"Ikonic": The Contax Rangefinder Lenses

It's no secret that Zeiss has deep ties to the photography industry. They have decades' worth of experience in manufacturing high-quality lenses. From the DSLR days, Nikon F and Canon EF shooters were no strangers to Zeiss lenses, and the same can be said for Sony E and Fuji X shooters in the modern mirrorless era. Zeiss has also made lenses for medium format systems like Hasselblad and Rollei.

While we all know Zeiss for their lenses, they also manufactured cameras. They've dabbled into all sorts: medium format, large format, twin lens reflex, single lens reflex, and even rangefinders. Of their rangefinder systems, one mount in particular was one we didn't make adapters for (and interest certainly grew over time). While not bearing the Zeiss branding, the Contax rangefinder mount is only used by a few select cameras, but it has a wide variety of lenses available.

The Contax rangefinder cameras were unique because of their mounts. It had two different bayonet mounts, which had slightly different functionality:

Outer Bayonet lenses

The outer bayonet lenses use the camera bayonet as highlighted below:

Most cameras on the market nowadays use an inner bayonet, so finding one with an outer bayonet is rare. The only other mounts that come to mind are Miranda mount, or the Tamron Adaptall mount. The outer bayonet lenses mount and operate as any other lens, though anyone familiar with our Nikon S adapters may be surprised to know that they are also mechanically-compatible.

Inner Bayonet lenses

The inner bayonet lenses use the camera bayonet highlighted below:

The Contax rangefinder inner bayonet lenses are a tad more complex. These lenses have their own aperture ring, but lack a focus ring. We mentioned the Nikon S adapters earlier, and while they were perfect if you had the outer bayonet lenses, we didn't have a way to mount the inner bayonet lenses.

This newest batch of Contax rangefinder adapters was the answer to multiple requests over the years. Aptly named Plus adapters, these adapters offer the highest degree of compatibility, since they can accommodate both styles of lenses, as well as a built-in helicoid so that the inner bayonet lenses have a way to focus.

Using the adapter's helicoid, we're able too secure infinity focus while also being able to focus up close.

On Medium Format

We have adapters for the Contax rangefinder lenses for both GFX and XCD, so you'll be able to use your lenses on the medium format system of your choice. While image circle depends on the design of the lens, here are the results when we use our lenses on the GFX 50s:

Jupiter 50mm f/2

Zeiss 135mm f/4

Our Jupiter 50mm f/2 lens has some light vignetting in the corners but you your field of view is a lot wider compared to full-frame or APS-C. Our Zeiss 135mm f/4 lens is prone to much worse vignetting.

Can we get even more out of the Plus adapters?

The Plus adapters already have plenty of features, but if you wanted to improve your macro functionality, you could add your favorite set of extension tubes to cut that working distance down. Similarly, using the Leica M variant with a compatible DLX Stretch lets you push your macro functionality further without sacrificing your infinity focus. Using the DLX stretch for Canon RF, I was able to bring the working distance down from 92.7cm (36.5”) to 48cm (18.9”). The DLX stretch gives me a bit more flexibility, especially for any close-up subjects, but the best part is that I can contract the adapter fully and still use it for standard shooting.

minimum focus distance

with DLX stretch full extension

Both lenses we have in-house have focus throws that are longer than what I'm personally used to. A lot of my favorite lenses have a focus throw of about 90°, but our 135mm lens' focus throw is just shy of 180°, while the 50mm lens has a focus throw of more than 270°! Longer focus throws can be troublesome when manually focusing a lens; it's easy to just barely miss the mark on critical focus, especially when shooting wide open.

Our Pronto adapters gave me even one more avenue to take it a step further. While we only offer the Pronto for a few different mounts, the exciting thing is that it has the ability to give autofocus to even the oldest lenses. The Contax RF lenses, which were manufactured as early as the 1930s, are no exception. Using the Pronto couples with the Contax RF to Leica M just fine.

The 135mm does struggle to focus at some ranges, but prefocusing the lens and letting the Pronto do the rest works just fine. The 50mm on the other hand is snappy. Even switching from farther subjects to closer subjects is quick without too much hunting.

Even though technology and the culture around photography change, these old lenses more than just relics, musem pieces, or paperweights. The beauty of adapters is that we can bring them out and use them on modern cameras. We're able to re-experience them, or even use them in ways not previously possible.