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Contax RTSII and Zeiss

biggles3

Member
Like our founder Dirk, I have a continuing love affair with the post-1974 Contax system, from the RTS to the 645, G- and N-series plus the T models. I've also extended into Yashica and gone back in time to the Zeiss Ikon cameras from 1927 right up to the awesome Contarex. I have hundreds of cameras and many more lenses; I have one rule - unless I'm hunting for donor bodies, they must all work and be used at least 4 times a year.

I thought you might find a photo of an RTSII plus a small selection of my C/Y Zeiss lenses. The 500mm f4.5 Mirotar is truly stunning, despite not having the T* coatings. I have attached a second image showing its reach and amazing contrast on a dull day here in Wales... The Contax Yashica system has arguable the two best 500mm reflex lenses ever made - the big Zeiss Mirotar and the tiny but rare Yashica ML 500 f8. And you get a free hernia repair kit with every big Mirotar! :)
Weekend testing.jpg50 1.7 Planar__500 f4.5 Mirotar.jpg
 
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The Contax RTS II with the 500mm f4.5 Mirotar looks almost like a P&S. :teufel-grinsend-schwanz:
 
Ermmmm, hello Dirk - I just noticed my spelling mistake; please be assured that I don't try to sue my gear at least 4 times a year! Is there a way to edit/correct a post?

I corrected it.
 
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Very nice indeed. I sold my RTS III, RX and lenses last year and of course I regret it, but especially that 35-70 vario-sonnar
Sorry to hear that - but I fully understand the feeling of regret. I had a green-coloured RX (special edition from Japan) which I often paired with camouflaged telephoto or reflex lenses and I was pestered by a wildlife photographer to sell it to him in exchange for an RXII and a lot of cash... The moment it was on its way to Iceland, I regretted it. I sold the RXII and bought two standard RX's but I do miss the green one. These days, a lot of the old Contax cameras are appearing for sale but far fewer Zeiss lenses - I think with the wide availability of good quality adapters, people are enjoying them on their digital gear. So at least the glass gets to continue giving pleasure...
 
I am surprised to see how huge the old Vario-Sonnar 70-210mm f/3.5 has been . Not very much smaller than the Tele-Tessar 300mm.
It is a big and heavy lens but then you are looking at something which contains 15 elements in 12 groups plus that cam to allow the amazing macro facility - only the VS 35-135 contains more glass. I have used a lot of 70-210 lenses over the decades but the two best I've ever had have been the Zeiss 70-210 f3.5 and the much rarer Yashica ML 70-210 f4 which equals the IQ of its more illustrious cousin but does not offer the macro capability. It is almost as heavy as the Zeiss; it was in production for less than a year before Yashica, as Zeiss was to do later, reverted to the less exciting 80-200 f4 format. I've attached a piccie showing the Zeiss and Yashica lenses together.Zeiss VS 70-210 f3.5_Yashica ML 70-210  f4.jpg
 
Wow, those Yashica ML lenses... :)

It's interesting for me to learn from your experience that the Zeiss 70-210mm is actually a good lens.
I had always thought it might be a typical lens from this very early era of zoom lenses - and that the newer (and today cheaper) Zeiss 80-200 that you mentioned would be much better. Did you have the opportunity to do a comparison between these two?

As for 70-210mm, I myself have the well-known Canon FD lens which is really cheap today - but I have not yet checked it out.

Michael
 
Wow, those Yashica ML lenses... :)

It's interesting for me to learn from your experience that the Zeiss 70-210mm is actually a good lens.
I had always thought it might be a typical lens from this very early era of zoom lenses - and that the newer (and today cheaper) Zeiss 80-200 that you mentioned would be much better. Did you have the opportunity to do a comparison between these two?

As for 70-210mm, I myself have the well-known Canon FD lens which is really cheap today - but I have not yet checked it out.

Michael
Hello Michael,

The Canon FD lens is a decent performer but tends to be a bit soft as you get towards the longer focal lengths, though to be fair, that's the case with many long zooms. I did run a comparison of the Zeiss and Yashica equivalents, 70-210 and 80-200, about 15 years ago. The overall conclusion was, if memory serves, that both 70-210 lenses were bitingly sharp, had excellent contrast and even illumination throughout their focal range - no drop-off at 210mm. With the 80-200 lenses, both were fine performers, again throughout their focal lengths, but that Zeiss had the advantage in edge-to-edge sharpness. With the Yashica I had to run an additional test as I found that those with very early serial numbers had better performance in sharpness and contrast than those produced much later which was counter to what I'd have expected. Intriguingly, that also applied to the ML 100-300 lenses where the first few batches were a better match with their Zeiss cousin, especially towards the 300mm end where Zeiss otherwise had a significant advantage in both sharpness and contrast.

I regret that I was a Zeiss snob back in the late 1970s when I adopted the Contax Real Time System for my gymnastics photography, though to be fair, I could not have produced the books without their fast glass: 35, 50 and 85 f1.4s, 28 and 135 f2s and then later the 55 and 85 1.2s and the 100 f2. With the 1.2s in particular, pre-focusing was essential as their dof is so shallow. But, in the last 15 years or so, I have got to know the Yashica range of lenses and while many are middle-of-the-road, they have some fabulous glass in their pantheon. I could have saved a small fortune had I been open to considering gear other than Zeiss! True, Yashica only produced 2 fast lenses in the form of the ML 55 1.2 and 50 f1.4 - both are fine lenses. But some of their glass matches or outperforms their Zeiss cousins under normal photographic conditions - such as their ML 35 & 24 f2.8s; their ML 21mm is no slouch either. But where Yashica excels is in some of its early zooms; we've already discussed the 70-210mm f4 and 100-300mm but their ML 28-50 is breathtaking and their ML 35-70 f3.5 and two-touch f4 zooms are truly amazing.

Other ML primes worth trying out are their 55 f2.8 & 100 f3.5 Macro lenses, 300mm f5.6/300mm f5.6 C, and of course the fabulous, tiny ML 500 f8 which is better than the Zeiss equivalent. Incidentally, the two C/Y versions of the Yashica 500mm f8 Reflex lenses are very decent performers and much cheaper than the rather rare ML. Of course, it's also worth remembering that Contax featured one Yashica lens in its brochures - the DX-100mm f4 Dental/Medical lens. It is essentially a large macro lens with an internal flash-ring and modelling light. While the Zeiss 100mm f4 S-Planar Bellows lens is in a class of its own, Yashica's little (by comparison) 100 f4 Bellows Lens is a bit special too - and about a tenth of the cost. I should also mention a couple of Yashica M42 lenses which I use regularly with an adapter ring: the Tomioka Yashinon 60mm f2.8 Macro is sharper than the superb Zeiss 60mm S-Planar; the DS-M 55mm f1.2 & 24mm f2.8 are every bit as good as the ML versions. And going back further in time, the Auto-Yashinon DX 100mm f2.8 is no slouch. The only Yashica ML lens to avoid is the 28-210.

For your amusement, I've attached a piccie showing some Yashica goodies I grabbed a while ago which include the DX-100mm f4 Medical lens with its modelling light showing, ML 55 f1.2, that 70-210 f4 and the wonderful Yashica FX-A of which fewer than 1000 were made before new owners Kyocera pulled the plug on it and the brilliant Contax 137AF (of which only 1 was made). Ah, what might have beenYashica joys rev.JPG
 
Wow - thank you very much, biggles3! This is a very useful purchasing advice :daumenhoch-smilie:.

Kyocera's product policy seems to have been rather strange sometimes :rolleyes:. Pity for some of their camera bodies and for the Yashica ML and Zeiss T* lenses.
 
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