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Contax G to MFT adapter - anyone?

gmoe

New member
Got my monza adapter via wjlapier. Thanks! So far my 90mm and 45mm seem fairly smooth. My 28mm is a little sticky but usable. But my 35mm is not. It turns and then stops and I can't go any farther and need to jiggle it back and forth before I can get the focus ring to move. Weird thing is if I take a small screwdriver and turn the focus rings it moves smoothly. I did the same thing on the 45mm and it is much more rough when turning the focus with the screwdriver yet when placing the monza adapter it turns fairly smoothly.

Any similar experiences or reasons behind the 35mm not being able to turn? Do the helicoids need to be regreased? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 

Ocean

Senior Subscriber Member
Got my monza adapter via wjlapier. Thanks! So far my 90mm and 45mm seem fairly smooth. My 28mm is a little sticky but usable. But my 35mm is not. It turns and then stops and I can't go any farther and need to jiggle it back and forth before I can get the focus ring to move. Weird thing is if I take a small screwdriver and turn the focus rings it moves smoothly. I did the same thing on the 45mm and it is much more rough when turning the focus with the screwdriver yet when placing the monza adapter it turns fairly smoothly.

Any similar experiences or reasons behind the 35mm not being able to turn? Do the helicoids need to be regreased? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I had similar experience but my 90 Sonnar just won't turn, and 35 and 45 Planars are working okay but far from smooth. I am also a bit disappointed...
 
U

uusunn

Guest
Hey Guys,

Longtime lurker but recent registrant here because I just wanted to clear up the general consensus amongst the different adapters available for Contax G - M43. Is there any way the owners of different adapters can possibly post a video showing how hard or easy it may be to focus (from the camera's viewpoint ("test footage") as well as from someone handling it)? I've seen videos for both adapters on YouTube, but i'm simply looking for someone who will show it being used to take photos or video.

I'd love to know simply because 100-200$ is a lot to bet on by word of mouth (at least for me), and i'd think that solid proof (such as a video) would be the ultimate benchmark in which we can make decisions from. I think it would ultimately be beneficial for all of the users buying in to all sorts of different adapters (and lord knows they don't come cheap).

The reviews seem to be mixed (most are skewed favorably towards the Monza adapter), but i'd like to hear thoughts on the newer revision of the Kipon (I believe there's a user on here a page back who said the focusing was 'as it should be'.. i'd love to hear more on that!)

I'm currently seriously considering two adapters:

Monza: http://contaxgm43.wordpress.com/
Kipon New Revision (via a member of this thread, 'jrosen2'): http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en#ht_950wt_1139

At this point i'm very much on the fence because while the Kipon 'focus ring' seems attractive, I just don't know if it's as smooth (the reviews are mixed based upon the revisions). As for the Monza, while the knob (?) is a very cool idea, i'm just not sure about it because i've never tried it (and therefore, more apprehensive).

Can the users who have used either or both chime in (either via a reply or perhaps a video?). I would very much appreciate it and i'd love to think that many others with the Contax G - M4/3 setup would as well.

Thank you!
 
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apicius9

New member
Well, I finally sat down and started to play with the G adapters. Connected Monza's adapter to the 90mm lens. It's too dark to check infinity, but overall it seems to work well. I wouldn't necessarily call it smooth but it is workable without too much annoyance, especially considering that I usually rarely jump from one extreme distance to the other and back. It is easy to attach the lens to the adapter and the adapter fits the camera snugly. The whole lens does have a little bit of play (I assume because of the tolerances for the little driving pin) but it seems stable enough not to affect the sharpness or anything else (just judging from the LCD). The position of the focusing wheel is fine. I have XL-sized hands and I cannot imagine using a smaller wheel than this, so I'm glad I didn't even try the first generation of adapters. This one works well with 2 fingers for me, it's not smooth enough for 1-finger operation.

I wanted to compare it to the other one I had bought a while ago through a group buy on another forum. That one has the outer focusing ring; as far as I understand it is the second run of the first outer-ring version that had appeared on ebay a while ago. The adapter looks nice but I was a little bit concerned by the outer ring being pretty much flush with the camera, that can make it difficult to focus quickly as I know well from some of my c-mount lenses. Unfortunately, I did not even get to try it out. I tried connecting the adapter to the 45mm lens and somehow must have not aligned them correctly. Now, the little driving pin is not in the respective slot and the lens does not snap in easily as it does in Monza's adapter. Lens and adapter are only loosely connected now, and I feel a bit stupid to say this but for the last 15 minutes I have sat here cursing and trying to separate the 2 again and still have not succeeded. :angry: :banghead: I'm giving up for now before I get too annoyed, will have a glass of wine to calm my nerves and will try again in the next few days... Tips are very welcome if you have come across this as well with one of these contraptions. I wish I had tried this adapter earlier, it had come just before I went on a longer trip and now it's too late to return it.

I don't have the new Kipon adapter with the outer ring, but from the picture it looks to me like the focusing ring is not as close to the camera as in the one I have, that would definitely be a bonus. But since I am not even sure that I will keep the lenses, I will definitely not get a third adapter to check it out :rolleyes:

More when (if) I get the lens and adapter separated...

Stefan
 
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Annna T

Active member
Lens and adapter are only loosely connected now, and I feel a bit stupid to say this but for the last 15 minutes I have sat here cursing and trying to separate the 2 again and still have not succeeded. :angry: :banghead: I'm giving up for now before I get too annoyed, will have a glass of wine to calm my nerves and will try again in the next few days... Tips are very welcome if you have come across this as well with one of these contraptions. I wish I had tried this adapter earlier, it had come just before I went on a longer trip and now it's too late to return it.
Do you know the Contax G lenses well ? are you aware that if you want to dismount them you have to seize them with the second silver ring and turn it counter clockwise ? if you seize the first ring (the black one nearer of the camera body) you can't unlock the lense and it won't come out of the body or the adapter.

Forgive me for this basic explanation, if you know these lenses well, but I've already heard of several people who were complaining about the adapter, but were not aware of the particular behaviour of the Zeiss G lenses.

I don't have the new Kipon adapter with the outer ring, but from the picture it looks to me like the focusing ring is not as close to the camera as in the one I have, that would definitely be a bonus. But since I am not even sure that I will keep the lenses, I will definitely not get a third adapter to check it out :rolleyes:

Stefan
You are not the first to complain about a ring adapter. I've already read that the ring was sitting too near of the body and thus difficult to operate due to the roughness encountered while focusing.

The new Kipon ring adapter seems to be better. I've read a good feedback on it at Dpreview. Personnally I own the second generation Kipon adapter with a bigger gear wheel. It is working smoothly with my 45mm lense and has some rough points on the 90mm lenses, particularly when I want to go back from infinite to a somewhat nearer point of focus. The 45mm lense can almost always be operated with a single finger, but the 90mm not so often.
I think that the problem lies more with the little screw on the lense operating the focusing mecanism than on the adapters and that almost all the adapters will show some roughness. That roughness may be easier to deal with using a ring adapter. After my relatively good experience with the Kipon adapter I'm considering getting one of those Kipon ring adapter as well.

All the more so that the Contax Zeiss G lenses are much lighter and more balanced with the E-P1 body than the heavier Leica M lenses I have.
 
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apicius9

New member
I'm glad I came back here before going to bed- Thanks very much for the explanation, Anna. I don't know the G lenses at all, so this was clearly user error. Following your comment it now works reasonably well. I have been switching the 45mm and the 90mm back and forth between the 2 adapters a few times and what I can add is that


a) both adapters work on both lenses; in my case the outer ring adapter seems to run slightly smoother with the 90mm and Monza's adapter is a bit smoother with the 45mm. However, as I mentioned before, 'smooth' is relative. I'm not expecting Leica smoothness from a simple adapter, but these two clearly show some grating and different resistance at different lengths.

b) I would say the ease of operation is comparable. The small wheel has its issues, but the large wheel close to the camera also has some, so that comes down to personal preference, I guess.

Of course, this is all after just playing around for the first time. I'll try to take the lenses out for a walk soon and see what happens in real-life situations. I also have the 35mm and will see how that works with the adapters, but that one is likely to go anyway - too many lenses...

Stefan
 

gmoe

New member
Hey Stefan agreed smooth is relative with these adapters and I know there is going to be additional play and stickyness no matter what.

Okay, after sitting with the monza adapter and my 35mm lens for hours with a flash light going over where the issue was with my lens I was determined to find some answers especially when Robert told me the 35mm lens has worked the best with his adapter.

So I did finally get the 35mm lens smooth by placing a thin post it note shim between the lens and adapter where the focusing screw connects. I'm on deadline for a film that I'm finishing so I'll post it later and show a quick video of the "smoothness" at least on my four lenses. I do think there's definite variation out there. Ultimately, I'd like to try to get another monza adapter to see if this "shimming" technique can be replicated and if it can provide even better smoothness for the other lenses.
 

sim

New member
Hello,

I'm not lucky I guess, with the Monza's adapter that I'v been using for more than a week now. The adapter's design is nice, it's well made and the focus wheel has the good size. It would be okay if it worked normally but the 90mm is very "sticky" and I can hardly move the focus ring of the 35mm. Only the 45mm is usable but, as others mentioned, with a "relative" smothness. That added with the unusal position of the focus ring, I find this is far from being a pleasant "photographic" experience… To my humble opinion, I think it's okay for an occasional use (especially if you only photograph flowers) but no more… There are other lenses that are as good as the Contax (Olympus OM for instance) which fonction normally.

Maybe that particular adapter calls for a more precise mecanism (There is some play between the lens and the camera body and I noticed smothness varies depending on the position of the camera).
That's why what KHG said on this forum seems very plausible to me :

"The "play" that is felt is caused by the variation in the width between the adapter's male focus drive screw and the female portion located on the lens… This variation in width is also what I believe is causing the sticking and stiffness… The key is to find a way to keep the adapter's screw drive centered on the lens drive… One option would be to slightly round off the adapter's screw drive. If you look at the Contax G body's screw drive you will notice that it is slightly rounded. When matched with a slightly rounded female end, this creates a centering feature."

And indeed, if you check, you will see that the female part on the lens (likewise on the body), are slightly rounded…

Anyways, dear Robert, I sent you an Email a few days ago, could you please answer?

Thank you.

Gilles
 
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davemillier

Member
Re: Kipon "Gold ring"

Hi

I have the 35mm and 90mm G lenses with my GF1. I have been using the Kipon Mk2 (geared thumbwheel) adaptor.

It has been fine: it is smooth and precise with both my lenses and focusing is straight forward. I would have been perfectly happy to stick with this except for the decision to get a leather case. The case partially blocks access to the thumbwheel and it can only be operated using the ball of the thumb on the edge of the wheel. It's a little wheel and operating it in this way needs a lot of pressure, much more so than without the case where I can use finger and thumb, and it can be tiring on the thumb.

So, I took a chance and today took receipt of the Mk 3 Kipon - the one one with the large gold ring around the outside.

I was worried it would be rough like the first ring model from another supplier that people have complained about. Not a bit of it. It has a firm action (geared presumably) but it has a smooth, snag free rotation without any slack, jerkiness or roughness.

Seems to be about as good as you are going to get I would say. The ring is far enough forward, so there is no trouble turning it even with the case. The only negative (minor) so far is that ring is narrow and even though it is knurled it is still made from glossy polished metal so if the weather is hot and your fingers sweaty it is slipperier than the typical rubber ring on a stock manual focus lens. Other than that, recommended, at least with my lenses.

Cheers

Dave
 
U

uusunn

Guest
Re: Kipon "Gold ring"

Hi

I have the 35mm and 90mm G lenses with my GF1. I have been using the Kipon Mk2 (geared thumbwheel) adaptor.

It has been fine: it is smooth and precise with both my lenses and focusing is straight forward. I would have been perfectly happy to stick with this except for the decision to get a leather case. The case partially blocks access to the thumbwheel and it can only be operated using the ball of the thumb on the edge of the wheel. It's a little wheel and operating it in this way needs a lot of pressure, much more so than without the case where I can use finger and thumb, and it can be tiring on the thumb.

So, I took a chance and today took receipt of the Mk 3 Kipon - the one one with the large gold ring around the outside.

I was worried it would be rough like the first ring model from another supplier that people have complained about. Not a bit of it. It has a firm action (geared presumably) but it has a smooth, snag free rotation without any slack, jerkiness or roughness.

Seems to be about as good as you are going to get I would say. The ring is far enough forward, so there is no trouble turning it even with the case. The only negative (minor) so far is that ring is narrow and even though it is knurled it is still made from glossy polished metal so if the weather is hot and your fingers sweaty it is slipperier than the typical rubber ring on a stock manual focus lens. Other than that, recommended, at least with my lenses.

Cheers

Dave
Sounds like we have a winner! :thumbup:
 

slau

New member
Dave, thank you for posting your experience with the Mk3 Kipon, which sounds like someone finally got it done right. Is it possible for you to post an image showing the adapter on the camera body? It is very confusing to go to their site trying to determine which one is the Mk3.
 

apicius9

New member
Just a few more small things I noticed today:

- after playing around, I think both adapters are a little smoother than before - just don't use them right after shooting with a Leica lens...

- focusing works well but with the gears it sometimes takes a bit of fiddling to get it exactly right.

- I hold the camera in my right hand and shoot portrait format with the grip up. That way, the wheel on Monza's adapter is on the 'wrong' side, i.e. I have to work the wheel on the right side of the lens with my left hand. A bit awkward.

I think it will just take a bit of adjustment and everyone has to decide how much they are willing to compromise for using these lenses. They definitely are a great match in size and balance for the GH1. I have to shoot a whle to make my decision, but pictures I have seen here have really inpressed me. I hope I can also get that out of these lenses one day.

Stefan
 
F

famendo

Guest
where can I buy the 3rd gen Kipon adapter? I found a picture of one on ebay with gold, but then in the description the auction says it is silver in color. I just want to buy and make sure I am getting the new one. Thanks.
 

davemillier

Member
where can I buy the 3rd gen Kipon adapter? I found a picture of one on ebay with gold, but then in the description the auction says it is silver in color. I just want to buy and make sure I am getting the new one. Thanks.
As far as I am aware, Kipon make two adaptors for contax g:

- one with a small thumbwheel
- one with a big knurled ring around the adaptor body.

The ring is available in gold and in chrome/silver I believe.

It's worth considering that there may be sample variation between adaptors and between lenses and there is no guarantee that because both my Kipon adapators work smoothly with both my contax lenses that the same will apply to every lens/adaptor combo. These things are aways a gamble (although it has to be said I have bought a dozen or adaptors from ebay for various cameras and mounts and every one has worked well, even the ones that cost £6!).

David
 
F

famendo

Guest
How does one tell the difference between a Kipon Generation 1,2, and 3?
 

Annna T

Active member
How does one tell the difference between a Kipon Generation 1,2, and 3?
The third generation adapter is the one with a focusing ring, so it is easy to differentiate between that one and the two others. There is another ring focusing adapter around, but the Kipon brand name is not written on the ring.

It may be more difficult to differentiate between the first and second generation. The one I got from Roxsen on Ebay said it was a second generation adapter with a bigger gearwheel. From what Iv'e read here on this list, the second generation goes from near to far faster, you yre doen with one turn of the wheel. When I got it, they were more expensive than the first generation ones. But it will progabyl be difficult to know for sure without operating them. I'd say that if the dealer doesn't say that it is a second generation adapter in the add, then it is probably a first generation one.

Before the ring adapter came out, the second generationi adapter were also more expensive. I don't know how the prices evolved since the new ring adapter is available.
 
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