Anyone here use and or like the CY Zeiss Primes?

puredrifting

puredrifting

Major Contributor
Hey all:

My Christmas present from Santa this year was a Top Mint set of CY Zeiss Primes, the 25mm f/2.8 Distagon, 50 and 85mm f/1.4 Planars, all MMJ.
It's hard to believe these were actually owned and used by someone, they look as if they just came out of the factory box. Japanese camera owners
are a great source of 40 year old brand new lenses! I also got the Leitax EF mounts, I am dropping them off at Duclos Monday for declicking, inspection, mount installation.
I bought these just for fun, art projects, small documentaries/short films, music performance videos, I doubt if I will use them on many client projects but you never know.

Anyone else here have a set, shoot with them, like them, have any work they are proud of they can show that they used them on?
I've wanted a set of Zeiss lenses my entire life, but could never afford them. The CY Zeiss are a very unique opportunity to own something
so nice for so little money. Some of the new DZO and Meike primes were tempting but the Zeiss have something that the new Chinese lenses
don't, a slightly more vintage and authentic look but not too vintage like my Nikon AIs that are great but are basically useless for exteriors
because of the extreme CA and flaring.

I kind of wanted a set of the Leica Rs but they are not too affordable anymore, they are more rare than the CY Zeiss and cost accordingly.
I've looked at the side by side shootouts between the two and I slightly favor the Leicas but the Zeiss look amazing for the money too.

I'll post pictures and some test footage or a project with them when I can get them back and get some free time to play.
 
I think some people on here have Zeiss Contax lenses, which seem well liked.

I've shot some with my Dad's old Hasselblad Zeiss lenses, but the focus rings are very stiff, so they're better for shots that don't require a focus pull. I just used a dumb Hasselblad to Nikon F adapter, but I might get better results with a Kipon Baveyes 0.7x focal reducer.

I didn't notice enough of an IQ advantage at 1080P on APS-C to warrant the extra size & weight, but they were fun to play with. Perhaps I'd think differently if I evaluated them with over sampled 4K.
 
Imamacuser said:
I've shot some with my Dad's old Hasselblad Zeiss lenses, but the focus rings are very stiff, so they're better for shots that don't require a focus pull. I just used a dumb Hasselblad to Nikon F adapter, but I might get better results with a Kipon Baveyes 0.7x focal reducer.

I didn't notice enough of an IQ advantage at 1080P on APS-C to warrant the extra size & weight,
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Hasselblad lenses don have an IQ advantage, they are for a 6.6 image circle so need about 1/4 of the LPI of a FF35 lens to match its resolution. Put that lower LPI onto the S35 chip and you have a route to rubbish. Employ a focal reducer and you are getting back into the park.

-----

CY lenses. Dunno why people think of this glass as old or retro or anything.. it is just good :) Although it should be used with a 'booster' / 'reducer' to get optimal ines per inch on S35
 
Imamacuser said:
I think some people on here have Zeiss Contax lenses, which seem well liked.

I've shot some with my Dad's old Hasselblad Zeiss lenses, but the focus rings are very stiff, so they're better for shots that don't require a focus pull. I just used a dumb Hasselblad to Nikon F adapter, but I might get better results with a Kipon Baveyes 0.7x focal reducer.

I didn't notice enough of an IQ advantage at 1080P on APS-C to warrant the extra size & weight, but they were fun to play with. Perhaps I'd think differently if I evaluated them with over sampled 4K.
Click to expand...

I actually like the look I am getting with my cheap Canon still primes but for manual focusing, they are laughably bad. The Zeiss 50 and 85mm, I believe have a 220 degree focus rotation and they are mechanically works of art, so the focus rings feel silky smooth. After Duclos de-clicks them, they should be really nice to use for handheld shooting, which is my hope, that they will inspire me to just grab the camera and go shoot more without it having to be a big tripod, lighting gear, cases, production. Just grab the X-T3 handheld rig and go.
 
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I've ended up amassing a Rollei QBM Zeiss set and more recently a Nikon Zeiss ZF Set which has been awesome to put together and cheaper than expected.

Congrats on the CY set, That's a pretty sweet christmas gift!

That is the classic Zeiss set.
 
homestar_kevin said:
I've ended up amassing a Rollei QBM Zeiss set and more recently a Nikon Zeiss ZF Set which has been awesome to put together and cheaper than expected.

Congrats on the CY set, That's a pretty sweet christmas gift!

That is the classic Zeiss set.
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Thanks Kevin. I dropped them off at Duclos a few hours ago, I should have them back in hand in about two weeks, depending on their workload,
can't wait to try them on the C200 w RAW and on the X-T3 using the Fringer Pro. If I like the set, I will also be picking up an CY Zeiss 18mm f/4.0
for the same treatment to round out the set with a wide angle. 25mm on a S35 sensor isn't wide, it's wide normal length.
 
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Congrats, that's a nice start.

I purchased mine 5yrs ago and used mostly the 35 / 50 / 85 for sit down interviews and talks with the FS7.
I like them but since I moved to Canon I use the AF all the time and the Zeiss stay in the bag.

35mm/2.8 AE - 50mm/1.7 AE - 85mm/1.4 MM - 28-85/3.3-4.5 MM - 135/2.8. AE

I met by chance a retired technician who de-clicked and inspected them.
They all are fantastic but the 85/1.4 is really incredible!
 
I have owned a pretty nice kit of C/Y lenses for some time now.
Great look.
 

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Damn David, you didn't leave any for the rest of us!

Follow up, took all three of my CY Zeiss to Duclos, they do an analysis before proceeding with the CineMods. The "Top Mint" CY Zeiss 25mm f/2.8 MMJ I bought is perfect. The 50mm f/1.4 MMJ has haze on an internal element. Sending it back to Japan.
The 85mm f/1.4 has front and back element light surface scratches but most alarmingly, the rear doublet shows signs of separation forming. I am sending it back to Japan too. Fortunately both sellers, when I showed them the Duclos
email from the tech, are willing to take the lenses back and refund. It's difficult buying lenses from Ebay from Japan. They can look 100% perfect in pictures and even in person, I thought both looked physically
very good but I'm not a lens tech.

The hunt will continue...anyone have a 50mm f/1.4 MMJ in perfect condition they want to sell me? How about an 85mm f/1.4 MMJ?
 
Clermond said:
may I ask how much Duclos is charging for an inspection and de-click / CineMod?
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They have a nice little drop-down menu interface that lets you see all of that info for each lens brand and for each specific mod:

https://form.jotform.com/mqduclos/cinemod

For repairs and service, I believe their rate is $150/hr, but I don't want to speak for Dan's experience, especially if they are able to see certain things just by eyeballing the lens, I'm sure they help you avoid costs in that scenario. However, if they need to actually open any part of a lens up, then it's $150/hr last I checked.

I'm having a set of Leica R's modded soon by them. It's about $365 if you get all four options:

80 front diamter with cap, 77mm filter threads
Declicked aputure
Focus gear
Mount conversion


However, I'm having one of the lenses serviced elsewhere for a slight bit of play in the focus ring, as the quote for the service work was looking like it would be too high for me at Duclos. That said, they are among the very best at what they do as far as I know from what others have told me (this Leica set with mods will be my first time sending something in to them, so I'm just going on industry reputation at this point).

All communications have been fantastic with Duclos techs as well. Very friendly, informative, and they take the time to talk through the possibilities.
 
What Oz said. If you are submitting for the CineMod, they will do a visual inspection first, that's how I found out the problems with my two lenses.
I bought my own FF gears and Leitax EF mounts, so they were installing my mounts and declicking the aperuture ring and that was $125.00 plus I paid
about $70.00 for the Leitax mounts. I was skipping the front filter adapter as I won't be using a matte box as I detest matte boxes.
 
I just got myself a couple of contax zeiss - 28/2.8 + 35/2.8 + 50/1.7 + 85/2.8 all MMJ's

Do you guys ever find yourself filming at 1.4 or even 2?
What do you think would be the difference in them other than price?
 
filmguy123 said:
So, I have a set of Milvus that I think look really wonderful and modern, but I've always loved the softer vintage look.

Has anyone had a chance to use both these and Leica R lenses? How do they compare?

Congrats on the lenses, Dan!
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Yep have used all 3 extensively. All great for different things.


Leica Rs great for skintones and have a naturally warmer tone with a lovely rendition.

Contax Zeiss sharp as you like with the standouts in the range capable of stunning imagery but can also be soft and organic if you treat them right. Slightly bluer. Great close focus ability on the 25mm and the 28f2. Fun bokeh including the ninja star on some AE models which I have always loved. The 21mm is one of the all time great lenses.

Milvus. Good solid modern controlled high contrast with great build quality.
 
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