Zork-Heliars

[jjb_13]

OK.

What does most every Contax G owner who's committed to the system secretly lust after? (All right, all right, so I've got a thing for Catherine Zeta Jones - but say I put that aside for a minute? 😀 ) It's the 16mm Hologon right? But at $1500 USD or so it's just hard to rationalize a special purpose optic like that - especially one with a fixed aperture of f8. So, like most everybody else, I just look at them when they turn up on E-bay or at KEH and kind of daydream about how I might use one on a G.

Then I bump into Zork's website almost by accident and run into conversions of the Heliar 15mm and 12mm Voightlander lenses for the Contax G mount. The money's about the same, and they are still available even though Kyocera has stopped the Contax line.

Has anybody out there used either of these on a G and, if so, what are your thoughts? The lenses themselves, on the Voightlander cameras they were designed for, seem to be well thought of for build quality and optical performance but I would prefer real life user impressions. A 121 degree rectilinear angle of view on the 12 mm while preserving TTL metering sure sounds interesting and maybe even worth the financial plunge.

Thanks
John

 

[NoTx]

Honestly they just seem too expensive. As in you can buy a used M6 that has been beat down AND the Heliar... and have some money extra. Or buy and L a and be sitting pretty with a new second G2...

 

[jjb_13]

True - but

True - but

You are absoloutely correct. On the basis of pure economics, some variation of your suggestion is the way to go. On the other hand, I bought my Contax gear to get away from lugging my SLR system all over the place. I guess I still remember fondly an old Leica IIIc, collapsable Elmar 50 and Summaron 35 that I got out of a NYC pawn shop in college. The whole system weighed in at maybe a pound and I carried it around in a coat pocket or small bag 24/7 for years until it was finally stolen one day. My Contax gear serves much the same function. It's my toss in the bag, keep in the trunk camera system. So adding one small lens is one thing, adding another dedicated body and lens defeats the purpose I had in mind. At that point I might as well switch systems entirely(which I really don't want to do) or just go back to lugging my Nikons.

Regards
John

 

[NoTx]

I always try and balance the whole package... and the idea of adding a thousand dollares to adapt a lens is just something that rubs me wrong. I would have no problem with $500... but a thousand just seems too much to me. Then again, I just bought an M6TTL so... I will prob. be buying the Heliar anyways, but not adapting (have G1 + G2 as well).