Nikon vs Contax lenses

[Timmyjoe]

I'm looking into getting a Nikon S2 rangefinder, but find the lens issue very confusing. I'd love to have the one body, and a 35mm (3.5cm) and a 105mm (10.5cm) lens.

But as I search numerous different web sites that sell these, I can't really tell the difference between lenses that were designed for the Nikon rangefinders, and lenses that were designed for the Zeiss Contax rangefinders. And I'm not too confident in some of the sellers who list these lenses as something they found at an estate sale or came down to them from a deceased relative.

How does one tell the difference (visually, just looking at the pictures online) between a Nikon mount Nikkor rangefinder lens, and a Contax mount Nikkor rangefinder lens?

Thanks,
-Tim

 

[sevo]

The Contax mount ones have 'C' (including the hyphens) engraved on the barrel. Nikon only made the 85, 105 and 135mm lenses in Contax versions. And they are significantly more rare than Nikon mount ones - even here in Germany, where Nikon bodies never were sold, all unidentified supposedly Contax mount ones I went to inspect turned out to be Nikon mount. That most Nikon lenses, regardless of mount, have a red "C" (without hyphens) for "coated" engraved on the front ring does seem to confuse many sellers, even some supposedly reputable used camera shops.

 

[marcr1230]

Nikon and Contax rangefinder mount is physically the same

There is a technical difference in the
Standards though which makes it less than optimal to use 50mm or greater lenses from one system on the other - there are extensive threads on this here

If you want to play it safe, use Nikon lenses on the Nikon body and avoid Nikon lenses engraved w 'C' on the barrel - these are configured for Zeiss cameras

 

[Brian Legge]

...not to be confused with a 'C' on the front of the lens/bevel used to indicated that the lens elements are coated. Lots of sellers seem to mix up those uses of a 'C'.

 

[Highway 61]

I'm looking into getting a Nikon S2 rangefinder, but find the lens issue very confusing. I'd love to have the one body, and a 35mm (3.5cm) and a 105mm (10.5cm) lens.

But as I search numerous different web sites that sell these, I can't really tell the difference between lenses that were designed for the Nikon rangefinders, and lenses that were designed for the Zeiss Contax rangefinders. And I'm not too confident in some of the sellers who list these lenses as something they found at an estate sale or came down to them from a deceased relative.

How does one tell the difference (visually, just looking at the pictures online) between a Nikon mount Nikkor rangefinder lens, and a Contax mount Nikkor rangefinder lens?

Thanks,
-Tim

Tons of threads about this, for years. Use the "Search Forums" command for an advanced search.

As for telling the difference visually, just looking at pictures online between a Nikon lens and a Zeiss lens : this is not possible.

 

[sevo]

Tons of threads about this, for years. Use the "Search Forums" command for an advanced search.

As for telling the difference visually, just looking at pictures online between a Nikon lens and a Zeiss lens : this is not possible.

Unless the seller posts a picture showing the 'C', or a 360° view of all the barrel to demonstrate its absence.

Given the rarity of Contax Nikkors and the slightly higher price they fetch, it is relatively unlikely to hit upon a undetected Contax one - the other way around (lenses claimed to be Contax mount which aren't) is more common, thanks to Nikon's ambiguous use of lettering. In the pre internet era of photo rag ads acquiring a Contax Nikkor was a painful process, as you could not get photographic confirmation of the 'C'. Many idiot sellers failed to grasp the relevance of that second 'C' even if you talked them through the process over the phone, and would have you travel 100km or more to pick up a plain coated Nikon Nikkor...

 

[Highway 61]

Unless the seller posts a picture showing the 'C', or a 360° view of all the barrel to demonstrate its absence.

This is all true. Some do, fortunately.

Here we go again :

https://www.cameraquest.com/NRF-Contax.htm

Here is a photo of what the 'C' looks like (when displayed by the sellers actually) :

There were three Nikon RF lenses on which you could find that marking : 85/2, 105/2.5, 135/3.5.

No Nikon RF 35mm (either 35/1.8 or 35/2.5 or 35/3.5) were made to accurately match the Contax mount : it wasn't necessary.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Thanks everyone for clearing that up for me, and thanks for the link above.

I have found numerous 10.5cm lenses listed as Contax, when there is no visible 'C' on the lens barrel, but there is the red C on the beauty ring. I guess this is pretty unclear to quite a few people.

Best,
-Tim

 

[enasniearth]

Timmy ,
I would purchase a nikon s2 with the 5cm f1.4 lens ,
If you use telephoto lenses the nikon ones not marked "c" on the barrel are for nikon , as highway61 has shown the "c" ones only work with contax, as others have mentioned the red c on the ring after nikkor means coated not contax .
The standard lenses are not interchangeable between nikon and contax , some say the focal length is different , some say the nikon mount has a different thread pitch or degrees of rotation , to keep it simple nikkor on nikon , sonnars on contax in 5cm ,
Both lenses work at infinity the error appears as you focus closer .
Most wide angles are interchangeable between nikon and contax, the depth of field covers the errors with focus between the two mounts , an exception is the 3.5cm f1.8 nikkor which will only focus accurately on nikon ,
Both zeiss biogons are great lenses and will work well on nikon ,
There is a group of postwar biogon jena 35mm f2.8 where the rear mount has an extended ring and may scratch the nikon faceplate , most seem to be numbered 3xxxxxx+ you can file this ring some to clear .

I'm looking into getting a Nikon S2 rangefinder, but find the lens issue very confusing. I'd love to have the one body, and a 35mm (3.5cm) and a 105mm (10.5cm) lens.

But as I search numerous different web sites that sell these, I can't really tell the difference between lenses that were designed for the Nikon rangefinders, and lenses that were designed for the Zeiss Contax rangefinders. And I'm not too confident in some of the sellers who list these lenses as something they found at an estate sale or came down to them from a deceased relative.

How does one tell the difference (visually, just looking at the pictures online) between a Nikon mount Nikkor rangefinder lens, and a Contax mount Nikkor rangefinder lens?

Thanks,
-Tim

 

[Tom A]

Rather than the S2 - go for a S3. Not much more money anymore - and it does have 35 and 105 frame lines included. By the time you buy a 35 and the 105 for the S2 - and the proper finders - the price difference is cancelled out.
The S2 is nice, but it is an "older" design, with lift and shift speed dial, manual reset film counter and I have always found it a bit noisier than the S3/SP.
I would also start off with just one lens - possibly the 35 focal length - and go for a Nikkor 35mm f2.5 - reasonably prices these days. Image quality from these lenses is very high - sharp, smooth contrast and compact. Get to knw the camera, shoot a lot of film and after a while - start looking for a decent Nikkor 105 f2.5. Of you are lucky in finding an S3 with the 50mm f1.4 (most of Nikon's Rf bodies are sold with either the 50f2 or 50f1.4) you are pretty much set, one you get the 105!
Mixing Zeiss,Jupiters etc lenses is something you can do later - and also remember the Voigtlander S Mount series lenses.