition.. When I brought it back home, I noticed it had a small "D" letter next to "lense made in Japan". The letter "D" is almost invisible. If the lense was manufactured just for "Demo" purpose, do you think it is not as good as the regular ones made for sales?? I really need to find out so that I still could refund it...
Thank you in advance.
 
Rob,

Dude, relax. Put a roll of film through it and see for yourself. A demo lens is not going to be ANY different from a regular lens. They are probably BETTER made if anything - as they serve the benchmark for the products of the brand.

I have a 85mm f1.4 and its sweet - I would recommend B&W 100 iso film for the test run, I am sure you will be more than happy with the results.

Enjoy the new glass - don't worry about the D. Its there to stop dealers from selling it full price!
 
Beautiful. Maybe Nikon is the way for us to go. We would lose our Contax affiliations but keep up with Zeiss and after all in the end, it's the lenses which really count. It does look as though, after our intial misgivings, that CZ has got it right with these. The lenses would go nicely on a Nikon FM3a. I expect that I shall stay as I am though until my Contaxes pack up rather than have to find the extra lolly to change.
John
 
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