Contax adapter programming

[Deliberate1]

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Friends, a pal of mine just purchased a pre-owned 007, along with a Contax adapter which he will use with his 645 Zeiss lenses. He attached it to his lovely 80mm lens but the camera is not recognizing it.  I bought the same adapter some years ago to use with the brilliant 120mm Zeiss and seem to recall that there was a "mating ritual" to get the camera to recognize it. But I am not positive about that because the first one I got was defective  and was replaced. Can anyone kindly school me on this? Seems like the process involved pushing the rear focus activator - but perhaps that was the way to get the camera to recognize/update a new lens - but that is essentially what is happening with a new adapter.

Many thanks.

David

[Sarnian]

I recently used the Contax adapter on my 006 and it worked correctly straight out of the box with no 'mating' of any kind. Does your friend have the latest firmware on his 007? 

[kipdent]

First, thank you so much for bringing up the topic, David! There is scant information on any (if required) procedures. I can see Sarnian had no issues out of the box, but you and I have, though your was rectified with a factory replacement of the adapter. By the way, Sarnian, my 007 has the latest firmware (v. 5.0.0.0), and the lens firmware version number is greyed out on the camera implying, to me at least, that it is also up-to-date.

I managed to just get it working now by holding the joystick in while turning the camera on. However, this fix is very intermittent--when the camera goes to sleep and is awakened, the pairing is lost. Turning the camera off then on again works...sometimes. So obviously the recognition of this particular adapter is unreliable, so I imagine I'll have to return it to Leica. But when it works, I am very impressed with the images my Contax lenses capture on the 007!

Thanks again, and if anyone else has other tricks or tips that worked or made this adapter more reliable, please chime in!

[HuntingSand]

My adapter is behaving in similarly capricious ways. It did take a trip to Germany where it was found to be in spec. That clearly was time wasted. A friend then recommended filing off a tiny wee bit of the gold plated contacts with a 300 grain sanding paper. I did, cautiously, and it improved it somewhat. Surest method (in my experience) to actually activate the darn thing is to push the lens bayonet button, unseat and then reseat the adapter with the lens attached while the camera is switched on. It then establishes communication instantly. Doesn't matter if the camera was hibernating or itself switched off. I use the 55mm and the 80mm Contax lenses.

[xiaubauu2009]

That is a know issue with the contact 645 adaptor. I got mine replaced cause the first one I got was behaving like what yours did, unstable. I think the early batch has this issues....

[kipdent]

Thank you xiabauu2009 and HuntingSand for your replies. xiabauu2009, were you charges for the replacement, and if so, how much? I'd rather get a reliable one that have to unmount/remount a lens frequently just to get it working.

Thanks again--

[xiaubauu2009]

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2 hours ago, kipdent said:

Thank you xiabauu2009 and HuntingSand for your replies. xiabauu2009, were you charges for the replacement, and if so, how much? I'd rather get a reliable one that have to unmount/remount a lens frequently just to get it working.

Thanks again--

free of charge, but it's done by my dealer, he just simple go through his stock to let me test each one to get to the one that works...... we were in China, so no sales service...

[GLAUMAX]

Hello, I also had trouble with my adapter and a Leica S006.

Sent it to Leica and received the answer that the adapters are not fully working with S006. They suggested to remove and replace the adaptor any time the lens is not immediately recognized.

Even with the new adapter they sent me the lens was not immediately recognized most of the time.

I had a good opportunity to trade my S006 against a 007 and the adapter is now fully working. The lens is always recognized. I am surprised that the OP is experiencing the issue with a 007.

In any case, I find it unacceptable to have compatibility issues with such an expensive adapter. 

I am now using it with 35, 55, 80, 120 and 140 and the results are gorgeous ! I only have some overexposure issues with the 80mm (but I don't know if it is related to the adapter or the camera/lens).

[Sarnian]

I must have been lucky as it worked perfectly on my 006 and I didn’t even know that there were issues with the adapter! 

[jip]

The first Contax 645 adapters had a fault, and could not be upgraded properly. Mine was then replaced with a later version with a different firmware installed.

If you're not sure if the adapter has the latest firmware, please turn the camera off, hold the joystick on the back of the camera while turning the camera on. This will have it check the firmware of the camera and then the mounted lens (in this case the adapters firmware). 

It should be: 135.5.0.0 for the lens(adapter).

Edited August 27, 2020 by jip

[kipdent]

Thanks, Jip. By “holding the joystick on the back of the camera,” I assume you mean pressing it into the body and keeping it held in while turning on the camera. I have done this, and the reported firmware is as you state, 135.5.0.0

No joy.