Canon Elan 7/ Contax compatibility

[25asa]

Seeing all the adapters for the EOS/ Contax setup, I bought one of

these adapters. While buying it from the guy we tried his Contax 85mm

1.4 lens

and put it on my Elan 7 camera. I fired the shutter and noticed the

viewfinder was still blacked out. The mirror never came down. So I

untwisted off the lens and tried again. As I did that I heard a clap

sound which to me sounds like the mirror coming down. I put the lens

back on. I could see again. Fired it again. Same problem. So he went

to go get his 50mm 1.4 Contax and we tried it. Same results. I've

heard of many EOS cameras using these lenses with the adapter, but

never heard of this problem before. We checked his Digital Rebel and

the mirror didn't look much farther back. He said he's used this on

his film EOS as well. So is the Elan 7 the only EOS camera this

combination will not work on, and is it something to do with the

mirror arrangement? The only thing I could think of doing was to file

off the aperture levers sticking out of the Contax lenses to make this

work, but I don't really want to butcher a lens. I'm planning on

selling this adapter on Ebay as it seems I can't do this combo. Maybe

the EOS 1 and 3 have a different mirror arrangement making using

Contax lenses possible.

[oh_navi]

I have some further questions.

Will the combo elan 7 + carl zeiss lens lose the focus at infinity as the distance between the lens and the film is increased due to the insertion of a lens adapter?

Obviously, there is no AF for this combo. However, what other functions will be lost for this combo?

How does the camera operate in av / tv modes...?

How does the image quality?

Thx for advice.

[25asa]

"Will the combo elan 7 + carl zeiss lens lose the focus at infinity as the distance between the lens and the film is increased due to the insertion of a lens adapter?"

 

Answer- no. It retains infinity focus. The adpter just makes up the space needed to retain this on EOS bodies.

 

"Obviously, there is no AF for this combo. However, what other functions will be lost for this combo?"

 

The camera goes into stop down mode. You don't really have much choice beyond that other then to use the aperture rings to adjust f stops.

 

"How does the camera operate in av / tv modes...?"

 

It doesn't. Read above.

 

"How does the image quality?"

 

As good as the Contax lens is. If its a 85mm 1.4 or 50mm 1.4- that will be very good. Focussing wasn't too bad. It was darker where I tried it and I was still able to get it in range. But the whole point is it seems the Elan 7 has a mirror placement problem which keeps someone from using these lenses on this camera. My adapter is now on Ebay if anyone wants to bid for it.

[bobatkins]

The mirror sticking up syndrome (at least on many EOS models) indicates an elecrical problem, not a mechanical problem. It's seen with incompatible lenses - i.e. when the body doesn't see the electrical signals it thinks it should see. In this case it may be that the camera is still looking for EOS lens electrical signals.

 

I'd see what happens when you fire the shutter with no lens, then with the adapter attached, then with the adapter and lens. My guess is it will fail with just the adapter attached, indicating a problem with it.

 

My guess at the problem would be that it's tripping the microswitch in the camera that says "an EF lens is attached". It shouldn't, but if it's not machined right, it might.

[jorge_garcia]

I am happy to agree with Mr. Atkins.

 

If it works OK without a lens maybe the problem is an electrical one.

 

On my EOS 5 (A2E) there was a small microswitch inside the body mount.

I had to unscrew a very small screw on the adapter (if it is there and you can not unscrew it then file it).

 

I do not know Elan7 but on EOS 5 when the microswitch was closed with the small protruding screw on the adapter then the camera "read" the electric contacts and as there were no electrical signals then it stoped working as in your case.

 

Regards

Jorge

[nelson cotrim]

I had the same problem with the Zenitar 16mm fisheye on my Elan 7. The Zenitar (mine was in EOS mount, no adapters) has a rear mounted filter which must be screwed all the way in, but as russian quality goes, sometimes it sticks and you think it has reached the end. With the filter not fully screwed my Elan 7 presents the same problem. But not my Elan II. I believe that the mirror will come slightly back and up, but on returning it will go straight down, and may touch the lens, locking it up. My guess is that the Elan 7 has not as much clearing from the mirror than the others, but it wouldn't make much sense, as the mirrors of better bodies are probably larger due to better coverage.

[25asa]

We tried the lens and adapter on his Digi Rebel and it worked fine. As I was currious, I tried the adapter on mine with no lens. It releases fine. So its not the adapter, but the lens that's at fault. I knew that when we heard the mirror clap when taking off the Contax lens. It was fine going up, but coming down it hangs. So unless I get another EOS body, it looks like Contax on Canon is out. I could try and find a FD adapter, but they can be expensive. Not many sell them. Too bad too since the EOS 50mm 1.4 is way more then finding a used Contax 50mm 1.4 .