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FS: Contarex Sonnar 85mm f/2.0 plus E-mount adapter

vdeakin

Member
For sale is Contarex Sonnar 85/2, the first of my family jewels.
The selling price is $1150.00 plus shipping and PP fees if any.
There is nothing wrong with the lens. I’m selling it to finance another photographic paradigm to which this sonnar cannot be attached. The glass is in perfect condition, but it’s a chromium half-a-century old body.
There is no mark-up involved, just recouping my costs.
If it appears that the price is on the high end of the range, it reflects the cost of cleaning and re-collimating which is recommended for most Contarex lenses sold today (ask Henry Scherer). Take away the cost of CLA , and the price looks more than attractive.
The lens was acquired in early 2012 for just under $1000.00 and seemed to be in a very nice shape to begin with, but I was cleaning another Contarex (a Planar 50/2 which needed it) and decided to give the Sonnar a physical after a half century of action.
The lens was lubed and cleaned in 02/2012 by Mid-State Camera service in Chicago for $150. I have the receipt and will provide a copy (if not the original). Both front and rear original Zeiss caps are included.
If you are not familiar with how good this lens is, do not take my word for it, but go on Flickr and compare it, say, to ZM Sonnar 82/2 or the Planar 100/2. It’s been referenced as a king of bokeh, and it has that rarest 3D multi-plane perspective as opposed to the more common front plane separation from the rest of the picture (IMVHO, of course).
Incidentally, I read a Contarex guru stating that chromium Contarexes, though markedly cheaper that their black shiny cousins, actually feel and look better made. The black contarexes are mostly recent models with multicoating, but late chromium ones are multicoated too, so make your conclusions. This Sonnar is multicoated – you can tell by the purple tinge; the single coating is sort of orange greenish.
I’m also selling my Kipon Contarex – E mount adapter for $90 ($125 new).
It would be sold after or together with the Sonnar. It is the best adapter I ever had – smooth, solid w/perfect infinity on both Contarexes I used. And it still looks like new.
As mentioned, the price for the lens and/or adapter doesn’t include shipping w/insurance or PayPal fees. Checks or PayPal gifts are o.k.
Returns within first ten days within continental USA are o.k. too.
I’ve sold a few items at this forum before (there must be some feedback), and I have the same moniker on Ebay.
 

vdeakin

Member
Well, let's bump it up and do a little correction in price to $1125.00, so that somebody could have a little left for a nice bottle of wine to drink to his/her new splendid Contarex Sonnar.
 

vdeakin

Member
I forgot to mention that there exists a Contarex to Leica M adapter by Kipon, presumably, also a very nice adapter to accommodate owners of M240.
 

vdeakin

Member
All right, for those who are interested in both the lens and the adapter, the adapter is discounted to $50. For those interested in the lens only, $1100 is the total inclusive of the fees and the shipment for the CONUS residents.
 

vdeakin

Member
All right, any ideas/offers/suggestions (within reason) for those who maybe still interested before the lens goes to Ebay?
 

vdeakin

Member
O.K. Let's give it a belated new try. I never got around to placing it on Ebay, but here it is, a new offer of $1000.00 for the lens. Shipping and PP fees extra (I'll accept a check). The beautiful Kipon CRX-e adapter ($125 new) is yours for $50 if you buy the lens, and it's still practically new.
 
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