- Location
- Switzerland
- Name
- Matt
... because the lens I finally got around to shooting today got destroyed during the very walk I finally managed to take it on while adapted to the Sony A7 II.
The Carl Zeiss Tessar 45mm f/2.8 for Contax mountis was one of the two modern lenses I own owned (I'll knock this off now, you get my drift) that are sporting the coveted Tessar formula (the other one is the Leica Elmar-M 50mm f/2.8). I had been planning to use this lens on a (high quality) Novoflex adapter for a while, and furthermore, all the back-and-forth talk online about the Sigma 45mm f/2.8 for E mount (and the Samyang 45mm f/1.8 that came out a little earlier) had me wondering even more how well I'd click with the 45mm focal length.
I found the lens a bit underwhelming in terms of build quality, but it was a joy to shoot with once I got over its plastic-y build and the downsides of its downright diminuitive size. I seem to be capable of pre-visualising the 45mm FOV at least as well as the 35mm FOV I usually am partial to. Using the lens in a simple focus-and-recompose fashion worked very well, and apart from the slightly funky bokeh the Tessar produced at times, I was very happy with what I saw. Stopped down (usually to f/8), the lens came into its own and proved a very nice performer indeed, some little optical problems (minimal distortion as the most obvious) notwithstanding.
However, towards the end of my extended and meandering walk into town, I did something I've been through a couple of times before (I hope this isn't becoming a recurrent themeh): I failed to spot that a patch of leaves on the ground actually covered a pothole; after slipping on its edge, I stumpled and fell, camera in hand. I initially hit the ground hands first (which meant: lens first, as far as my right hand was concerned), and even though I managed to roll subsequently (unfortunately slamming the camera bag that held another camera into the ground as well - though that camera and lens seem completely fine ...). The front of the lens took most of the actual first blow; the focus ring and filter thread were both bent, scratched and cracked, the whole lens seems to be out of whack. A goner, to be exact. Amazingly, neither the adapter nor the camera seem to have been affected. Lucky me ... (I'm mostly fine as well, though there's some low-level pain throughout most of my upper body, but I'm used to that - 25 years of Ju Jitsu do that for you ...). Apart from the lens, the only thing that really got hurt is my pride, but that at least is mitigated by the fact that I managed to avoid worse ...
I've had this lens for while and had used it with its original companion, the Contax S2 Anniversary model it came on, but not very often. Now that camera is lacking its natural lens - and I am one intriguing option short through only a marginal fault of my own (it was next to impossible to see that there was a pothole in the first place, case in point: I almost fell once more shortly after getting on my feet again - another pothole filled with leaves ...).
Usually, under such circumstances, I'd just write off the lens. But I think that in this case, I'll look for a replacement. In the meantime, I think the Sigma 45mm f/2.8 might just be the right thing to patch the wounds ... but maybe it ought to wait.
M.
The Carl Zeiss Tessar 45mm f/2.8 for Contax mount
I found the lens a bit underwhelming in terms of build quality, but it was a joy to shoot with once I got over its plastic-y build and the downsides of its downright diminuitive size. I seem to be capable of pre-visualising the 45mm FOV at least as well as the 35mm FOV I usually am partial to. Using the lens in a simple focus-and-recompose fashion worked very well, and apart from the slightly funky bokeh the Tessar produced at times, I was very happy with what I saw. Stopped down (usually to f/8), the lens came into its own and proved a very nice performer indeed, some little optical problems (minimal distortion as the most obvious) notwithstanding.
However, towards the end of my extended and meandering walk into town, I did something I've been through a couple of times before (I hope this isn't becoming a recurrent themeh): I failed to spot that a patch of leaves on the ground actually covered a pothole; after slipping on its edge, I stumpled and fell, camera in hand. I initially hit the ground hands first (which meant: lens first, as far as my right hand was concerned), and even though I managed to roll subsequently (unfortunately slamming the camera bag that held another camera into the ground as well - though that camera and lens seem completely fine ...). The front of the lens took most of the actual first blow; the focus ring and filter thread were both bent, scratched and cracked, the whole lens seems to be out of whack. A goner, to be exact. Amazingly, neither the adapter nor the camera seem to have been affected. Lucky me ... (I'm mostly fine as well, though there's some low-level pain throughout most of my upper body, but I'm used to that - 25 years of Ju Jitsu do that for you ...). Apart from the lens, the only thing that really got hurt is my pride, but that at least is mitigated by the fact that I managed to avoid worse ...
I've had this lens for while and had used it with its original companion, the Contax S2 Anniversary model it came on, but not very often. Now that camera is lacking its natural lens - and I am one intriguing option short through only a marginal fault of my own (it was next to impossible to see that there was a pothole in the first place, case in point: I almost fell once more shortly after getting on my feet again - another pothole filled with leaves ...).
Usually, under such circumstances, I'd just write off the lens. But I think that in this case, I'll look for a replacement. In the meantime, I think the Sigma 45mm f/2.8 might just be the right thing to patch the wounds ... but maybe it ought to wait.
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M.