Contax G 45mm f2 Planar - any interest in seeing samles taken on the SL2?

[Leicaboy Norway]

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Hey guys!  I have a Contax G2 and have previously had a G1. I had the 35mm f2 a few years ago, now the 45mm f2.

 

Any interest in seeing samples from the SL2 with the 45mm Planar? 

 

I have used the 35mm Contax G and the 45mm on Fuji but I have never been a fan of ff lenses on crop sensor.

 

It was more difficult to get an adapter for the SL2 / L mount but it arrived today. The FOV is more natural and it´s a compact lens for the SL2, quite similar to summicron m 50 and 35 v4 and asph

 

The adapter focus is too thin and the focus throw is very short, but it kinda works and that lens is special which I assume you guys know.

I was also thinking it might perform better on the rangefinder focused (kind of) and thin sensor on the SL2 compared to the likes of Sony and Nikon

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[mokona]

I was wondering how different the Contax planar 45mm f2 is from the Zeiss 50mm F2 planar ZM.

[Leicaboy Norway]

1 hour ago, mokona said:

I was wondering how different the Contax planar 45mm f2 is from the Zeiss 50mm F2 planar ZM.

There are probably people here who have used both. The Contax G 45mm f2 is also available on m mount with the Funleader rehousing.

Check this link out: https://www.photo.net/forums/topic/353586-lens-comparison-carl-zeiss-g-planar-452-carl-zeiss-planar-zm-502-konica-hexanon-502/

Guy there tests Hexar 50mm against the 50mm f2 planar and the contax g 45mm f2. 

 

In his opinion the Contax g 45mm f2 came out on top.

 

I was also surprised by how well the Contax G 45mm f2 did on my SL2 as I´ve used and have become disappointed by other good vintage lenses in terms of their performance (allthough subjective to a certain degree) on my SL2

[Leicaboy Norway]

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[Leicaboy Norway]

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[Leicaboy Norway]

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[Leicaboy Norway]

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these 3 are all SOOC jpegs and resized to 2 mb each to meet the requirements of the forum

[LBJ2]

On 7/14/2024 at 1:06 PM, Leicaboy Norway said:

Hey guys!  I have a Contax G2 and have previously had a G1. I had the 35mm f2 a few years ago, now the 45mm f2.

 

Any interest in seeing samples from the SL2 with the 45mm Planar? 

 

I have used the 35mm Contax G and the 45mm on Fuji but I have never been a fan of ff lenses on crop sensor.

 

It was more difficult to get an adapter for the SL2 / L mount but it arrived today. The FOV is more natural and it´s a compact lens for the SL2, quite similar to summicron m 50 and 35 v4 and asph

 

The adapter focus is too thin and the focus throw is very short, but it kinda works and that lens is special which I assume you guys know.

I was also thinking it might perform better on the rangefinder focused (kind of) and thin sensor on the SL2 compared to the likes of Sony and Nikon

I have what sounds similar to your Contax G to L-Mount adapter and agree the adapter's too thin focus ring is for me not an enjoyable experience and certainly not up to any quick MF reactions. However it does the job in an awkward sort of way, as long as I am not in a hurry 😎

My silver G 45/2 does make for a beautiful light weight kit (for what it is) adapted to my black SL2--but I haven't done any critical IQ testing yet so thanks for the motivation to get that started! 

[LBJ2]

On 7/14/2024 at 1:06 PM, Leicaboy Norway said:

Hey guys!  I have a Contax G2 and have previously had a G1. I had the 35mm f2 a few years ago, now the 45mm f2.

 

Any interest in seeing samples from the SL2 with the 45mm Planar? 

 

I have used the 35mm Contax G and the 45mm on Fuji but I have never been a fan of ff lenses on crop sensor.

 

It was more difficult to get an adapter for the SL2 / L mount but it arrived today. The FOV is more natural and it´s a compact lens for the SL2, quite similar to summicron m 50 and 35 v4 and asph

 

The adapter focus is too thin and the focus throw is very short, but it kinda works and that lens is special which I assume you guys know.

I was also thinking it might perform better on the rangefinder focused (kind of) and thin sensor on the SL2 compared to the likes of Sony and Nikon

BTW, what FL did you decide to set IBIS on the SL2 for the G 45/2, 40 or 50mm? Not sure if it makes much difference either way, just curious if there some rule of thumb recommendation for in between FLs.

Edited July 27, 2024 by LBJ2

[Leicaboy Norway]

9 hours ago, LBJ2 said:

BTW, what FL did you decide to set IBIS on the SL2 for the G 45/2, 40 or 50mm? Not sure if it makes much difference either way, just curious if there some rule of thumb recommendation for in between FLs.

40 mm, not that I think it makes any difference 😀

It's, as you say, a good lightweight setup. Better at photographing objects and nature than people. 

 

I did some side a side comparisons with the summicron 35 asph and Summicron 50 v5 and they seem very similar to the 45mm planar in terms of sharpness. A bit difference in wb rendering.

 

And the zeiss has the ocassional 3d pop of course. It's an exceptional lens but I'd prefer to get it in m mount with the funleader mod and use it on a m camera.

 

I actually sold my g2 and planar 45 combo to get a summilux 50 1.4 asph 😁

I shoot less film and I was constantly worried that the high priced g2 was going to fail at some point and not be repairable.

[Leicaboy Norway]

Ok guys, the Contax G 45mm f2 is one of my all time favorites so now I went out and bought it again. From Funleader directly. Finished convert in black.

There was a cheaper on on eBay but I hear people have been happy with the one from Funleader so I went with it.

Build quality is beautiful and very sturdy. I read some people on Reddit had a bit loose lens, don't remember if it was the focusing or aperture ring.

 

I think you´d struggle to find any wiggle or flimsiness (sorry I´m not a native English speaker) on mine.

It´s also quite small, the glass is almost perfect, I can see a small black dust spot when I look closely but mostly it looks new.

It also came within a week of delivery to Norway with free shipping (don't worry I am not sponsored, paid for this myself and it wasn't cheap, just don't tell my wife).

I´m going to add samples as I go and one the one hand it´s too early to conclude regarding image quality on the other hand I´ve owned this lens once or was it actually twice before.

In the film days this was the second sharpest lens tested only beaten by the Canon 300mm (f 2? - don't remember).

To be honest I am not primarily out after the sharpness but the combined 3d pop with good sharpness, character and size.

It fits nicely on my Leica M240. It´s smaller than my Summilux 50 ash 1.4 and actually a tiny bit shorter than my Summicron-M 50 mm f2 v5, but a tiny bit wider and heavier.

It´s a quite nice size for a M camera.

Over to the SL2 it is super sharp also on the 47 mpx sensor. That I knew as you can see further up the thread it performed great on the SL2 the last time too, but I am not a huge fan of the manual focusing mechanisms on the SL2. I mean focus peaking and zooming in with the joystick works but my Nikon ZF is usually better. I haven't figured out which or if any lens profile I'm going to use on the SL2 and M240.

As mentioned I have a Nikon ZF too which I have a lot of fun with using the Techart TZM02 adapter, giving autofocus to Leica M lenses. Be aware, not everyone that bought this adapter is as satisfied with it as me. It has broken down for some and some found out they aren't having too much sucess with it and I think customer service is not great. 

For me though It´s the best piece of kit I´ve bought in the last 10 years maybe. I'm having eye AF with Summicrons, summiluxes pentax glass and now also with the Contax G 45. The smaller the lens the better the adapter works and it works great with the Contax.

I will upload more samples as most of the ones I´ve taken already are private, but I will share some now.

[Leicaboy Norway]

 

So these 4 are shot on the SL2. Nr 1 and 2 are color graded (Sorry)

 

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Edited July 1 by Leicaboy Norway