Contax G to MFT adapter - anyone?

[slau]

Thank you, Jonas, for your detailed and objective comments.

I am happy with the RJ adapter and I probably will be happier with the other adapter. But, you yourself have to decide how to use the lens and how much you are willing to spend on the adapter. Plus, there are a lot other options out there beside the Contax G lenses.

One thing I did find out that for me, with the RJ adapter, if I place my left hand on top of the lens and use my thumb (pointing down) to turn the little focusing wheel, it works a lot better for ME. It was a bit odd at the beginning as most of us hold our lenses with our hands supporting the lens from the bottom, and focus at the same time. I hope I make myself clear without taking a picture .

 

[Jonas]

(...) I hope I make myself clear without taking a picture .

No, I think you have to throw in like three images on that one. The hand at the top of the lens?

 

[scho]

Thank you, Jonas, for your detailed and objective comments.

I am happy with the RJ adapter and I probably will be happier with the other adapter. But, you yourself have to decide how to use the lens and how much you are willing to spend on the adapter. Plus, there are a lot other options out there beside the Contax G lenses.

One thing I did find out that for me, with the RJ adapter, if I place my left hand on top of the lens and use my thumb (pointing down) to turn the little focusing wheel, it works a lot better for ME. It was a bit odd at the beginning as most of us hold our lenses with our hands supporting the lens from the bottom, and focus at the same time. I hope I make myself clear without taking a picture .

Yes, that is the way I have been focusing also. It is a bit awkward when using portrait orientation, but one gets acclimated to these contortions after awhile.:banghead:

 

[zivk]

, adapters is probably way better for street shooting. But, well, I haven't tried the RJ adapter. The Kipon adapter makes for pretty easy fast focusing as long as it isn't super critical.


Thanks Jonas. I will probably wait for either the Kipon or Monza's. In the meantime practice makes perfect. Even RJ works OK and I am now practicing without MF assist magnification on the big LCD instead of the LVF. Usually, the first time it snaps into focus is the most precise. Just have to trust my eye the first time.

Marko

 

[Leica 77]

Lumix G1 + Contax G 45mm f2.0 via RJ Adapter. It took awhile to get used to the RJ Adapter with a small focusing wheel. Like with so many other things, we have amazing abilities to adapt to something new. Best regards. Leica 77.

 

[ReeRay]

GF1, Contax G 90mm Sonnar, 1/100th @ F2.8, ISO 800, RJ adapter

 

[zivk]

Almost the same setup:
GF-1, Contax G 90mm Sonnar 2.8, 1/400 at ISO 400, RJ adapter

 

[Leica 77]

ReeRay and zivk,
Very nice shots! We would like to see more images produced by Carl Zeiss Contax G lenses. All the best, Leica 77.

 

[Devon Shaw]

Devon, what you see is a reflection from the edge of the cogwheel. The width of the wheel is, moment... 1.7mm. Then there is a 1mm washer right behind the cogwheel preventing it from dig deep into your thumb.

In actual use it works fine. No aching thumb here.

regards,

/Jonas

Ah. Thank you.

 

[woodyspedden]

Monza

What is the status of your G to micro 4/3 adapter?

Woody

 

[monza]

I am supposed to get an update from the manufacturer today...the first article I sent back for some adjustments...

 

[47th_vacuum_space]

Hmm...got my Lens Workshop adapter today, and I have mixed feelings. It is indeed solidly built, and for my part, mounting and unmounting lenses is a snap--I had no trouble at all. But the focus action is extremely rough and uneven--sub-FSU, really. It feels very much as though they forgot to lubricate it at all. The only other adapter I have ever paid so much for is Amedeo's Contax-to-Leica, which by comparison is incredibly smooth. Apples and oranges, I know, but for this amount of money I might have expected a better feel. Moving subjects are completely out of the question.

[EDIT: a couple of drops of sewing machine oil ("Zoom Spout") followed by judicious wiping away of the excess and 15 minutes of working the ring have improved the action slightly, but this thing really needs some lens grease.]

That said, image quality is great, and live view makes it possible to really take advantage of the extremely close focus these lenses are capable of. Here are samples, this is on the E-P2. 45mm Planar:

90mm Sonnar:

 

[gmoe]

Hey mabelsound,

I'm curious if you got a bad lens workshop adapter. Jonas who has one of the adapters didn't seem to mention that focusing was that rough.. Hmm.. That's too bad.

Jonas is your adapter just as rough when focusing?

 

[47th_vacuum_space]

It's not as bad as all that. But I think I'm going to ask for a refund, unless one of you guys wants it. PM me if you do, I'll knock a few bucks off the price. I'm just comparing it to Leica M and Olympus Pen lenses, and it is never going to measure up in a hundred years.

 

[Jonas]

Jonas is your adapter just as rough when focusing?

Gary, let me quote myself from last page:

(...)
The problem with this combo and critical focusing is the screwdrive AF construction combined with the geared focusing ring. There is a play when switching direction of the ring, there are many mechanical links and sometimes they can offer points with increased resistance.

It's not like anything is jamming or binding but the resistance is uneven and there is a lot of feedback from the fingers for the brain to deal with...

I wonder if the problem mabelsound describes has something to do with the screwdrive AF in the lenses; I have noticed that my Kipon adapter focusing wheel is completely smooth to turn when mounted to one of my G lenses, with the other one it meets an irritating and increased resistance at a couple of places.

The focusing ring on my Lens-workshop adapter feels fine and smooth when there is no lens is attached to it.

hth,

/Jonas

 

[47th_vacuum_space]

The focusing ring on my Lens-workshop adapter feels fine and smooth when there is no lens is attached to it.

Mine too. I think the adapters are the same; your description matches my impressions. Both my lenses focus quickly on the G2, though--I just don't think the tolerances of the adapter match those of the lenses. This is no big deal with, say, a Leica M adapter, but it does make a difference here.

 

[skywalker]

I suggest you guys waiting for KIPON' new one with big focus ring around the beginning of April,they have already put into mass production,will let G lens holders enjoy the lens doesn't need to suffer the pain for focusing.The price would be around 150US$.

 

[larryk]

I bought the Kipon adapter for about US $ 119. I also have an non-geared adapter on the 90mm lens. It was so much trouble getting it off that I bought the Kipon adapter for the 45mm lens. The geared adapter feels better, but the non-geared one seems more direct (duh, no gears). Both work quite well once you get used to them. Once you get used to one of them the other one is obviously easy to use. I don't notice much difference between the two. I'd definitly go for two non-geared ones (now $80?) for $160 and the convenience of not switching them over buying a single geared one for $150-$200. Once mounted, you just forget about them entirely. I don't have a Contax G camera to use them on anyway. By the way, it looks like KEH no longer has any G1/2 45mm and 90mm lenses in stock. Did they all get bought up already?

 

[Halcyon]

Hi everybody,

I'm a newby on this forum but so far as I can see, it's the right place to post for cat lovers , 4/3 nuts and Zeiss G addicts! Enough for me to join in.

I use a RJ adapter and, like Slau, Scho and maybe others, I spontaneously put my left hand above the lens and use my thumb to turn the wheel. Despite the fact it's unusual, focusing like this is convenient to me and works fine.

My main concern with the RJ adapter is that it hasn't been designed to fit exactly on the infinity (it should be about 1.7mm thicker for that): the focusing wheel go needlessly beyond the infinity which, in turn, deprives us of the closest distance shots (0.50m becomes some 0.75m). Has anybody already met this problem and found a solution?

I am looking forward to discovering the monza geared adapter and firmly hope it will not be spoilt from the origin by this drawback.

 

[koji]

Welcome abord, Halcyon.

After reading your post, I checked my RJ adapter. Yes, it does focus beyond infinity
a lot, but I can focus G-Planar 45/2 to 0.49m (apporx. 18" for north americans).
Thickness of my adapter is just 9.8mm, so total register distance becomes ~29.8mm
for G-lenses. Yet it can focus to the originally designed 0.5m and beyond infinity too
is the lens has built-in tolerance/slackness for electrical focus mechanism of G1/G2.

note: The official register distance of Contax G1/2 is 29mm. The lens' resting position
(i.e. power off stage) is a bit closer to the camera body than their infinity position.