Contax C/Y mount to DSLR

[zeiss planar]

I have been away from the photography scene for about 14years after I got married and busy with life ever since then.

Lately I am thinking of picking up the hobby again by using my existing contax lens from the 90's era which include a 21/f3.5 ML , 50/1.4 , 100/f2 , 180/f2.8 , 28-85 etc .

May I know , which DSLR to go for ?
Thanks .

 

[pitoy]

Canon >> u can use adapter or change the mount
Nikon >> u should change the mount to nikon mount,
http://www.leitax.com/Zeiss-Contax-lens-for-Nikon-cameras.html

 

[Dream Merchant]

I guess it depends on how much you want to spend.

Getting a Canon DSLR is probably on of the cheapest and most viable options, with excellent results and most lenses being able to focus out to infinity.

I would suggest looking up the SPECIFIC COMPATIBILITY of infinity focus on the lenses you mentioned, and whether you could convert them to a Nikon Mount with infinity focus, if you decide to go with Nikon DSLRs, which are also excellent bodies (from personal experience).

All the best in your search!

 

[Ben Ang]

It will be pretty tough converting all those lenses to Nikon mount.. should be technically straight forward(but ≠easy) for the 100, 180 and 28-85. the other 2 might not be possible.

I d suggest going with a canon 5D or 5Dii and just buying an adapter(or a whole bunch) from ebay. you ll get infinity focus without any issues. the adapters are purely mechanical and there wont be any additional glass to impair image quality.

 

[zeiss planar]

Thank you guys for your swift reply and suggestion !
I think I am leaning towards the canon dslr and not all canon bodies can be use?

Which site would you suggest I buy the adapter from or does any shop in spore carry's them ?

 

[Ben Ang]

Thank you guys for your swift reply and suggestion !
I think I am leaning towards the canon dslr and not all canon bodies can be use?

Which site would you suggest I buy the adapter from or does any shop in spore carry's them ?

Ebay!!!! haha. can check peninsular plaza, some of the shops carry but cant say for sure.

All the bodies should be able to use the lenses. i only recommended the 5D or 5Dii cos you d get the most out of you re lenses as its a fullframe body.

 

[Anthony Lee]

Zeiss Contax lenses can be easily adapted on most Canon DSLRs but you should choose those that provides optional focusing screens to aid manual focusing.

Cropped bodies: 40D, 50D and 60D, optional Ef-S super precision matte focusing screen.
Full frame: 1)5D with Ee-S super precision matte focusing screen 2) 5dII with Eg-S super precision matte focusing screen.

Suggest you buy 2 adapters, Contax CY mount to EOS adapter with focus confirmation chip, each costing about S$ 60-80. Try Tagotech at Mass Sales below. There will always be slight variation in these adaptors, so one may suit one lens but not the other especially back and front focus confirmation. I used to own a couple of adapters per brand because of this reason and switch them around.

Your Contax Zeiss 100f2 is a gem.

 

[ilovefilm]

I strongly suggest a NEX body
short flange so can take almost any lens with adapter
large sensor, compact body, excellent colour
can get cheap 2nd hand here

remember, the smaller the camera, the more likely you can take them out to shoot

New firware upgrades comes with focusing peak, makes manual focusing much sweeter

 

[Ben Ang]

I strongly suggest a NEX body
short flange so can take almost any lens with adapter
large sensor, compact body, excellent colour
can get cheap 2nd hand here

remember, the smaller the camera, the more likely you can take them out to shoot

New firware upgrades comes with focusing peak, makes manual focusing much sweeter

I think canon FF would be the best though. while small, the NEX cameras dun provide good ergonomics for the bigger lenses(the 100 f2 is pretty big), and not for MF either. i find that old lenses really shine on FF too.