Jupiter lens etc. on modern camera

[frank_a._bridges]

Do any cameras now in production accept the Contax II/Kiev 4 type

bayonet mount lens?

[daniel_iggers]

Doesn't the range of Cosina Voigtlander Bessa rangefinders marketed in the USA by Stephen Gandy / Cameraquest include a model that takes a Contax adapter?

[winfried_buechsenschuetz1]

Nope. There was a re-edition of the Nikon rangefinders some years ago.They have the same bayonet but the rangefinder is calibrated to a somewhat different focal length of the standard lens.

[nicolas_douez]

Yes indeed it's the Voigtlander (Cosina) Bessa R2-C, check <a href="http://www.cameraquest.com/voigt_r2s_r2c.htm">here</a> for more detailed info (never seen nor handled one...).<div></div>

[mskovacs]

There was the Voigtlander R2S (Nikon mount) and R2C (Contax mount), so yes, if you consider them to still be in production. They are suspended but I think there is new stock still left.

 

There is no other way to get a TTL meter and lever wind on a Contax. They will not accept the prewar Biogon or Jupiter 12 35/2.8 lenses.

[mskovacs]

of course the rangefinder is a pittance compared to a Contax II. I very much doubt that you could accurately focus the 85/2 lens.

[bacsa]

I guess the r3a will never be made in the contax mount. THAT could focus the 85/2 for sure. By the way, you don't have to use the 85/2 at f/2 all the time;)

[nicolas_douez]

Mike, there is another way to get a TTL meter and a winding lever on a Contax lens actually : a Zeiss for Contax RF lens + a Leica M6 (or MP or M7)+ a Cook & Perkins adapter :-))

 

The total should fetch... hmmm... well, better not to say it !<div></div>

[furcafe]

Per Nicolas's post, there are alternatives to the Cook & Perkins adapter. There are the equally pricey, but more versatile, Orion adapters from roughly the same era (Gandy has a good discussion of both @ http://www.cameraquest.com/adapter.htm), & modern reproductions of the Orion, which are almost as pricey (about the same cost as the R2S/R2C body alone--yes, I have 1). Finally, some folks on the Rangefinder & Leica Photography fora are attempting to pay SK Grimes to make some new adapters using old Kiev mounts:

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00BMHY

[nicolas_douez]

Christopher, I love photography and I like classic cameras, lenses and accessories very (too ?) much. I certainly have more stuff in my cupboard than I could daily use even if I stopped working for a couple of years. And I have to confess (duh !) that I have a few cameras and lenses I have never used since I got them - my days are 24 hours long only, alas. But I promise to change my policy.

 

But there are some limits beyond which it's nothing else than madness IMHO.

 

On one hand, I mentioned the C&P adapter just to kid with Mike :-)

 

On the second hand, if I had a Leica M, I would probably have some M-bayonet Leitz lenses, or at least one, probably a 2/35mm Summicron. But I don't need any M because I've a Leica IIIf fitted with a 2/50 collapsible Summicron that costed me the price of a basic CLA plus the lens repolishing job and I'm happy with it. So I don't need to fit my Sonnars on the Leica body, they are feeling good on the Contaxes.

 

On the third hand (well, I'm a Martian :-)), paying $1999.00 (Cook & Perkins) or $1800.00 (Orion) for an adapter is not for me !!!

 

And I assume it's not for most of that forum fellows either... :-)

[furcafe]

Nicolas, no need to apologize. However, you don't need to spend $1800-1900 on an old Contax-to-LTM adapter when folks are working on creating new ones for a few $100 (& the current Japanese ones are much less than $1800-1900, but still pricey)! I personally would only recommend these adapters to someone who already has an extensive collection of Contax/Kiev/Nikon RF lenses *&* has some compelling reason to mount them on a Leica body.

[mskovacs]

Yeah I've seen those adapters on ebay. STUPIDITY! Besides, they still can't focus as accurately as a Contax II :)

 

I haven't heard lately about how the Kiev-based one's are coming along from some of the Leica users.

[nicolas_douez]

Mike, if you're interested at being involved in the $500.00 SK Grimes adapter project I have a complete Kiev 4AM lens mount in very good condition for you, by providing it to the machinist you might benefit of a $450.00 discount price... :-))