Amedeo Contax-Leica adapter: first impressions

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Amedeo Muscelli's new Contax-Leica adapters have been appearing on eBay off and on for a couple of months now. His old ones used the actual helical from a parts camera, but evidently he is now milling his own adapters, complete with a new spring-loaded arm to hold the lens tab steady. Build quality is amazing, considering it's just Amedeo doing this in his free time! Focus is extremely smooth, perhaps a little too free for my taste--I would have preferred a bit more damping. The adapter is heavy, the parts are precisely machined. Overall the impression is of great handmade quality. Cost was $250 shipped.

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The adapter was a little tight on the R-D1 the first time I installed it, but it loosened up within a couple of tries and now feels perfect. It mounts on the M2 and R4A with equal ease. I only have two Contax-mount lenses at the moment, neither of which I'd even tried yet. The first, a CZJ Sonnar 50/1.5, mounted and latched smoothly. Focus was way off, though. Like, way, way off. For a moment I thought it was the adapter, but it turns out it's the lens (dang! Guess I didn't get such a good deal on it after all).

I had a lot of trouble mounting the Helios-103, which is NOS from Fedka. The barrel was slightly too thick for the adapter. I ended up filing down the edge of the lens barrel a bit, and once I managed to get it on, took it off and remounted it a few times. It's pretty smooth now--I think the adapter will just have to be broken in a little, same with the lens (though the Helios mounts perfectly on my IIa).

The tab on the Helios is much thinner than the chunky tab on the Zeiss lenses, so unfortuantely it doesn't click home the way the Sonnar does. Again, the Helios does click home on the IIa. The spring action on the custom arm is rather weak compared to the stiff arm of the IIa, but ultimately I think Amedeo's design is very elegant and well-executed, and is likely to be great with your Zeiss lenses.

I figured my test photos would be kinda crappy, to tell you the truth. I was, after all, taking a 1980's Soviet lens, mounting it on a homemade hunk of metal made by some guy in Venezuela I've never met, and attaching the whole thing to an obsolete digital camera notorious for rangefinder misalignment. However, check it out: focus was perfect. These photos are all wide open, I am pretty sure (that is, at f/1.8), and wouldn't you know it, the Helios-103 is actually kind of awesome. Contrast is a little low wide open, as you'd imagine, though not nearly as much as I expected--these are completely unretouched out of Lightroom--and I quite like the bokeh. Not sure what kind of design the Helios is--Planar perhaps?--but it's a sleeper, and it is really cool to be shooting it on an M camera.

All in all, Amedeo has an amazing product here, and I recommend it!

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This is very interesting since I have been tempted by these adapters in order to use one exactly as you have. The idea of filing the lens barrel puts me off some but I have a small collection of Zeiss lenses that I would like to use with my R-D1. Thanks for posting this - gives me more to think about.
 
The Helios is the same lens as a Menopta.
As for Amedeo, not only does he make first class products, he is also a very fine person.
 
MDM said:
This is very interesting since I have been tempted by these adapters in order to use one exactly as you have. The idea of filing the lens barrel puts me off some but I have a small collection of Zeiss lenses that I would like to use with my R-D1. Thanks for posting this - gives me more to think about.
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The Zeiss will fit no problem.
 
What are the specs on these, we're not all clued in here. From the photo I take it that they adapt Contax to Leica M (not M39)? Is infinity focus preserved? Do they work with all Contax lenses (inner and outer bayonet) or just a subset? Is correct rangefinder coupling preserved on all Contax lenses?
 
David Murphy said:
What are the specs on these, we're not all clued in here. From the photo I take it that they adapt Contax to Leica M (not M39)? Is infinity focus preserved? Do they work with all Contax lenses (inner and outer bayonet) or just a subset? Is correct rangefinder coupling preserved on all Contax lenses?
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These are all good questions, David. If I can recall correctly, Amedeo makes separate adapters for the wide angle lenses. Infinity focusing is preserved.
 
He's got three adapters:

1. For Nikon with focusing helical
2. For Contax with focusing helical
3. For Nikon & Contax without focusing helical (not RF coupled; for zone focusing of wide angle lenses with extended rear elements that otherwise conflict with the focusing cam in the shutter chamber. The adapter offsets the lens slightly lower so it misses the cam.) 21/4.5 Contax Biogon, 35/1.8 Nikkor are two such lenses that work with #3.

The first two work with internal or external mount lenses; not all wides will work. For example the Nikkor 35/2.5 will work with #1 and #2, but the 35/1.8 will not, as its rear element is too deep.

All lenses that physically fit #1 and #2 retain RF coupling.
 
My Contax-mount 85/2 Nikkor P.C is semi-permanently attached to one of Amadeo's adapters. Focus is properly coupled at all distances.
 
David Murphy said:
This guy's a brilliant mechanic. I need one of these! Is eBay the place he sells them?
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Yes, here is his items for sale page. Although he seems to be wising up and selling them in auctions rather than for a fixed price...they have been going higher in auctions than the price I paid.

He also makes and sells Contax and Nikon adapters for Micro 4/3.
 
Hi,
Generally I sell my adapters on e-bay, but I keep a fixed price of $249 for member of this forum, the shipping cost is free. For those interested, please write to me for availability.
Regards,
Amedeo.
 
LTM Mount

LTM Mount

Hello,
The LTM model will come soon, I am trying to complete the pending orders of M mount first.
Regards,
Amedeo.
 
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