Which Contax lens line is the same as Super Speeds?

Adam Paul · November 25, 2005

I keep hearing Contax Zeiss 35mm still lenses are the same as the Zeiss super speeds motion picture lenses. Does anybody know which Zeiss Contax are the same as the supper speeds? Planar, Sonnar, Tessar, Biogon,Vario, Distagon? Which one?

Also are just the Contax Zeiss or also Zeiss for other 35mm still mounts that are the same as super speeds?

Bruce McNaughton · November 25, 2005

None of the Contax Zeiss lenses are super speeds. Look at the T stops... the 18mm is T3.5 orT 4. The rest of the range are T2.8. Hardly 'super' speeds.

The super speeds were designed exclusively for Arri and are motion picture lenses from concept.

I have converted many Contax and Hasselblad Zeiss Distagons to cover the VistaVision format and they are superb. But it is better to use a movie lens for 35 mm movie work as the lenses are made for that format and yield the best results.

Bruce

Mitch Gross · November 25, 2005

I have a set of Contax Zeiss lenses that ARE the same as the SuperSpeeds. 35mm, 50mm &85mm all at T 1.4 and a 135mm at T2.1. I'm out of town at the moment but I will try to remember to check these lenses when I get home to give you more details.

These lenses can only be remounted to fit Aaton mount because the short flange depth of Aaton is almost exactly the same as the Contax mount. I guess a Count adapter could be built but I don't know of any tat exist. For any other mount the lens would have to be hacked apart and completely reworked, which would be an order of magnitude more expensive to going out and buying a regular SuperSpeed.

I don't know if these lenses or the conversions have been done for quite some time, as the Aaton mount has fallen out of favor for the popular PL mount. I believe ICE Film in the UK originally did the conversions.

Didn't Contax recently go belly up?

Dickson Sorensen · November 29, 2005

I also have a few of the Contax HS lenses. They are great lenses but not exactly the same as the glass you find in a Super Speed they were designed for a larger format and of course the mounts and housings are competely different. If you mounted them on a movie camera I don't think you would be disapointed with the image quality but for an assistant to pull focus with a lens like that might not make him happy.

as far as going belly up I have heard no anouncements and their cameras are very much available

Edited November 29, 2005 by Dickson Sorensen