These lens can be used on contax body, or via adaptors onto olympus/canon bodies. I usually use with adaptor on my 5D, 40D and 1D. The lens below DO NOT come with adaptors but if buyers are keen i can help them get good deals for adaptors.
ADAPTOR TO CANON/Olympus BODY NOT INCLUDED IN PRICE STATED. HOWEVER I CAN GET THEM FOR YOU CHEAPLY, PM TO FIND OUT.
1. Carl Zeiss T* Planar 35mm F2.8 Made in Japan
Note that image taken online. For sale is lens with caps only.
The zeiss 35F2.8, less attention is given to it due to being overshadowed by its bigger brother, the very sought after Zeiss 35F1.4 . However it was made to serve a different market altogther. It does offer a large F1.4 aperture to do low light thin depth of field shots, but it offers something else, a very small portable size, with the confidence to use it wide open at F2.8 in all shots, because even at its largest aperture, F2.8 it offers extremely high resolution and contrast.
This lens is good for anyone who likes to shot using a 35mm, if you find a 28mm or 24mm too wide for your style. Personally, 35mm is far from my most used focal length and furthermore keeping the 35F1.4 for a while more, thus letting go of this precious lens. Resolution of this lens is very good and it will most probably not be out resolved even when full frame DSLR reaches 60MP.
Images taken with lens:
Lens in good condition. Letting go at a sweet price of only $500.
3. Carl Zeiss T* Planar 50mm F1.7 Made in Japan
One of the best 50mm produced. The usual mass produced nikon and canons are definitely not up to such precise engineered and produced lens. Within the zeiss primes ranges, esp for people shots, this is my 3rd favourite, after the 35F1.4 and 85F1.4 (keeping them for the moment unless good offers come along).
Although a small little lens (smaller than the canon 50f1.8 in fact), it is definitely a performer. Reviews have rated its optical quality better than the 50f1.4 (google them). Some tests also reveal that the actual amount of light passing thru is more than a F1.7 lens, closer to F1.5
There are also numerous comparisons under extreme condition of zeiss, leica, canon, nikon and other brands of 50mm. Google them and read to understand why the zeiss is so highly rated.
Lens in very good condition, both optically and exterior.
A shot taken with it:
Excellent contrast, and extremely sharp where it is focused on.
Letting go for only $320.
4. Carl Zeiss T* Planar 50mm F1.4 Made in Japan
Widely acclaimed Zeiss planar 50F1.4, this is the good old one that made the name. The newer nikon ZF ones are just reproductions, not inferior but different... As expected from a zeiss T* lens of course, very nice sharp contrasty colours. Fabulous for low light usage with its very nice F1.4 large aperture. For those very nice thin depth of field shots, low light shooting, portraits etc, this has got to be the lens.
Images taken with this excellent piece of glass:
Check out the bokeh, thin depth of field and contrast.. it has to be a zeiss F1.4 lens
Good condition, selling at only $400.
2 Best contax zoom lens in CY mount, the 35-70 and the 28-85 both are fantastic performers in their own field. The 28-85 gives a larger range with 28mm at the wide end while the 37-70 is smaller, constant aperture and has a fantastic macro mode at 35mm. Both perform extremely well, beautiful micro contrast, bokeh and sharp wide open, to the extent primes may lose out to them in quality.
Read online discussions here.
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/525971/0?keyword=contax,35-70
http://www.photographyreview.com/cat/lenses/35mm-zoom/contax/PRD_83448_3128crx.aspx
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=362998
http://www.prophotohome.com/forum/digital-slr-equipment-testing/48658-contax-m-m-28-85-3-3-4-t.html
Alot more, just google.
i can assure that the quality of L lens pale in comparison to these..
5. Carl Zeiss T* Planar 85mm F1.4 Made in Germany
Images above for illustration only.
Some comments below from http://images.google.com.sg/imgres?imgurl=http://www.photographyreview.com/channels/photographyreview/images/products/product_83434.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.photographyreview.com/mfr/contax/35mm-primes/PRD_83434_3111crx.aspx&usg=__HVG-HXKH-9WuhmatQ6sPvDemo6w=&h=175&w=175&sz=5&hl=en&start=1 44&sig2=lABHNcFZzUsnGLGym5uWMA&tbnid=yGEXRWyhI7-ROM:&tbnh=100&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3DCarl%2BZeiss%2BT*%2BPlanar%2B85mm%2BF 1.4%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D126&e i=3J05SqHgENCGkQWrlPicDQ
" My sample is an AE version, Made in West Germany.
This is an outstanding lens which displays a superb combination of sharpness, low distortion and good bokeh. This combination makes it an excellent portrait lens.
Wide open, it is sharp in the centre and there is a distinct softness at the edges. Background bokeh is smooth and the transition between in-focus and out of focus areas of the shot gives an almost 3D effect.
Stopping down to f/2.8 yields sharpness across the frame and this is optimised at f/4. There is no need to stop down further except to obtain more depth of field. As expected, resolution deteriorates after f/11 due to diffraction.
I have used the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AIS which has a remarkably similar optical design, but doesn't quite equal the Zeiss design, and the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L which lacks the sophistication of either, but offers an extra 0.5 stop. Of the three lenses, the Zeiss optical design is clearly the best.
I used this lens on a Contax 167MT and various Canon SLRs and DSLRs using adapters."
" The 85mmF1.4 was the best amoung the short tele photo of the zeiss range( range 70 - 180 )except 135F2.0. The 1.4 f stop produce soften sharp image that is good for potraiture.My personal encounter with the MM and AE mount type Both made in W.Germany. These are my commences; Both are different. The older AE type will have a better colour redition than the MM type under tunsten lighting night shots and the MM tend to biased to reddish hue. From the first appearance from pictures ,the MM has a more dynamic appeal than the AE type. but if you are comparing the shadow detail the AE have much better resolving power. Come to sharpness at infinity the AE will able to produced fine razor sharp detail while the MM will tend toward softer image . At closed shot the AE will suffer some vigenet at the 4 corners but the MM will not appear.Overall MM tend to be more contrast which lead me to believe there are some changes in the the optical construction. But I'm very much convinced Zeiss had strive to maintain and enhanced the standard but they may have introduced new glass material to remain competitive.The sharpness of this AE lens is great as comparable to 50 mm F4 CF lens but CF is still a more superior lens overall."
" This is a fellow-up of my previous review. After two years of using it regularly, it still remains one of my favourite lenses. This lens is one of the best portrait lenses (although some would say Marko-Planar 100 is as good). I always use it for studio and outdoor portrait. It is definitely worth buying the Contax 67mm dedicated rubber hood to go with it. This lens was orginally developed for the Contarex system. It is a bit sharper than the famous Contarex Sonnar 85/2 which I also own. I believe the new Contax N 85/1.4 has the same basic design and construction.It is not only useful for portrait but also great for general landscape, architectual and low light photography. I needed to clarify the point about Made in Japan vs Made in Western lens issue. Carl Zeiss told me that there is absolutely no difference in term of performance and construction between the old W. German made AE lenses and the new Japanese made MM lenses. All those things said by the dealers are pure fairy tales! The only difference is that "made in West Germany" is more "purely Zeiss" in collector's mind."
" Best portrait lens at moderate price in Zeiss. This gives both of soft and very sharp images. The people who own this lens sometimes says its difficult to focus through it. I dont think so, and I can make it best by adjusting the view finder. Most popular one in Japan as well as 50 f1.4."
" No joke, but this is the lens that made me switch from the Leica system to Contax. When I rented it out and got my chromes back, I sold all of my Leica lenses the next day, including the 90mm F/2 Summicron & 80mm f/1.4 Summilux. This lens is capable of superior portrayals. It is the sharpest 35mm short telephoto lens I ever used. The resolution & contrast is just amazing. No Contax photographer can afford to be without this lens."
" Before I bought this lense, I have seen amazing pictures taken with it from two Japanese books devoted to CONTAX camera and Carl Zeiss lenses.
I checked out several second hand dealers in Hong Kong and surprised to know that the second hand West Germany made 85 F1.4 AE lenses are substantially more expensive than the Japanese ones. I did not understand the logic of it, why do nationality of the factory makers make any different to the lenses quality of the same brand in theory? But all the dealers claim that the German made lenses are better; being sofer, less sharp and giving better color reproduction under low condition than the Japanese MM lenses. The dealer claimed it is even better than Leica lenese. Whether this is an exaggeration or not is another matter. So I was convinced by the dealer and bought the West Germany lenses. I got some pictures coming out taken under dull, dim winter light conditions.
The color saturation is good even with ultra high speed film. It is reasonably sharp, although nowhere as sharp as the pictures taken with a medium format camera under similar conditons( sorry, really not a fair comparison!). For the same amount of money I paid, I could buy a second hand 250mm lenses for my Mamiya RZ67 Pro II. So it is a really expensive investment for 35mm photography."
To be fair, here is someone else's gallery for this lens. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kam/sets/72157605357786283/
Images taken with lens:
Selling $800 for a more used copy, $1000 for a better condition perfect optics copy.
6. Carl Zeiss T* Vario-Sonnar 3,4 / 35-70 Made in Japan
Some of the reviews online on this lens:
" Very sharp and compact zoom with constant aperture. Its performance is in par with prime lenses. Zooming mechanism is silky smooth without zoom creep. It outperforms the Zeiss 28-70 VS in sharpness. Its macro function (1:4) is very good."
" An excellent compact zoom lens from Zesis. Picture is typical zesis taste. Very good lens build. My standard lens on Aria."
" Summary:
as good as the Leica zoom; much better than canon L zoom; comparable to nikon 50/1.2 when set to 50 mm focal length; now the price goes down to only about US$ 500 -----
Strengths:
possibly the best standard zoom "
" Summary:
This is an excellent Zoom which can compete with the best primes on the market also in case of flare!!!(just 10 elements).You shouldn't complain about the limited zoom-range, therefore it's light and compact compared to the VS28-85. And finally: Don't underestimate the macro-setting!
Strengths:
Very sharp and contrasty from f8,0-22.
Compact, lightweight and easy to use. Excellent close focussing ability (25cm) delivering top notch results. Overall it's as good as the best primes!!! "
My own experience with this lens is fantastic as well. Only complains is that it could be abit wider, but paired with my 16-35L, the combi is perfect. One of my favourite walk around lens as well. The macro setting, though only at 35mm, goes really darn close and gives a very very nice bokeh for macro, putting designated macro lens to shame. Selling as i have 2 copies of it, letting go one.
Shots taken with it:
Shots above shows how far the lens zooms, and also the micro contrast of the lens.
Sharpness of the lens is fantastic. Very high resolution. It most probably wont even be out resolved by the 20+MP 1Ds mark3 unlike normal consumer lenses.
Zoomed in crop:
Lens in very good condition. Priced at only $700.
7. Carl Zeiss T* Vario Sonnar 40-80mm F3.5
Check out their description and how much its being sold online by looking at these ebay ads:
http://cgi.ebay.com/40-80-CONTAX-Vario-Sonnar-40-80mm-F3-5-AEG_W0QQitemZ260336700879QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Cam erasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN ?hash=item260336700879
http://cgi.ebay.com/CONTAX-ZEISS-40-80mm-f3-5-AE-T-Vario-Sonnar-nr-Mint_W0QQitemZ280198409084QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Ph otography_Film_Cameras_ET?hash=item280198409084
Another very outstanding zeiss optics lens with very nice deep deep colours and saturation. A very good mid range lens to go with the zeiss 80-200 as well. Filter ring only 55mm, thus able to get filters very cheaply. A compact little wonder.
Images taken with this lens:
Lens in totally MINT condition.Selling only $750.
8. Carl Zeiss T* Vario-Sonnar 3,3-4.0 / 28-85 Made in Japan
Only thing about this lens is that its rather big, with the front taking 82mm filters, but of cos, the build is really solid and respectable.
gives a very nice range from wide at 28mm to tele at 85mm.
Some online reviews on it:
"Summary
The best zoom ever made? lots of us think so. Consider the primes lenses this zoom would replace in your camera bag: 28 f/2.8, 35 f/2.8, 45 f/28, 50 f/1.7 and the 85 f/2.8. The amazing part is, its nearly impossible todistinguish between images made by this zoom and the afore mentioned primes. With enough enlargement, the primes eventually win the day, but not by much. The lens is a chunk, and carrying it around on an RTSIII with a full load of AA batteries is no joy. The front element rotates during focus, its some what quirky in that the zoom is fully extended at 28mm and fully retracted at 85mm. I'm not a fan of zoom lenses, I think they turn people into lazy tourist photographers (no offense meant to the lazy tourist photographers out there) Fixed focal lengths make you move around alot more and you spend more time composing your shot. I make the exception with this lens because the image quality is stunning.
Strengths
quite capable of kicking major booty on other manufactures prime lenses everday of the week and twice on Sunday with one of its T* coated lenses tied behind its back.
Weaknesses
yeah its heavy, the front element rotates, it requires a huge thin polarizer. What would Arnie think if he heard you whining like that? don't be a girly man (or woman) "
" Summary
This lens is the real deal! I have five Contax prime lenses and and am extremely happy with all of them. Decided that I neede a zoom in this range and took the financial plunge and bought a new one (searched for several months and could not find a used one anywhere, and now I know why).
This lens is extremely well made and tack sharp at all ranges. I'm not going to make comparisons, but if you are just getting into the manual Contax line, let this be your primary lens in the 28-85 range. I will keep my primes that fall in this range, but this zoom stays on one of my bodies ALL the time. Get the Contax lens hood and a thin filter, either Heliopan or B&W. The Contax filter is not made by the Contax company and are not up to par with the companies previously mentioned.
Strengths
SHARP at all focal points. Excellent build quality."
" Summary
This has to be the best zoom lens made. It even auto-focuses with the Contax AX, what more can I ask?"
http://photosig.photographyreview.com/mfr/contax/35mm-zoom/PRD_84513_3128crx.aspx
Hardly any complain about the lens except for the size and large front.
Shots taken with this lens:
Lens in mint condition. Priced at only $900.[Shops in peninsular sells much more than that]
11. Carl Zeiss T* Sonnar 135mm F2.8
Another very high quality, highly rated Zeiss lens in CY mount at affordable price. This lens produce image quality comparable to its leica counterpart and the short telephoto makes it really excellent for shooting portrait. Images are very good wide open and users can easily go with F2.8 for everyshot without worrying about sharpness and resolution. Contrast is very good, the bokeh is beautiful, its one of the reasons why this lens is well liked.
Images taken with this beautiful lens:
Lens in MINT condition. Good as brand new. Letting go at only $600.
20. Yashica DSB 135mm F2.8 Made in Japan
Old school Yashica DSB lens. As shown from the image right above this, the front shows a nice large piece of glass. To be honestly, its not super sharp wide open and definitely not a contender against some of the highly sought after ones like canon 135F2L, Nikon AIS 135F2, or even the carl zeiss 135F2, but its still a nice piece of history, and gives very decently performance. Stopped down to F4, you can expect good sharpness. The lens remains pretty small and light despite the F2.8 aperture. For several weeks i had it mounted through adaptor and took a good few shots. On the 2X crop sensor its equivalent to 270F2.8.
Images taken with lens:
Selling cheaply at only $150 for this nice piece of glass. Adaptor not included. Add $38 more for a CY to EOS adaptor.
