The Letus Ultimate -- Experience Thread

I've got the 85/1.4 and 28/2.8 right now, a new Canon EOS and new Contax Yashica mount. Edit here: The others are scheduled to arrive today.

I had planned to do some comparisons today but I'm going to be stuck in the editing bay yet again (money's money) so I won't have time. I can say that, so far, between the footage I shot with ZF's, the set of PL T2.1 Standard Speed Zeiss' I use, and the pair of Contax I've finally gotten in I see no visual difference what-so-ever.

I'll reserve final judgment for the time when I can do at least one resolution chart for differences and a controlled well lit still life setup. May take a moment.

One user noted that he saw no difference, or a negligble difference, between ZF (Nikon Mount) Zeiss lenses which are rehoused Contax Zeiss lenses. I personally do see a difference hence choosing them. So, it may just be a preference thing. I reckon it could be just the "Zeiss Look" that I like so much.
 
Last edited:
I used to use my M2 with a set of Zeiss/Contax still lenses and I'd say they are excellent lenses and optically nearly identical to their Cine cousins and ZF counterparts. The only difference between the Zeiss lenses are the mechanics and some lens coating reformulations over the years. I sold off my set (25/2.8, 35/1.4, 50/1.4, 60/2.8 Macro, 85/1.4, 135/2.8) when I moved onto the LEX and Lomos.

I'd you're curious, here's a link to a few projects I shot with the M2/HVX and Zeiss/Contax primes a bit back:

http://iandudleydp.com/M2/

My main issue with the Contax primes is simply the nature of SLR lenses in general: no fast, wide lenses and limited focus drawl. I found the 25mm also had too much light falloff in the edges which made it almost unusable for interiors. Otherwise, really sweet lenses which only cost about 10% more used than their Nikon equivalents.
 
Thanks for chiming in, Ian. I remember that you sold QUITE the set last year and I regret not jumping on them. You were giving them away, practically!

The 25mm is probably the worst of the bunch as far as Contax goes, at least by report. I'm glad that I didn't buy that lens especially now that you've reported the issues with it.

And, true indeed about the speed. The fastest of the bunch are the 28/2, 35/1.4, 50/1.4, 85/1.4 (which goes down to 1.2 if you have the money), 100/2, and the 135/2. All which cost a decent grip of cash aside from the 50.

When you say Mechanics what do you mean? Focal throw? Or purely the fact that they're SLR lenses vs Cinema Primes? You've used them more than I have, feel free to divulge!

By the way: I love the COLDHEARTED video you did. I see it playing in the mall often and always stop to watch. Great job, man.
 
As you know the main advantage of Cine primes vs SLR primes is the longer focus drawl which allows for more accurate focus pulling. The Contax SLR lenses aren't bad at all actually except for the 35/1.4 which has a very limited drawl and was a bit tricky for my ac to pull on. Also the 35/1.4 is such a sharp lens it was obvious if focus was even a tiny bit off. Having said that it was probably my favorite lens. I hear the 28/2 is a beauty but pretty expensive and relatively rare. I was looking for a good one just before I sold my set.

Really glad you liked the COLDHEARTED video. I wish DPs got royalties for airplay- that video has been around quite a bit. You wouldn't believe me if I told you the budget! So painfully low....
 
IanD said:
As you know the main advantage of Cine primes vs SLR primes is the longer focus drawl which allows for more accurate focus pulling. The Contax SLR lenses aren't bad at all actually except for the 35/1.4 which has a very limited drawl and was a bit tricky for my ac to pull on. Also the 35/1.4 is such a sharp lens it was obvious if focus was even a tiny bit off. Having said that it was probably my favorite lens. I hear the 28/2 is a beauty but pretty expensive and relatively rare. I was looking for a good one just before I sold my set.
Click to expand...

That's what I had figured. Just messing a bit with the pair that I have now I could tell that the drawl was longer than Nikon lenses I had been using which was nice. I have yet to test the 35, though, but in due time. Also, having mentioned it before, the lenses also rotate toward the left instead of the right, which is great for this type of work.

I had a chance to use the ZF version of the 28/2, light falloff control is astonishing first off, much better than the 28/2.8 and it's sharp as a razor wide open. I think they both have a similar close-focus distance of about 10", but need to check the 28/2 again. I wish I could grab that sucker! Maybe in a month or so. I saw one go for 800.00 on Ebay just last week.

Really glad you liked the COLDHEARTED video. I wish DPs got royalties for airplay- that video has been around quite a bit. You wouldn't believe me if I told you the budget! So painfully low....
Click to expand...

I can understand painfully low budgets. The good thing is that the video doesn't look lowbudget at all. Good work all around, man.
 
I still love my Contax. I've expanded into multiple sets for multicam work, for example SGPros as main Cameras with a Brevis doing B-roll and they cut together great. The variety is excellent too due to the amount of focal lengths out there. Check out the 35 F1.4, 16 F2.8, 60 and 100 Macros, and 21 F2.8. I'm trying to add a second 21mm but finding a good used one that's not in the near $3k range is tough.
 
Ugh MAN. You have the 21/2.8? That thing is so NICE. So expensive, though. Did you get one before it became infamous?
 
does f-distagon on the 16 f/2.8 = fisheye? how's the performance on that?
i got the 25 f/2.8 (not so good on the edges), 35 f/1.4 (love it), 50 f/1.4, 60 f/2.8 makro, 85 f/1.4, 135 f/2.8, 180 f/2.8

ian, i probably should've taken your offer that time... oh well...
 
Such is life. I was thinking I should have jacked the price up a bit too.

I'm thinking of slowly building back up a set of Contax lenses as rentals with either my LEX or SG PRO rigs. I have the Zeiss 28-85 zoom and it actually works very well on the LEX/SG. It hardly breathes at all which is surprising for a zoom.
 
IanD said:
Such is life. I was thinking I should have jacked the price up a bit too.

I'm thinking of slowly building back up a set of Contax lenses as rentals with either my LEX or SG PRO rigs. I have the Zeiss 28-85 zoom and it actually works very well on the LEX/SG. It hardly breathes at all which is surprising for a zoom.
Click to expand...

I meant to ask you about the zooms. I have a 28-70 coming but that seems to be the poorer of the Contax Zooms. It's also a two touch which is favorable but if the quality isn't there, then...

I'm thinking of the 28-85/3.4~4.5 (is that what it's rated? Can't remember) and the 35-70/3.4. This is for exterior daylight work where time counts the most, do you recommend the 28-85 over the 35-70 as far as optical quality goes? The differences in focal distances are notable, but again optical quality may be sacrificed? I'm not so sure if the two are that much different.

The prices are similar.
 
Ive tried out the 28-70 and 28-85. I prefer the proper three ring design. The 28-70 F3.5-4.5 is a great lightweight/cheap zoom with good macro and relatively sharp. I use it on the brevis with good results for hand held run and gun.
 
Avenger or Ian, did you find gearing the one touch 28-85 for follow focus any sort of difficult? I'm assuming since the barrel doesn't get any longer that it shouldn't be too hard, but does the zoom function "slip" at all when pulling focus?

The 35-70 has the same design as the 28-85.
 
Kholi said:
Ugh MAN. You have the 21/2.8? That thing is so NICE. So expensive, though. Did you get one before it became infamous?
Click to expand...

I got it through a friend at a photo shop who called me the instant it came in. I gave him a couple of my junkier wides and $1000 and called it a day. I had no idea it was actually a $3k lens...and neither did he.

does f-distagon on the 16 f/2.8 = fisheye? how's the performance on that?
Click to expand...
Surprisingly good. I tried a zenitar at first and hated the body. The focus was stiff, it vignetted, and wasn't very sharp. You still have to be careful with the Zeiss 16mm on an adapter but its much better with light falloff. With the new SG achromat, the corners are much sharper. Thats just through early observation though. It doesn't fisheye to the extreme. It is wide though. I'll try to find an example. It has definitely gotten its moneys worth in music vid, videography, and other non-narrative work even though it is 6+ times as expensive as the zenitar.

I'm putting a 25mm and 300mm F4 up for sale right now along with a tokina 28-70 and tokina 24-200
 
Speaking about wides and fisheyes and Tokinas... have you had a chance to play with the 12-24/4 (3.4?)

I'm stalking one on Ebay and I think I'm about to pull the trigger. It looks so fun.
 
Kholi said:
Avenger or Ian, did you find gearing the one touch 28-85 for follow focus any sort of difficult? I'm assuming since the barrel doesn't get any longer that it shouldn't be too hard, but does the zoom function "slip" at all when pulling focus?

The 35-70 has the same design as the 28-85.
Click to expand...
The problem with the one touch is the barrel extends during focal changes, thus the FF gearing must be adjusted. Only a problem if you are changing focal length mid shot. You also can't use a remote motor on it because there is only 1 barrel for both. Thats why I use an Angenieux 70-210 for my remote motor needs. Great bokeh and a great zoom mechanism for the money. I like the look and feel of an Angenieux.

I haven't tried the tokina 12-24 yet. I use mostly wide primes. I am thinking about a 17-35 ED though. I'd love to know how the 12-24 works though.
 
Nice. Is that the Nikon Mount Angenieux? There's a 28-?? Angenieux floating around on Ebay for a nice price. I've always wondered about image performance with this lens. What's breathing like on your 70-210?

As far as the Tokina... well... I'm a wide freak and I have no idea. You get comical if you go too wide but I really want a super wide lens. There's a 10-18 I think made my Tamron... but the performance in comparison to the Tokina is meh.
 
The 35-70 f3.4 is reputed to be the best Zeiss zoom and includes a really good macro function too (1:2). The 28-85 f3.3-4 is the one I have and is excellent as well. I have never used a gear on it but I'd imagine it would work ok but not without some inconvenience due to the one touch design.
 
Got the 28-70/3.4~4.5 in and although it's slow (intended for daylight use anyway) if this is the worst zoom of the bunch then the 35-70/3.4 must be sick. I love this small lil zoom. Although light fall-off at 28 is a bit much for my tastes at 50 and above it's truly lovely.

Footages as soon as I can grab em!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top