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CONTAX to CANON eos adapter ring

Sorry,I am not too sure what you,Kaisern,mean on AD 100/2.8 VS-Makro vs EF 100/2.8 macro,85/1.4 Planar vs. EF 85/=1.8.Are you comparing Zeiss 100/2.8 Makro-Planar to Canon equivalent and 85/1.4 Planar to the Canon one. So,which is better?
 
I would like to direct this thread back to the point of exactly how one would release the shutter. Assuming one has a Zeiss MM lens attached via a Zoerkendoerfer adapter to an EOS 3 or 1V body, and after focusing and setting the aperture ring on the lens, just what does one do? I seem to have the idea that the depth-of-field button must be depressed while depressing the shutter release (to stop-down).
 
Leon,

EOS has no mechanical linkage between body and lens. The C/Y diaphragm will stop down as you turn the aperture ring, darkening the view. When you're ready for a shot, hit the shutter.

My Canon D30 acts like it can perform stop-down metering, but the apparent aperture is f/1, so you must bias the readings mentally.
 
Rico, thank you for clarifying the situation. Maybe it is due to my age (48 as of Monday), but I am now a little fuzzy on your description of the "apparent aperture." I assume that one could, of course, use a handheld meter, but could you meter with your D30 in EOS manual-exposure mode?

Matthias, today I did phone the U.S. Zoerkendoerfer distrbutor, which I think is in California, but I reached only an answering machine, twice on Friday afternoon.

For our interest, here is a sentence, verbatim, from the Zoerk website in description of the mount adapters (from http://www.zoerk.com/pages/p_mounta.htm):

"The only limitation is that you sacrifice the auto-aperture facility of the 35 mm SLR ­ you have to stop down the lens manually and rely on working-aperture readings. But aperture-priority auto exposure systems remain operative."

The person whose answering machine I reached was:
Joshua Daniels
Director Sales & Marketing
Zorkendorfer Film & Phototechnic, US
tel./fax.: 541-687-5969
-------------

Rico, does your Zoerkendoerfer adapter allow the usual operation of the EOS Av mode? Thanks for your help.
 
Leon,

Sorry to mislead, I do not have a Zoerk adapter, or any other. I have shot C/Y glass on the D30 using more primitive means.

I merely conjecture that no adapter will understand the way a C/Y lens communicates the current aperture to the camera. In the case of EOS, this would require a translation of cam position to electronic signal.

For the D30, at least, the lack of a mounted lens causes an aperture of 0 to be indicated. In fact, the meter proceeds to function as if an f/1 lens is mounted. Therefore, a C/Y lens stopped down to f/5.6 will need a bias of five stops. Annoying, but TTL metering nonetheless.

If Zoerkendoerfer supports EOS Av mode, I will eat my words, and buy immediately!
happy.gif
 
> [i contacted the german office today and they are out of stock of the adapter which is priced at 180 Euros + taxes. The information i received was that the adapter was screwed to the lens before fitting to the camera body. Does anybody have experiance of the adapter before i hand over any dosh.

Regards

David ]
 
I phoned Zoerk USA again today but opted not to leave a recorded message. Instead, I sent an email and asked a few questions. Once I get some answers about the functionality of the camera bodies when using the adapter, I will share them here. I am uploading now an excerpt from the product brochure. The adapter is called a Cross-System Mount Adapter.

Until later, best wishes,
Leon
<center><table border=1><tr><td>
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Excerpt from Zoerkendoerfer brochure
Page from Zoerk brochure.pdf (33.6 k)</td></tr></table></center>
 
Mr. Joshua Daniels was kind enough to email me the following description of the Zoerkendoerfer adapter that fits Contax manual-focus lenses onto Canon EOS-series film and digital camera bodies. Here is what Mr. Daniels wrote, paraphrased slightly:

Our adapter essentially allows you to focus a Contax lens throughout its normal range, from infinity to close up, to operate the diaphragm in manual mode, and to perform metering functions. We have not tested the adapter on every EOS body, but my understanding is that at least averaging and spot TTL metering are possible with most if not all models, although at shooting aperture. You can also make use of aperture priority AE, although again at shooting aperture.

Canon engineers had the good sense to design the EOS system with a relatively small registry (film plane-to-flange distance). As a result, you can use other manufacturers' lenses (e.g., Contax, Leica, Nikon) on the EOS body, providing the adapter is sufficiently thin and precisely made.

Zoerkendoerfer's Contax adapter attaches to the Contax lens, then must be positioned (lining up the mounting dot with an alignment mark), and then locked onto the lens with an allen head hex screw. The reason for attaching this way is that the adapter must be quite thin, and this left no room for a locking mechanism. It takes less than a minute to attach or remove the adapter, but it is not as fast as bayonetting the lens into place. Some professionals who have purchased this adapter prefer to buy a couple of them so they are not switching adapters each time they change Contax lenses.

The Contax lenses and adapter work extremely well on the digital bodies, particularly because the Contax lenses are so good, and especially so from center to 3/4 out.

I can contact our German office for more-specific detail or to field any technical questions that I'm unable to address. They continually test our products with a wide range of cameras, given that our specialty is tilt, shift, macro, and adapter accessories that interoperate with multiple systems.

I don't know if the user group is aware of our Contax G mount Heliar, but this may also be of interest to Contax owners.
 
Leon,

Thanks for the legwork. Sounds like Zoerkendoerfer has their act together, so it's time for me to get one of these doohickies. I'll pick up the dusty D30 again, instead of playing with RTSIIIs all the time!
 
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