Contax CY to Nikon F lens mount adaptors.

[MarkWalker]

I've always used native mount lenses, but given my selection of Contax / Carl Zeiss prime lenses, I'm considering trying one of those CY to F Adaptors. Does anyone have much experience with these or any other type of mount converters? For example, given that the Carl Zeiss glass is supposed to be really good, am I going to see the image quality drop?

Just so happens I can only find one for CY to F that focuses to infinity and that's an Urth (which does include an element) - whoever they are!

We're talking old skool, so aperture on the lens and manual focus so no need to talk about the electronics of the 2000s.

Thoughts or any experience feedback are appreciated or should I just stock up on my AIS F mount primes

 

[droj]

That element in the Urth, in theory is a compromise. But then so is life at large! So maybe give it a go ...

Anything Urth I've had (adapters, filters) has been reasonable to good.

But your Contax primes would adapt easily to a mirrorless camera, with no element needed ... ;-)

given that the Carl Zeiss glass is supposed to be really good

That's hearsay & rather vague. No lens is 'perfect'! Trust your own eyes, I say. Who, for instance, needs sharpness right into the corners? And one person's bokeh is another person's poison. Get on with life. Enjoy.

 

[ancient_mariner]

An element in an adapter WILL degrade quality, but you might not notice the difference.

 

[Nod]

IF Amazon do the Urth adaptor, I'd be very tempted to give it a try. Yes, the element in the adaptor almost certainly will degrade the image but possibly only slightly and, let's face it, you can't use those Zeiss lenses without it!

Had a quick look at a few reviews and they only seem to really dislike the fact that their adaptors (NOT Zeiss to F mount) don't allow aperture adjustment - not a problem for you!

 

[desf]

Best way to get Zeiss glass on your Nikon would be to buy the Zeiss lenses that were made for F mount.

 

[MarkWalker]

Thanks - I guess that's what I expected to hear, and given we're talking about running HP5 or another ISO 400 film, I can probably get away with it. If I can ever be bothered I'll share some Contax RTS II with Zeiss V Nikon F with dodgy adaptor and Zeiss (and I bet or hope we can't tell the difference).

I suspect I'm the weakest link in all this techy talk stuff.

 

[ancient_mariner]

I hadn't realised this was the F&C section. You probably won't notice a difference, especially with 400 film.

 

[Clive K]

The Urth adapter for full frame mirrorless cameras don't have any glass in them. They are hollow tubes. Basically a spacer.

Regards image quality; I have Zeiss lenses from the Contarex series, T* lenses from 1970's & 80's Contax cameras and Yashica ML lenses. Compared to the Lumix 24-105 lens that came with my S1 only the early Contaflex lenses are noticibly different from the modern Lumix lens. It is hard to describe, but the older Zeiss glass has a unique character that sets it aside from the more modern optics.










I took some identical photos using a Zeiss 50mm Planar from a Contax, a 28-85 Vario-Sonnar also C/Y mount, a Yashica 42-74mm ML lens, and the Lumix 24-105mm. In PS I cropped them to 100% and pasted them one above the other. I couldn't tell them apart. But I can see the difference in the Contarex lens images. Same with scanned film shots.

 

[MarkWalker]

The Urth adaptor for the CY to F has one optic, from what I could make out, the cheaper alternatives without glass do not allow focus to infinity.

 

[Clive K]

I have two adapters, one for C/Y to L and the other CRX to L. Neither have any glass and both focus to infinity.

 

[Mr Perceptive]

I think there is the possibility of confusion on this thread.

With a mirrorless camera (and mount), there is a decent amount of spare room for mounting older legacy lenses (no mirror box space), so an adapter without optics can be used to get the lens at the correct flange distance.

With the conversion between two film era mounts, ie Contax C/Y to Nikon F you have very little allowable distance to put an adapter in (and in some cases this distance can be a neagtive number), so you end up with an adapter with optics in it to put the image circle from the lens in the right place.

Guide to flange distances

Ultimate Guide to Flange Focal Distance

Flange Focal Distance - also known as Flange Distance - is the distance from the camera's mounting flange to the film or sensor plane.

briansmith.com