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Question: Zeiss MM lenses on a Contax RTS II

I have since returned the RTS II to the owner as another problem with the body arose. The flash fired as I moved the film advance lever and not with the shutter release button! In any event, I posted another message under camera reviews in this site about my dilemma in chosing a second body: RTS II or 167MT? Any thoughts on this? Thanks,
Dennis
 
Hi, I have come across a similar, but different problem. I recently acquired a 85/1.4 AE. Using it on my RTSII is no problems, with the aperture read out correct regardless of which direction I rotate the aperture ring, and how I mount it. However, when it is mounted on my ST (in very good condition), the aperture readout only goes downwards, and never back up. For ex&le, if the lens is at 1.4 when I mount it, it will go to 2, 2.8, etc, all the way to 16. But it will never go the other way, say from 16 to 11, 5.6 to 4, etc. Has anyone encountered this problem? It sounds more of a problem with the body then the lens. Should I get the lens and ST serviced? Or is it something I can do myself. Thanks for your input.
 
David

This may sound obvious....but might be difficult to implement, if you don't have the equipment!

If you haven't done so already, try a different Zeiss lens on the both bodies .....does that work ok? If it does, it is probably be the lens lever on the 85/1.4 that is bent/worn.

Try your lens on someone else's body .... some camera shops might be obliging. If there is no problem with your lens then you should suspect the ST camera body!

It sounds like either the lens aperture coupling lever on the lens or the ST camera body coupling might be slightly bent. Some lenses might work ok but others don’t. The only way to eliminate the problem is by trial and error.

I have only come across this problem once with a Tamron lens …. The ADII coupling lever was slightly bent and would not mate with the camera body lever properly, It gave exactly the error you described. But I have not seen this with a Zeiss lens, although the in principal it would give the same error.

Cheers, Bob.
 
Hi, I have the same problem with my old 2.8/25. The lens fits well on a 137, fitted on a RTS2 (now sold) and has the same reaction on a ST, had the same reaction on a friend's 137.

The reason seems to be, that the last ring of the bayonet of the lens is slightly damaged, it is something like a wave in it.

The ST seems to have no tolerance in its mechanic, so the backstep is not possible.

Changing the last ring should help, I think.

matthias

> type your text here!
 
Well, I have a 50/1.4 and a YUS 135/2.8. They both work fine with both cameras. No problems there. The aperture lever, I believe there are two. One for stopping down during exposure, and the other for coupling to the camera to indicate exposure. On both the 50/1.4 and 85/1.4 it has a bent profile, but it looks intentionally so, when viewed side on, it looks like a chair type profile like a S, but on its side. However, I noticed that the bayonet plate (the one that is removed with three screws on the lens), is bent upwards in the region where the aperture coupling lever is. Will try to remove it (not too hard) to flatten it somehow, or switch it with the 50/1.4 to see if that is what is causing the problem. Apart from that, I cannot seem to see what is going on. Yes, the 85/1.4 when twisted in its location will cause the aperture to change on the ST readout by a half a stop. But this will not occur on the RTSII. Sometimes the lens registers 1.2 as the minimum aperture. This is when I mount the lens with it set to 1.4. Anyway, your assistance and advice is much appreciated!
 
Matthias, thanks for your tips, sounds exactly like my problem. Where can one obtain a replacement bayonet ring from? Especially in Australia? Is there a part number?
 
I would recommend asking ZEISS Germany directly. They should know their guys in Australia. Look at www.zeiss.de, there is a link called CUSTOMER SERVICE or something like that, where you can ask competent personnel about everything. They are very helpful at ZEISS, indeed ! Try it out. matthias
 
Matthias. I contact Zeiss soon after your post, and they got back to me within 12 hours! They offered to send me a replacement bayonet free of charge! The guys at Zeiss really know how to look after their customers! Just goes to show you the big difference Zeiss compared with other companies. Not just optical quality, but also customer service!

On another note, I hope that this will solve the problem... Thanks for all assistance.
 
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