Am I a dinosaur ?I'm out of touch.........

[zeiss planar]

Hi all ,

I started the hobby of creating image since 1982 when I gotten my first SLR - Nikon FM with 43~86mm.I was only sec.2 then .
It has been a really satisfying hobby ,making new friends along the way whether on location shooting,waiting for the correct lightning and moments or in the used eqpt shop in peninsula ; except the money spent :bsmilie:

Over the 20 years from 1982~2002 , I have amass and used various marque of SLR/MF and interesting lenses and did tried developing and printing my own colour neg and prints .... those were my growing up years. :heart:

Then I was totally sold and cut over to carl zeiss optics and eqpt after I accidentally came across a Japan contax magazine lying around in the then camera workshop(Don) in peninsula where some pictures they printed in there got a special kind of impact (later I learn - it's call bokeh) that really open my eyes to the difference between the Japan and German optics .

However after my second child come along , I find that I have really got no time and energy to go out for shooting anymore. Everyday has been a constant struggle between work and family and the prospect of lugging a heavy camera eqpt bag out with these young monsters on top of what I have to carry for their diaper change , toys and milk powder/bottles will surely break my back in no time.
So I stop totally except for a point and shoot digital camera which I bought for my family last year.:embrass:

I am now thinking of restart the hobby again since I have all these 'cocoon' in my dehumdifier.

Contax AX
21mm/F3.5 yashinon
50mm/F1.4 Planar
100mm/F2 Planar
180mm/F2.8 Sonnar
28-85/F3.3-4 Vario Sonnar

Contax G1
35mm
90mm

Rolleiflex TLR 2.8E xenotar

Rolleiflex 6002
40mm (non PQ)
80mm (non PQ)
150mm (non PQ)

So , is film still very much alive and can I said buy a digital SLR body and mount the above contax lens onto it?

Any suggestion/recommendation/comment are welcome !

 

[Octarine]

So , is film still very much alive and can I said buy a digital SLR body and mount the above contax lens onto it?

Just browse through the forum, there's even an age-old poll about "Going Back to Film" and many others discussing equipment, film types, processing and cross-processing and many other aspects of film photography.
Your lenses all have Nikon mount, right? Nikon has not changed the specs of that mount when going digital, so you can still use all your precious glass germs on a digital body. The only thing to take note of is the availability of metering (AF is not a topic anyway with your lenses). But for this you better check with Nikon fan Ken Rockwell. There is a lens compatibility chart that might help you in that question.

 

[flipfreak]

if u going to shoot digital, get a canon and use a cz to eos mount for your contax lenses.

 

[zeiss planar]

actually no , mine is all contax/yashica mount.
I think I will do as you suggest and search deeper .
Thanks.

 

[zeiss planar]

if u going to shoot digital, get a canon and use a cz to eos mount for your contax lenses.

I'm leaning towards sony dslr , is it possible ?Sorry if it has been discussed before.

 

[flipfreak]

I'm leaning towards sony dslr , is it possible ?Sorry if it has been discussed before.

not sure abt sony. i think it shld be possible with an adapter.

http://alphatracks.com/archives/141

 

[Octarine]

actually no , mine is all contax/yashica mount.
I think I will do as you suggest and search deeper .

Then get the adapters for your new body, I have two C/Y lenses in use on Canon with adapter (including AF confirmation), works nicely.

 

[zeiss planar]

Then get the adapters for your new body, I have two C/Y lenses in use on Canon with adapter (including AF confirmation), works nicely.

Great!But I'm thinking of using a Sony Dslr because of it's arsenal of CZ digital lenses which I may plan to acquire later....
Is it possible ? Is there a adapter for older CZ mount to the sony mount?

Sorry if I'm getting irritating.

 

[glimss]

C/Y lens to Sony Alpha camera straight adaptor not possible because of small flange difference (about 1 mm).

Need to change mount. See
http://www.leitax.com/Zeiss-Contax-lens-for-Sony-cameras.html

 

[Titan10k]

Take a look here: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1037&message=32511394&changemode=1

It's not possible to adapt C/Y mount to Sony Alpha mount without modding the lenses. Thou, if you dont plan going back to film, modding your C/Y lenses to Alpha mount shouldn't be a problem.

 

[egnaro]

I feel that mod the lens is not a good idea... pardon my ignorance, can the lens mod back to it original state?

using adapter will keep you current asset in good condition and more future proof, in case U dun like Sony body.

 

[zeiss planar]

thank you guys!
I do not intent to do any machining to the mount as I still want to use it on my AX .so I think that left me with the options of buying a adapter for CYCZ ~ EOS camera body.

Which body do you all recommed - as long as it can do justice to the zeiss optics?

 

[Belle&Sebastain]

thank you guys!
I do not intent to do any machining to the mount as I still want to use it on my AX .so I think that left me with the options of buying a adapter for CYCZ ~ EOS camera body.

Which body do you all recommed - as long as it can do justice to the zeiss optics?

Any EOS body will do, as long as its fits your budget. There is no models that you should avoid. All can make excellent images.

 

[zeiss planar]

Any EOS body will do, as long as its fits your budget. There is no models that you should avoid. All can make excellent images.

I see , what about those megapixel stuff ? Some are 8 some 10 and some 12 .... does it make any difference to the final pictures? ( sorry for being such a snoob ..I'm completely clueless )

Thanks.

 

[Galdor]

thank you guys!
I do not intent to do any machining to the mount as I still want to use it on my AX .so I think that left me with the options of buying a adapter for CYCZ ~ EOS camera body.

Which body do you all recommed - as long as it can do justice to the zeiss optics?

You can consider the C/Y -> 4/3 adapters too. Olympus cams are pretty awesome.

 

[glimss]

Impartant to find camera body that is easy to manual focus. Most (all?) DSLR focusing screen no split prism or microprism focusing aid.

Nikon DSLR uses electronic rangefinder that is not easy to use. Don't know abouy Oly or Canon DSLR. Had an FM and OM2 in the past. Focusing easy. With Nikon D90 very painful.

Alternative, change the focusing screen. I was desperate enough to consider this. But eventually decided to leave manual with manual and auto with auto.

 

[zeiss planar]

You can consider the C/Y -> 4/3 adapters too. Olympus cams are pretty awesome.

it is getting more and more interesting .Just like opening a can of worms....

can you point me to some source or info ?Thanks .

 

[zeiss planar]

Impartant to find camera body that is easy to manual focus. Most (all?) DSLR focusing screen no split prism or microprism focusing aid.

Nikon DSLR uses electronic rangefinder that is not easy to use. Don't know abouy Oly or Canon DSLR. Had an FM and OM2 in the past. Focusing easy. With Nikon D90 very painful.

Alternative, change the focusing screen. I was desperate enough to consider this. But eventually decided to leave manual with manual and auto with auto.

Thanks for the headup , I didn't knew that split screen is out for most if not all DSLR .

 

[Galdor]

it is getting more and more interesting .Just like opening a can of worms....

can you point me to some source or info ?Thanks .

There are a couple of such adaptors available in eBay. You can do a search. Here's another: http://www.rugift.com/photocameras/contax_olympus4-3_adapter.htm

 

[zeiss planar]

There are a couple of such adaptors available in eBay. You can do a search. Here's another: http://www.rugift.com/photocameras/contax_olympus4-3_adapter.htm

thank you ,but I prefer to buy it locally .Maybe I should check around peninsula area.