farlymac
PF McFarland
The Zeiss Contaflex Prima is an improved version of the earlier Alpha and Beta models (Alpha had no meter, while the Beta did). It offers a built-in accessory shoe, and a rapid winder, along with the selenium meter. Standard lens element is a 2.8/45 Pantar, with 4/30 and 4/75 Pantars available.
I know that the Pantar series of lens elements (only the front section interchanges, the middle and rear elements are permanently mounted in the camera) aren’t known for being the sharpest in the Zeiss stable, but I expected better results than what I got with these. It could be that the mirror needs adjustment. It also could be that the 2.8/45 I used from my Contina III does not match well with the Prima (the one that came on the Prima is damaged). I was also using Kodak Gold 200 which, while having good color rendition, is not as good as any of their 100 speed offerings when it comes to resolution. I’ll have to give the camera a good check-out before shooting it again.
But I like it. It has a good weight to it, especially with the 30 and 75 attached. And with the 1132 hood on the 75, it looks like a rocket motor.
2.8/45
Pink Pops by br1078phot, on Flickr
4/30
Lick Run by br1078phot, on Flickr
4/75
Entrance To The Zone by br1078phot, on Flickr
The Kit
Zeiss Contaflex Prima Group Photo by br1078phot, on Flickr
See all the photos and commentary at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/7699588@N07/sets/72157652095160551/
PF
I know that the Pantar series of lens elements (only the front section interchanges, the middle and rear elements are permanently mounted in the camera) aren’t known for being the sharpest in the Zeiss stable, but I expected better results than what I got with these. It could be that the mirror needs adjustment. It also could be that the 2.8/45 I used from my Contina III does not match well with the Prima (the one that came on the Prima is damaged). I was also using Kodak Gold 200 which, while having good color rendition, is not as good as any of their 100 speed offerings when it comes to resolution. I’ll have to give the camera a good check-out before shooting it again.
But I like it. It has a good weight to it, especially with the 30 and 75 attached. And with the 1132 hood on the 75, it looks like a rocket motor.
2.8/45
Pink Pops by br1078phot, on Flickr
4/30
Lick Run by br1078phot, on Flickr
4/75
Entrance To The Zone by br1078phot, on Flickr
The Kit
Zeiss Contaflex Prima Group Photo by br1078phot, on Flickr
See all the photos and commentary at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/7699588@N07/sets/72157652095160551/
PF
Well the colour rendition is lovely, which is my experience with the Tessar Contaflexes. But I've only ever handled a Beta or Prima briefly, and never used one, so I'm quite keen to see just how good they can be and how they compare to the Tessar ones.
Cheers,
Brett
Cheers,
Brett
Ranchu
Veteran
These lenses look 3D to me, especially the tele. I used to have a prima, I liked it and miss it. It was one of my repair failures unfortunately, I couldn't get the shutter back on so it would cock. That was a long time ago. This is how I learn.
farlymac
PF McFarland
I think a lot of my reticence about these photos is that with my photo viewer (Win XP), everything looks worse than it should. Any thing I view in a browser (currently Firefox) always looks better. And the working image size in PS Elements is too small to make a determination of resolution. I try to mentally adjust for that, but sometimes it's hard to figure out how images will look once I release them into the wild.
PF
PF