Which Amadeo adapter, Nikon or Contax?

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I've been mulling over ordering an adapter from Amadeo for some time, and now that he's milling his own I am thinking I might finally go for it. I suspect these things will hold their value very well, should I ever decide I don't need it.

I can't decide which to get though, the Contax or Nikon. Which will give me a more interesting selection of lenses to choose from? Which one would be more likely to allow some amount of cross-compatibility? Does one type of lens mount more easily on the other type of mount than the other way around? Contax lenses are likely to be cheaper, esp. the Russian ones (I'd like to try shooting a Helios-103 on my R-D1)...the Nikon seems like a more robust collectors' market, and thus higher-priced, but they seem so beautifully made.

Or is it all not worth it? Are there just not enough Contax or Nikon mount lenses that are different from the huge selection of LTM/M lenses to justify the purchase? I love weird cobbled-together things, that's the main appeal for me, I guess.

Suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[raid]

The old Sonnar lenses are awesome, so i recommend getting a Contax to Leica adapter.

 

[Paul T.]

I agree with Raid.

The Contax lenses are hard to find in LTM - whereas Nikkor lenses in that version are reasonably common. Using the adapter gives ou access to the excellent 50mm Sonnar 1.5 or 2.0 (I don't know if the 85mm will work with an adapter, good as it is). And, as you mentioned, you get to use the Helios

As far as wide angles go, you can use the Nikkor lenses anyway, as depth of field should cover any focusing error.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

My instinct is Contax, for exactly the reason Raid offers...I will give it some more thought though!

 

[micromontenegro]

I could make a case for both. The Contax lenses are more plentiful, and there's the Soviet copies. And the 50/1.5 Sonnar is, well... superlatives fail me. But I think (could be very wrong) that you can get the 1.4/50, 2.0/85 and 4.0/135 Nikkors for less than their Sonnar counterparts. And then there's the 105!

As you probably already know, the RF coupled adapters don't work with the Biogons (Amedeo makes a dedicated adapter for those). I seem to remember that the 35/2.5 Nikkor does work well.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I'm mostly interested in the Sonnars and the Helios, and I've got the ZM Biogon 28 in my M-mount kit already (as well as the CV 21mm)...plus, aren't the Biogons rare/expensive? So I did take that into consideration...

 

[raid]

I love the Zeiss jena 5cm 2.0 and the 1.5. Both are amazingly good lenses. Either lens can be bought in a very clean condition for $150-$250 in Contax mount.

 

[Benjamin Marks]

mabelsound/jrobert:

You mean amadeo is actually making the adapters himself? mmmm tasty. What do you know about price/lead-time/availability?

I have an adapter which was hacked from a Kiev, I think. I only have Contax/Nikon lenses in the 50-28 range and find that it works just fine with either, although the available narrative suggests that it should only be the Contax lenses that focus reliably. The only downside is that you can completely unscrew the adapter by turning the focus helical to focus "closer" than 3 ft. Sort of disconcerting the first time that it happened. I have seen pix of amadeo's work and think it's grand. The Kiev-based adapter I have works fine with a 50/3.5 Heliar, 50/1.5 Contax and 50/1.4 Nikon. Slap those puppies on an M8 and watch 'em go.

Ben Marks

 

[ray*j*gun]

He doesn't have on *bay now and said it would be a couple of weeks before he lists any....I think they are $200 or so.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

mabelsound/jrobert:

You mean amadeo is actually making the adapters himself? mmmm tasty. What do you know about price/lead-time/availability?

They're $250, and yeah, he is apparently now making them all-new, not out of old mounts. I had been watching a Contax one on eBay and somebody beat me to it...so I went ahead and wrote to him about availability for the next one. The auction said that Nikon ones would indeed be available in a few weeks. They look freaking marvelous!

 

[MikeL]

Hi mabelsound,
If you get a Nikon one you can use it with an older 50mm f1.4 ($200) for a sonnar look or with a 50mm f1.4 Millenium ($600 or so when Jon sells one). I sold my 50mm asph and kept the Millenium with a Amedeo adapter. It's a sweet lens.

 

[BillBingham2]

WOW.

Where does he live? Can you please pm me with his email? I'm wondering about a Nikon F to S adapter, no focusing.

Part of me would say both. You can use the Nikkor 50/1.4 Millennium then. For all you 50mm-aholics

B2 (;->

 

[splitimageview]

Amedeo at muscelli.net

I have seen the new adapters with his machined helical, they are fabulous. I handle his USA shipping, just got some today.

 

[direwolf101]

Digitalintrigue, are there any Contax adapters in ltm mount in the latest batch? Sorry to hijack the thread...

 

[splitimageview]

Yes, there were both Nikon and Contax, but only M mount.

 

[direwolf101]

Yes, there were both Nikon and Contax, but only M mount.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[jonmanjiro]

GET BOTH 😀

There's great lens choices for both.

I recently had the opportunity to test the adapter Amedeo made for me on an M8. Focus was perfect (including my Nikkor-P 8.5cm f2 close up at f2) !!!