Subject: Contax 645 140/2.8: Your impression?

[alexander_krasotkin]

Colleagues,

 

I am looking to buy 140/2.8 lens for my Contax 645. At present I

have 45/2.8, 55/3.5 (just about to get), 80/2. I am very happy with

this setup. However I want a portrait lens for my Contax. What is

your impression about this lens? Appreciate if you can share some

images made by it. As I understand from the reports, focusing is ok

and boke is really nice, although nothing really outstanding as far

as the picture itself is concerned.

 

Thank you very much in advance.

Alexander

www.krasotkin.com

[gary_yeowell]

Alexander,

I find your comment regarding the 'picture itself' a little odd, but I think I know what you are asking. My experience with this lens and also the 120 APO Macro shows that the 140mm is a really outstanding lens and in some ways preferrable to the APO Macro. Yes the out of focus rendition is sublime with very subtle colour and tone differention, and is sharp enough wide open, better a stop down and very sharp by f5.6 which holds till f16. The Macro has more contrast overall and is very sharp wide open but somehow lacks the beautiful rendition of the 140, which also focusses faster than any of the other 645 lenses. If the focal length fits your style then buy with confidence.

[alexander_krasotkin]

Gary, thank you very much for your detailed comment. I really did not want to offend anyone, but by picture itself, I was meaning "character of the lens". I truly belive that this is a very nice lens, which will fit to my setup.

 

Alexander

[mikeseb]

I own the 140 along with the 35, of course the 80, and the 210. The 140 is my most-used

lens. It is superb in every respect.

 

I shoot a lot of portraits; it is ideal. I echo the compliments paid it by the other respondent

here: it has great bokeh, is quite sharp at all apertures, and focuses very fast. I've never used

the 120 so I can't compare the two, but for my shooting style and subject matter the 140 is

ideal.

[kevin_deane]

The one drawback is that the minimum focus distance isn't close enough for tight

headshots. Other than that, it is just fantastic.

[gaius1]

That is something that concerned me too... surely a portrait lens that doesn't focus close enough for portraits is a bit of a lemon, no matter how good its images at a distance? Then again, they probably want people to pay for both the 140mm and the 120mm Makro despite them offering nearly the same perspective.