Does anyone have experience using Contax 645 lens or Hassy HCD lenses on the S 007 with the AF adaptor from Leica?

[rollsman4]

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Not sure if its worth buying the adaptor and the price of a lens. Also, how is the IQ compared to the S lenses   Thanks

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[HuntingSand]

Am traveling right now through the SW states of the US with my S006, the C adapter, and three Contax / Zeiss 645 lenses: 55, 80, 140. Optical performance on all three is stellar. The 80 F2 is in a league of its own. I also have the Leica 120 APO Macro, but it's not in my bag this time. Focus is quick and accurate (the 007 has some issues in that department); the adapter itself is pricey, and my copy sometimes needs to be reset/refitted to properly transmit lens data to the camera.

[R1480]

I have the adaptor for the Contax 645 lenses and posted here 3 pictures taken with the 2.8 140mm.

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/283704-bilder-mit-dem-s-system-fortsetzungsthread/page/29/?tab=comments#comment-4297919 

I like the behavior in the out of focus area and IQ is good. But not as good as with S lenses. Autofocus works fine. I also own the 2.8 45mm. The IQ is OK, but with many pictures I have the impression, that they look a little bit 'flat'. So it is usable, but nothing special. So if IQ is important it could be better to look for an S APO 120mm or S 45mm or 70mm.

Regards Juergen

[mgrayson3]

I'm glad I have some Contax 645 lenses and the adapter, but only use them as backups to the S lenses (when their focus motors were getting upgraded). AF works, but is unreliable. I use Live View for critical focus. The 35 is very good. The 120 Macro is great, but manual focus only. The 140 is light and quite good in BW, has a bit of CA, but that's treatable in post. I don't have the 80, alas. The 210 and 350 are junk. I tried a few copies of the 210 and one of the 350. All terrible.

I have the HC adapter and the HC 300. It works well, and is a modern sharp long lens. I wish the S system included something like it. Again, I wouldn't rely on the AF. The option of using the leaf shutter is nice!

[rollsman4]

I am getting pros and cons on the Contax lenses.  What about the Hassy HC lens with the adaptor or just stay with the S lens and pay the extra Money

[mgrayson3]

I *always* use an S lens if there is one at the desired focal length. The lenses are almost the whole reason to be in that system (ok, ergonomics and lenses). The 70/2.5 is so good that I have no interest in the Contax 80, even though it has a wider aperture. Out past 180mm, the Zeiss Superachromats are closer to the S rendering than the HC 300, but are purely manual. My feeling is that if you want to use HC lenses, get a Hasselblad body. Adapted lenses are a headache. They may work today, but some firmware change down the road could render them inoperable. Hassy V lenses have no electronic connection to the S, so they are liable to work longer through software changes. And they support teleconverters and extension tubes on the S, while the HC adapter doesn't.

Pay the extra money. Sorry.

[Stuart Richardson]

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Depending on your particular needs, I would focus on getting three S lenses if you want to ground yourself in the system. The 35mm, 70mm and 120mm. If you get those three, you will have much of what you can get out of the system. If you really like super wides, then the 24mm is obviously an option, but I think the standard "wide, normal, telephoto" are best served by those three. The 120mm is the best lens in the system from the standpoint of image quality, the 70mm the most useful, and the 35mm the most well rounded wide angle. The 30mm could be a better choice if you really want wide angle, while the 45mm is sharper and great if you want a 35mm angle of view, but I think you can cover the most scenarios with the 35mm, 70mm and 120mm. They are also the most common and easiest to find at lower prices.

As for adapted lenses, I agree that it is not really worth it at this stage. The S lenses have come down so much in price that using the adapted lenses is no longer that useful, as the adapters themselves are still expensive, and the adapted lenses themselves are getting harder to find and longer in the tooth.

[darylgo]

When I had the Contax adapter many years ago, using an S2, an old slow AF body it worked very well as any adapter/lens, AF was good, the lens behaved just as a native lens.   I did a direct comparison of the Leica vs. Zeiss ultra-wides, the 35mm Zeiss vs. Leica 24mm.  Surprisingly the Zeiss had more deeply saturated colors, the Leica lens was sharper but the Zeiss saturation was quite remarkable.   Changes to exposure were not enough for the Leica lens to achieve the Zeiss saturation.   I eventually sold all my Zeiss lenses and the adapter, it was too much work to change lenses with only one adapter.   

I continue to keep my H adapter, originally purchased for one lens, the Hasselblad 300mm.  This lens had horrible IQ, perhaps a bad sample, and it was returned.  The adapter/lens combination again worked as well as a native lens.  Focus, camera and lens settings were good.  

One last thought about the Zeiss Contax 645 lenses.  Support is no longer offered by Kyocera, perhaps third parties are available but part of the decision to sell my 645 lenses was based on the obsolescence of the lenses.  

[rollsman4]

Thank you for sharing this info.  I agree that its Best to stay with the Native Lenses especially the S system. I will check into the 35mm lens and see if I get a good deal and with AF motor replaced.  Thanks   

[mgrayson3]

4 hours ago, darylgo said:

I continue to keep my H adapter, originally purchased for one lens, the Hasselblad 300mm.  This lens had horrible IQ, perhaps a bad sample, and it was returned.  The adapter/lens combination again worked as well as a native lens.  Focus, camera and lens settings were good.  

I got a great price on the S adapter H, so got an HC 300. Mine is very sharp and contrasty. The older Zeiss Superachromats are closer to the S look, but the HC is a great tele. Consider it again if you need the focal length. 

[bevdig]

I shot professionally with a Contax 645 and a Leaf digital back for many years and had the Zeiss 45mm, 80mm, 140mm and 210mm. When that camera became so old that I worried of its reliability on a paying shoot, it made sense to sell the body, get the Leica adapter, and continue shooting  with that lens inventory. In most professional situations, you will be using the lenses stopped down a bit, and ultimate image quality is not that noticeable between these two fine German optics manufacturers. Later, when I could afford to do so, I purchased the Leica 70mm CS lens and in direct comparison to the Zeiss 80mm, I could not tell them apart at f/8, but at full aperture the Leica was clearly superior. Indeed, the Leica lens was easily usable at full aperture, whereas the Zeiss 80mm went a bit soft and showed color fringing.

I still use the adapter and the Zeiss lenses mentioned, and have no quibble. Focussing is just fine and none of the Zeiss lenses has ever had any "motor" problems, or any other problems for that matter.  I added the Zeiss 120mm Macro lens and the 35mm and both seem excellent all around, especially the 120mm at a fraction of the cost of the Leica equivalent. Don't forget, in a portrait situation, for example, either brand is going to be so sharp that in a closeup you really need to cut the razor-sharp rendition (for female faces at least) and I will typically add a Zeiss Softar filter for this reason.

Summing up, the adapter works quite well and you should not hesitate to use Zeiss lenses. At time goes by, I will migrate over to additional Leica lenses, and sell off their Zeiss equivalents. But if you're starting from scratch, and don't need a full line of focal lengths, then I would stick to Leica glass, one lens at a time.

[darylgo]

5 hours ago, mgrayson3 said:

I got a great price on the S adapter H, so got an HC 300. Mine is very sharp and contrasty. The older Zeiss Superachromats are closer to the S look, but the HC is a great tele. Consider it again if you need the focal length. 

Thanks, this information is valuable, I've never tested the Superachromats, availability is rare and prices high.  The 300mm was a great disappointment, but it was a single sample.   I have a Mamiya 300mm f2.8, a great lens, but rather large and difficult to handle despite the S bodies size.  Another alternative is the 90-280mm SL lens but then I have to drag another body along to use it, I wish Leica would adapt it to the S similar to the T and CL lenses on the SL.  

[ZHNL]

Contax 645 AF works but not great. Even native S glasses have no reliable autofocus I can trust. 
build native S lenses first based on your preference. I always feel S is basically 35/70/120 system. Then I do use 100cron a lot more than I thought. It is a nice one lens setup for me for the speed and it can be used as short tele or stitch to get standard focal. Many people use 45/100 also.

contax glasses I recommend two: 80 and 120. 80 is for classical planar look that most modern lenses don’t have (this is the glass made c645 legendary for a reason) and 120 is still a king in bokeh IMHO. Both require some skill to use as one is full time manual focus and the other is not that reliable AF glass as well.  Zeiss have different color compare to Leica. It is not a major reason you want use them but you can see them. If you are not into trying or seeing different look type, you may save yourself time just get Leica glasses as they are awesome. 

[BernardC]

In my experience, it doesn't make sense to buy the adapters if you don't already own compatible lenses. Legacy medium format lenses aren't as good as the S lenses, and they don't mix very well with them either. The only ones that are still competitive are either priced like S lenses, or they are no longer repairable (Contax 645).

You can easily get-by with a two-lens set, or even with a single lens. You brain learns to visualize what that lens sees, which is a lot harder if you have a half-dozen lenses.

That being said, I still use my old Zeiss 110/2.0, because it has that classic fast Planar look. It's not a lens that you can mix with images taken with S lenses, but for a one-off portrait it can be magical.

[Sarnian]

29 minutes ago, BernardC said:

You can easily get-by with a two-lens set

I have a 30-90mm and 120mm Macro. I picked up a 70mm CS on eBay for £500 (the seller didn't have an S to test it on and was told that the Central Shutter wasn't working - it was!).

I used to have the 24mm but I sold it on as I found that my converted Samyang 24mm was 90% as good, just without auto focus.

 

Edited December 27, 2021 by Sarnian

[ynp]

The adapted MF lenses on the S007 and S3 do not AF in the live view. it’s the only serious limitation. 

You asked about Hasselblad HCD lenses.. as far as I remember, there are only three so called Digital lenses in the Hasselblad line. The excellent 35-90 zoom, HCD 4/28, 4,8/24mm. They were designed for a smaller than 645 sensors, and the wide lenses need DLC corrections. I have no real experience with the 24 mm, I tried one lens in the local shop with my adapter, but the lens was not recognized. I owned the 4/28 and used it on my S2p for a while. It’s an ok lens on the S, the wide S lenses are much better. 
The HCD zoom is very good. I sold it when I bought the Leica Zoom.  
The rest of the lenses are HC. There are some very good HC lenses in the line. The Second versions  of the 50mm and 150-N are very nice. I love the HC 55-110mm zoom, it’s heavy but very good for people in studio. 
It’s also a known fact that the newest HC lenses with the yellow dot cannot be used with the Leica H adapter. 
 

I use several Contax 645 lenses with my S3 and the two of them I am keeping in my S3 bag. It’s the 55mm and 80mm. The latter is the most expensive Contax 645 lense second hand and has a unique look. The 55 is very light. Both are good for people. 
In my view, the Contax lenses , with their limitations, allow me to have a distinctive look and the 80mm and 140mm are kind to a female skin. 
 

yevgeny. 

[GLAUMAX]

I am a big fan of Contax 645 lenses on the S007.

I use 35, 45, 55, 80, 120, 140 and 210.

I also have Leica the Leica Summarit-S 70 and I had and sold the Super Elmar 24mm.

In my opinion, Contax lenses render differently than their Leica counterparts but are in no way inferior.

The Summarit 70 is certainly sharper wide open than the Zeiss 80mm but it has less character and is bigger and heavier.

I think that Contax lenses make sense if you want a compact travel package (55, 80 and 140 are quite compact for medium format lenses) or if you look for focal lengths without equivalent in the Leica world (55mm, 80mm, 140mm and 210mm).

Finally, they are really cheap for what they can offer. The Zeiss Makro Planar 120mm is optically perfect (sharpness, micro contrast....) and can be bought for less than EUR1,000.

Some samples (in low resolution)

S007 and Zeiss 140mm and 55mm

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Edited January 3, 2022 by GLAUMAX

[GLAUMAX]

Zeiss 120mm and 140mm

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[GLAUMAX]

Zeiss 45mm and 80mm

 

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Edited January 3, 2022 by GLAUMAX

[GLAUMAX]

Zeiss 55mm and 120mm

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