Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/01/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>A question for Erwin, Patrick et al....I must admit that the most memorable >(35mm) photos I have were taken with 60's Contarex (Zeiss) lenses...I have >noted some writers suggesting those lenses have yet to be surpassed. To be >honest,,,Leica has not yet had a fair trial for me but I am curious if any >of you have used both those outfits and have comments. I recently acquired >the new Nikkor AFD 60 2.8 Macro and it has a rare (for Nikon) "5 Star" >rating and I also look forward to giving it a try...Nowell > The Contarex lenses were second to none in the 60's. But the photographic lore that these lenses are still unsurpassed is one of (too) many myths. The lensmounts of Contarex lenses are indeed unsurpassed, having more ball bearings than a tank. Optically however it is a diffent story. Some designs 4/35 and 4/135 and 2/85 are still strong contenders for a topranking. But their modern Contax incarnations are optically better and have larger apertures. By 'optically better' I mean that the aberrations are corrected to a higher order and that the modern interpretation of lens design is fully implemented. Erwin