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06-21-2013, 06:32 AM   #1
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hi all, i bought a second hand kx last year, with the pair of kit lenses, which are great. ive got a load of old glass which works well on the pentax mount and i find the contax lenses do the best, apart from the old schneider 28mm f4. my question is; ive just bought a contax 85mm 2.8 aeg and adapted the mount to fit (shave a bit off 2 of the flanges and snap off the stop down lever). no harm done as the iris was sticking so had to manual stop down even on the contax body. however the lens cant be focused all the way back to infinity. ive taken apart a bit but cant find a way to alter the focus. my old 200/3.5 had a few grub screws under the rubber grip and the 80-200variosonnar didnt need any adjustment. needless to say it takes lovely pics between 1 and 100 meters.

06-21-2013, 06:40 AM   #2
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Bonjour from France and welcome to PF ... I have shaved 50/1.4 Yashica lens without an infinity problems because of the longer registration distance than Pentax ... and I shaved a 50/1.4 CZJ Prakticar and do not have more than 3 meters ... don't know why your's will not infinity focus, J

http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~westin/misc/mounts-by-register.html
06-21-2013, 07:06 AM   #3
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hi jean, the yashica is similar to contax (shared mount). ive shaved a 50/2 yash ml, which works really well, but the 28/2.8 ml needs the stop down removing as it fowls the pentax stopdown mechanism. the 50 gets infinity but not the 28, which is a shame because i wanted to do landscapes with it. ive got the old edixa schneider 28/4 which is unbelievably good. the zeiss c/y 50/1.7 aej shaves well and needs no other alterations (so it still works on the contax body) and as i said the 80-200 mmj just needed shaving (occasionaly fouls the stopdown mech) and the 200/3.5 aeg is easy to adjust for infinity. the 85's front cell comes off easily and exposes three locking grubscrews but releasing these doesnt allow adjustment. i tried taking the back off the 85 but 2 of the 4 screws are locked too tight (glued). ive got a few 85-105 lenses, to compare, a tak 105/2.8 preset, schacht travenar 90/2.8, 80-200 mmj, tamron sp 90/2.5 macro (52b) and of course the kit 50-200. the tamron is very sharp but i dont love it. the schacht is beautiful, so i dont know why i wanted the contax 85, but then using it i think it is the best - colours, sharpness, dof and that 'something' that makes a good picture. i photo'd some roses in my garden and didnt notice a pretty little spider, until i looked at 100% and very jewel like. the tamron is 'analytical' sharp and stops down well for flash use (ie easy to focus) but open nowhere near as good as the contax.
06-21-2013, 07:23 AM - 1 Like   #4
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heres a 100% of the spider i mentioned.

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06-21-2013, 07:49 AM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by pde2000 Quote
heres a 100% of the spider i mentioned.
Nice shot ... and thanks for your previous message ... I have a Tamron 52BB, the follow-up version, it's nice... and I'd love to find some Contax glass, too ... J

Here's my Yashica ML 50/1.4 ... a wide open test shot after the modification

06-21-2013, 08:05 AM   #6
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that radiant softness, especially with flowers, is what i love about the yash 50/2 ml. as my grandad always used to say; 'they're pictures, not photos' he was an old cinema man and used a leica iii, which disappeared while he had carers. he worked on sound, amplifiers and speakers, but he couldnt take a decent picture for some reason, he never got in focus - probably needed to adjust the rangefinder. when i was a kid (30 odd years ago) i got a zenit em and pentacon 50/1.8 with a roll of agfa 50asa process paid slide film (still got the lense - not bad). people complain about carying a heavy camera about, they should have started on a zenit and they'd realise how lucky they are today. its batteries running out that get me down (kx on aa's - always use eneloop, cheap rechargables are useless)
06-21-2013, 12:08 PM   #7
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Welcome to the forum, I can't help you with your shaved lens issues, I don't even shave a face.

06-21-2013, 01:34 PM   #8
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me neither, i just gave it a trim and its real scratchy now. i got the method of converting c/y to pk from someone on this forum (riorico). the alternative is expensive leitax which only works on newer, mm mounts, with a few exceptions. also adjusted autofocus following this sites instructions. i only noticed the focus error when i got a 40/2.8 xs. when i have loads of money ill get a full frame (any lens will go on a canon). one day we'll get a full frame with moving sensor, capable of fine focus (like the contax ax) and interchangable mounts maybe. one day a photographer will be asked to design a camera and they will want to keep all their old lenses.

Last edited by pde2000; 06-22-2013 at 01:39 PM.
06-21-2013, 02:01 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by pde2000 Quote
one day we'll get a full frame with moving sensor
Just don't hold your breath on that one.
06-22-2013, 01:38 PM   #10
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have just solved the infinity focus- it was those three grub screws, just had to pull the focusing ring up to loosen and then turn the ring to another registration point. so spin out the front cell, loosen the three grubscrews, pull up the ring to loosen and rotate a few degrees and tighten/replace. i went a tad too far and had to bring it back a wee bit. its quite hard to nail infinity without hitting the end stops.
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