75mm f/1.5 Biotar, Contax Mount

H

Honu-Hugger

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I'm still looking for a 75/1.5 Biotar in Contax mount; hoping that if I put the word out to the members perhaps some leads will develop. I'm a serious buyer if anyone has or knows of this lens for sale -- kind thanks to you all.

Cheers,
 
Wow, good luck with that -- I gather that while these are not scarce in Exakta and M42 SLR mounts, the rangefinder versions are quite rare. And since they were made in Jena only, they have the wear-prone aluminum barrels, so finding a nice one could be harder yet.

Back before I knew anything about the rarity angle, I owned the LTM version for a while -- had bought it out of a "junk box" at a camera show, and it was in really rough shape, but still usable and with decent glass. I took some nice shots with it (one of which is in my RFF gallery.) A few years ago I happened to mention it on a photo mailing list, and got a reply from one of the big-name authorities in the field (someone who's written books on the subject) saying I must surely be mistaken, since only one or two examples of the LTM version of this lens were known to exist; I wrote back to him with serial number and photos, and he had to concede that I had the real thing!

That (plus stiff focusing and occasional inaccurate RF coupling) made me leery about using it, and eventually I sold it to the same expert (NOT for an exorbitant amount, mind you, since it was in such rough condition, but several times the $20 I had paid for it originally!) Some time later he wrote me back that it had required an expensive restoration, but with that done, the results were beautiful.
 
I always wondered what people use for a finder with such 'odd' focals for Contax system. The 75/1.5, the glorious 180/2.8.. surely Zeiss has produced the finders too, but those must be as rare (if not more) as the lenses themselves?
 
I think with the 75, you could get away with the 85mm finder. For the 180 Olympia Sonnar, I always got the impression that it was best used with that reflex housing, turning a large camera + heavy lens into a really massive piece of equipment, especially for that era.

Good luck on the search for the Biotar. I hope you are able to locate one. I've sort of given up on looking for those rare beasts.
 
varjag said:
I always wondered what people use for a finder with such 'odd' focals for Contax system. The 75/1.5, the glorious 180/2.8.. surely Zeiss has produced the finders too, but those must be as rare (if not more) as the lenses themselves?
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Thank you for the well wishes from everyone. For the last few years I've been relying upon "all the usual suspects" (eBay, the live auction houses, known dealers, etc.) and it occurred to me I should put the word out to our membership -- you never know where a lead will come from. I have been fortunate to find a few of the odd finders (25mm, 42.5mm, 180mm). Another elusive beast is the lens hood for the 180/2.8 Sonnar -- anyone have one of those collecting dust in a closet somewhere? :D
 
varjag said:
Honu,

You mean, you actually got an olympia sonnar?
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I was also looking for a shot of the 180/6.3 Tessar -- that is the lens I use the 180 finder with. Perseverance can pay off; I eventually found these lenses along with a 25/4 Topogon and a 4-1/4 cm Biotar -- it took a long while, but this 75/1.5 is proving to be quite a challenge...
 
Ooh. A reflex housing one, but still neat.

From that angle and with the lens, flektoskop doesn't even looks too ugly :)
 
varjag said:
I always wondered what people use for a finder with such 'odd' focals for Contax system. The 75/1.5, the glorious 180/2.8.. surely Zeiss has produced the finders too, but those must be as rare (if not more) as the lenses themselves?
Click to expand...

Varjag:

Here are photos of the 180mm finder

http://kevincameras.com/gallery/albuv11



Honu-Hugger said:
Thank you for the well wishes from everyone. For the last few years I've been relying upon "all the usual suspects" (eBay, the live auction houses, known dealers, etc.) and it occurred to me I should put the word out to our membership -- you never know where a lead will come from. I have been fortunate to find a few of the odd finders (25mm, 42.5mm, 180mm). Another elusive beast is the lens hood for the 180/2.8 Sonnar -- anyone have one of those collecting dust in a closet somewhere? :D
Click to expand...

Doug,

Glorious photo of the 180 sonnar in chrome, would like to know:

1.) Can the lens detach from the housing?

2.) How much are the Flektoskop and Sonnar (reflex housing verison) going nowadays?

Regarding the hood, why not try a Ballow hood? (Mamiya RB/RZ67 etc)

Cheers




Will
 
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