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on Jun 29, 2021 16:40:22 GMT
Last Edit: Aug 25, 2021 19:04:47 GMT by lumiworx
This was prompted in part by biggles3 earlier question on comparing the Konica 24mm to the Yashica 24mm, and I threw in a Distagon 28mm to round out the field. This was done way too quickly by dodging rain drops before a storm landed, so forgive the choice of shots and a limit of 3 per lens. All shots try to cover a long, medium, and close distance shot. They were all shot at f/5.6, so not a great way to show off any bokeh characteristics, but reasonable to cover the sweet spot on all 3 lenses. The proper hood was used on all 3 (the Yashica 62 screw-in took a long time to find), and everything was shot on a Sony A7R at ISO 100. Other than some exposure corrections on the 'church' shot from all 3 lenses, there's no other post work done beyond the conversion to JPG's from Lightroom. The barrel distortion on all of them is pretty evident if you look closely, and I think the slight vignetting on the 'porch' shot using the Konica is due to the hood coming loose and shifting a bit. It isn't evident in the other shots. For the sake of testing I didn't remove either issue. I've also modified my camera setup to use the 'Neutral' color profile, and although it's not supposed to - it actually does affect RAW files, so these should be better representative of the true colors and saturation, even under auto white balance. The lineup... The results were pretty much in line with what I expected for the Zeiss vs Yashica glass, but the Konica seems to be able to hold it's own. I've posted a full set of photos in full size (no crops) but limited the file size to 1MB to force a bit of compression to resolutions. I may try doing this again on a better day, so with no graphics to distinguish what's what... the title/caption on each will give the proper context. They're all posted to the testbed gallery, and if you want to see them full size, it requires an extra step to view the larger version. Click on the 3-dot 'More' menu in the upper-right of the browser window, and select "Full Photo".
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on Jun 29, 2021 18:18:40 GMT
Last Edit: Jun 29, 2021 22:44:39 GMT by xkaes
Here's my first "REAL" camera -- No, that's not me.
I've always been impressed with Konica glass!
What that "Contax 55/88 Ring"? A lens shade or a step-up ring or both?
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on Jun 29, 2021 19:59:37 GMT
Last Edit: Jun 29, 2021 20:00:34 GMT by lumiworx
I remember reading something years ago that the Japanese government issued (or at least recommended) Konica gear to civic employees that needed to use camera gear with their jobs for documentation, etc. - like inspectors, and engineers. A quote from Buhle.de ... "During their production period, the Konica Hexanan lenses have been the standard of the Japanese Industry Ministry, used to judge the quality of produced lenses from other manufacturers.", so that seems to say a lot for their reputation and quality at the time these were made. xkaes ... Yep - it's a standard 55/86 ring, and a "Hood 1" (w/ rubber grip ring) that's hiding under the metal K-94 cap. That's the ring/hood combo listed in the dealer pages for use with both the 28mm and 25mm Distagon lenses.
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on Jun 29, 2021 22:49:42 GMT
Posted: Jun 29, 2021 22:49:42 GMT
OK, I misread it. I thought it was 55/88, but I must admit that a 55 to 86mm is still pretty odd. What's the purpose of the "Hood 1"? And is the Yashica shade also a 55-86mm step-up ring?
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on Jun 30, 2021 2:51:08 GMT
Posted: Jun 30, 2021 2:51:08 GMT
OK, I misread it. I thought it was 55/88, but I must admit that a 55 to 86mm is still pretty odd. What's the purpose of the "Hood 1"? And is the Yashica shade also a 55-86mm step-up ring? The 55/86 is an adapter that's like half a hood, then you add the matching hood bell for whatever lens you are using the 55/86 on. And there is more than one size adapter.
PF
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on Jun 30, 2021 9:08:28 GMT
Last Edit: Jun 30, 2021 9:10:54 GMT by biggles3
OK, I misread it. I thought it was 55/88, but I must admit that a 55 to 86mm is still pretty odd. What's the purpose of the "Hood 1"? And is the Yashica shade also a 55-86mm step-up ring? Contax produced a large number of lens hoods for the C/Y range; the metal ones were numbered 1-5, with No.1 being the most shallow and No.5 the deepest and they all had 86mm threads. There was a single exception in the Hood W-1 which has a 82mm thread and is dedicated to the 21mm Distagon and VS 28-85mm. Obviously, the shallower the hood, the wider the angle of acceptance so the Hood No.1 was intended for use with the 25mm, 28mm f2 and 28mm f2.8 Distagons using the 55/86 Adapter Ring; the VS 35-70mm using the 67/86 Ring or Gelatine Filter Holder and, using the 82/86S Ring, the 35-135mm. By contrast, Hood No.5 was designed for use with the telephotos plus the long zooms. Contax also produced rubber hoods in 55mm and 67mm of varying depths plus dedicated 77mm metal hoods for their 55mm and 85mm f1.2 Planars. Contax produced 8 different Adapter Rings: 49-55 (for the 45mm pancake lens), 55/86, 67/86, 70-86 (the only slip-on type; for the 18mm and PC-35mm and very expensive and hard to find!), 72/86, 77/86, 82/86 and 82/86S (very shallow) plus the aforementioned Gelatine Filter Holder which has a native 67mm thread but came with a dedicated 55mm Ring. A few of the Rings have sufficient depth that they can be used as hoods with some lenses. The Yashica shade which lumiworx has attached to the 24mm lens is the very rare, Yashica 62mm metal circular screw-in hood for the ML 24mm lens. As he said, it took him a long time to find one.... If it's of any use, I can produce a list of the Contax Hoods and Adapter Rings along with the lenses for which they were intended. Needless to say, the hoods can be used with a much wider variety of lenses, including many Yashica models, by employing step-up rings of the appropriate sizes.
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on Jun 30, 2021 12:17:28 GMT
Last Edit: Jun 30, 2021 12:30:30 GMT by lumiworx
biggles3 ... the link to the dealer pages I posted has all of the Yashica and Contax hoods, rings, and filters for the whole lineup. It includes the gelatin filter stuff too, the whole Softar set, and even the Contax metal lens caps. Oddly, I have the Hood W-1, but no 21mm Zeiss to go with it, and the Zeiss 18mm f/4, but I'm still looking for the matching hood. The question is, which will I get first... the cash to splurge on the 21mm lens, or finally find a hood for an 18mm. For now I'd say it's a 50/50 chance of either one ever happening, so in textual terms.... slim, to slimer, to "not this year". :) xkaes ... I think the idea was to create a universal set of parts that could cover the whole lens lineup with some mixing and matching to suit the focal length you need. I don't think I've ever seen anyone else try the same concept, and although it does work to a certain extent, it's a pain to carry around a stack of parts to cover all the possible combinations. The downside was that they didn't design the hoods to be easily stackable, so it's easy to take up the space of a couple of lenses before you know it. The Yashica uses a simple wide angle shade that's sized for the 24mm. There's no step-up ring... just the extra 'flange' on the lens front to accommodate the larger size of the front element block.
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on Jun 30, 2021 12:48:33 GMT
Posted: Jun 30, 2021 12:48:33 GMT
I understand Contax's approach to lens shades. What I don't get is why an 86mm filter thread on the front? Did they offer something to attach the that 86mm thread? I've got a lot of lens shades -- the widest is 105mm -- but none of them have threads on the front.
(There are a couple of "exceptions", like Mamiya, Soligor, & Tamron that have front threads INSIDE the hood so that the hood can be attached REVERSED on the lens for storage.)
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on Jun 30, 2021 14:02:19 GMT
Posted: Jun 30, 2021 14:02:19 GMT
biggles3 ... the link to the dealer pages I posted has all of the Yashica and Contax hoods, rings, and filters for the whole lineup. It includes the gelatin filter stuff too, the whole Softar set, and even the Contax metal lens caps. Oddly, I have the Hood W-1, but no 21mm Zeiss to go with it, and the Zeiss 18mm f/4, but I'm still looking for the matching hood. The question is, which will I get first... the cash to splurge on the 21mm lens, or finally find a hood for an 18mm. For now I'd say it's a 50/50 chance of either one ever happening, so in textual terms.... slim, to slimer, to "not this year". xkaes ... I think the idea was to create a universal set of parts that could cover the whole lens lineup with some mixing and matching to suit the focal length you need. I don't think I've ever seen anyone else try the same concept, and although it does work to a certain extent, it's a pain to carry around a stack of parts to cover all the possible combinations. The downside was that they didn't design the hoods to be easily stackable, so it's easy to take up the space of a couple of lenses before you know it. The Yashica uses a simple wide angle shade that's sized for the 24mm. There's no step-up ring... just the extra 'flange' on the lens front to accommodate the larger size of the front element block. That's good news; those dealer pages have saved me from extra work. Don't forget that there is an alternative to the Contax 70mm slip-on ring - Tamron's 70mm version designed for the original SP 17mm f3.5; it too fits both Zeiss lenses. It is marginally easier to find and less costly than the Contax ring.
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on Jun 30, 2021 14:26:24 GMT
Posted: Jun 30, 2021 14:26:24 GMT
I understand Contax's approach to lens shades. What I don't get is why an 86mm filter thread on the front? Did they offer something to attach the that 86mm thread? I've got a lot of lens shades -- the widest is 105mm -- but none of them have threads on the front. (There are a couple of "exceptions", like Mamiya, Soligor, & Tamron that have front threads INSIDE the hood so that the hood can be attached REVERSED on the lens for storage.) Hi - you may have misunderstood the reference to the 86mm ring. The hood does not have a filter ring on its front edge; it is purely at the rear so that it can attach either directly to the relevant Adapter Ring or a filter. What Contax did back in 1975 was to develop a series of hoods that was slightly larger than the filter ring diameter of their largest lens (300mm f4 at that time; the Mirotars are a separate matter) to allow attachment of a filter and any hood without causing vignetting. The Hood No.5 (the deepest) could be attached to the 300mm f4 (even though it has a built-in hood) with an 82mm filter already in situ and you would know that no part of the hood would impact the corners of your photos. Standardising the diameter of the hoods was less costly than producing a vast range to suit all possible needs; it was much less costly, and more versatile, to produce a series of adapter rings to which any of the hoods could be attached. It also meant that you could save money as the photographer because the same hood could be used on a number of different lenses simply by changing the adapter ring.
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on Jun 30, 2021 19:01:49 GMT
Posted: Jun 30, 2021 19:01:49 GMT
The Mir site has a great reference for the adapter rings and hoods too.
One additional benefit is the ability to use the K-84 metal hood caps which slip on to the end of the hoods. For my money, it’s essential to use a 70/86 and a metal cap on the 35mm PC-Distagon shift lens. Unfortunately the caps are absurdly, eye-wateringly expensive and, unlike the G-series caps, no one has thought to manufacture a copy.
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on Aug 25, 2021 13:12:30 GMT
Posted: Aug 25, 2021 13:12:30 GMT
That's good news; those dealer pages have saved me from extra work. Don't forget that there is an alternative to the Contax 70mm slip-on ring - Tamron's 70mm version designed for the original SP 17mm f3.5; it too fits both Zeiss lenses. It is marginally easier to find and less costly than the Contax ring. Tell me more about this Tamron ring, please. Is it a lens hood with a 70mm thread?
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on Aug 25, 2021 15:26:52 GMT
Posted: Aug 25, 2021 15:26:52 GMT
That's good news; those dealer pages have saved me from extra work. Don't forget that there is an alternative to the Contax 70mm slip-on ring - Tamron's 70mm version designed for the original SP 17mm f3.5; it too fits both Zeiss lenses. It is marginally easier to find and less costly than the Contax ring. Tell me more about this Tamron ring, please. Is it a lens hood with a 70mm thread? Yes and no. It is a lens hood but it does not have a 70mm thread. The Tamron 20FH is a petal hood which attaches to the lens using 2 screws which press onto the front part of the barrel. It takes 82mm filters. The Contax by contrast is a slip-on ring which uses a friction ring to attach itself to the likes of the 18mm f4 or 35mm PC-Distagon; this ensures that the lens remains unmarked. The Contax ring acts as a shallow hood and 86mm filters can be attached. If you use the Tamron lens hood on the Zeiss lenses, it should prove shallow enough to avoid any issues of vignetting with or without a filter. Unfortunately, so hard are both these hoods to find, you can now expect to pay $100-150 for the Contax and only a little less for the Tamron. Probably your best bet would be to buy a Tamron 51B (NOT the 151B) lens with a hood and then offset the cost by selling the lens; that way you should be able to get the hood for a net $50-70.
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on Aug 25, 2021 19:41:30 GMT
Last Edit: Aug 25, 2021 19:45:49 GMT by lumiworx
One more thing to note about the Contax ring/hood system... although there's no true threads at the front lip of the hood, it does have concentric groves. Those are more than enough to give a grip surface for pinch lens caps to grab on to - just as a front lens ring does. I got extremely lucky that a K-94 metal cap came with a #1 hood in a lens bundle, as they can be pricey on their own, but if you only need practical low cost protection, there's no need to spend big money. Depending on which hood is used, the xtra large metal slip-on caps specifically made for hoods and their 'pinch' stand-ins are: 89mm (K-84) for hood. 3, 4 and 5 -or- 86mm pinch cap 99mm (K-94) for hood 1 and 2 -or- 95mm pinch cap A K-94 cap, in with shot cleanup tools....
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on Aug 26, 2021 15:19:41 GMT
Last Edit: Aug 26, 2021 15:20:16 GMT by biggles3
Hi lumiworx How I wish one could find the dies for those metal caps as I'm always getting requests for them, especially the K-84's. Perhaps the most interesting one is the K-841 (80mm); the ones that arrived with their lenses have a lovely, thin, scalloped felt lining so that they cling perfectly to the lens and never mark it. However, something I only spotted today as a result of your post is that the spare ones I ordered are all lacking that felt refinement... They still fit of course but feel less secure, if only psychologically... And you can buy two ML 24mm lenses for the selling price of one original K-841. Go figure...
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