What Are The Lenses To Die For In C/Y Mount?

Years Later Fred Miranda and Contax Lenses

Years Later Fred Miranda and Contax Lenses

I started this thread years ago. A lot of money has gone into various Zeiss lenses and time contraints now have me shooting my A7rII more than the RTSIII (my Aria died within weeks of receiving it), but here is a current link where Fred Miranda (re)discovers the wonders of the 35-70mm and then purchases more Contax glass.

Many pages pass before Fred tests his c/y 35-70mm f/3.5 and finds it competes with his landscape gold standards.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1423138
 
f16sunshine said:
I forgot to rave about the 2 mid tele sonnars. The 85 f2.8 and 100 f3.5. Both are already perfect at wide open. These are compact little gems.
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The small 85 is a great lens. I'm using it with my Sony gear. For a very modest price, a high quality compact 85mm portrait lens. Would be an ideal fit to your Aria.

BTW, I am a couple of Arias myself. The viewfinder is really excellent. I think this is about the best small 35mm SLRs I've ever seen. It's a recent model and with luck will keep working for us. (@bwcolor, sorry to see that your Aria died quickly.)
 
I need to get my Contax film cameras (C/Y, T, T3) back in the field, but at least the Sony A7ii is keeping my CZ lenses busy. Taken with the P100 MMG, wide open:

rico110.jpg


And a gear shot:

sonycontax3.jpg


I was never willing to attach certain lenses to EOS bodies due to the "shark fin" grinding plastic off the mirror box. The nix list included the FD16, SP60, P100 and AS200. Thanks to mirrorless, I can finally use my entire C/Y collection digitally. 🙂
 
As the owner of C / Y 35 / 1.4 lens recommend this variety in use. I still have a 50/1.4 was 28 / 2.8, but the favorite is 35 / 1.4. I shoot her a very restless child, city, portraits even though it really is not very favorable for this focal length.




The only thing against - a very large and heavy lens: 600g, 70x76mm, for it would be better to take a more dimensional camera than my Contax S2.

And some photos from Distagon:










 
I noted that the first time around, I didn't mention that there are some really good performers out there besides Zeiss (invisibility suit on) Many of the Yashica lenses are very good, many being made by Tomioka. Other lens makers made C/Y mount lenses that are quite good. If I could afford it I would have a bunch of the Zeiss lenses as they tend to be very good. But I have some Yashinons, Vivitars, and even a Phoenix WA zoom (go figure) that produce very good photographs.

Both requesters have mentioned Zeiss. They are good. But you can find other brand lenses as well, it just might be more of a hit or miss.
 
Agreed about Yashica (the Y in C/Y mount). A couple of primes are legendary, like the 100/3.5 macro and 21/3.5. I have the 24/2.8 ML, 50/1.4 ML, 50/2 ML, 55/2.8 ML macro, 200/4 MLC and 300/5.6 MLC. Construction is solid, layout is clean and consistent, and prices are attractive.
 
Since there was mention of the Planar 50/1.4 vs 50/1.7, the 1.4 focuses much closer and has more metal in it's construction than the 1.7 so it is heavier. Whether that is important depends on the user, of course. I prefer the 1.4 but haven't sold the 1.7 yet, probably will sell it once I find a good price on the 100/3.5.
 
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