Realizing that exuberant prices of its lenses Leica top management came up with a clever and elegant solution: the S system came out with a host of lens adaptors including the S-adapter-C, an electronic adapter, which enables use of all capabilities of the Contax 645 AF lenses on Leica S camera bodies. That was a real shame, as the system abandoned by its manufacturer (Kyocera, shame on you) featured some of the best lenses in the Medium Format category.
However, Contax 645 cameras have become dangerous to use professionally, as they have not been produced and serviced since 2005. The most advanced and forward-thinking system of its time, it is still going strong. My previous Medium Format system that had served me beautifully for ten years, until I switched to Leica S-E (Typ006), had been Contax 645AF/PhaseOneP25 combo.
#Contax 645 flkr professional#
In fact, all Leica S AF-series camera bodies are no larger than professional 35-mm bodies from Canon and Nikon, while all other digital medium format systems simply inherited film bodies retrofitted with either digital backs, or built-in sensors. The beauty of Leica S cameras is in how small they are compared to the competition. Certainly, not fully Medium Format of the past, but large enough frame to have its unmistakeable three-dimensional look.
The first time I tried Leica S2 back in 2009, I fell in love with it. In a way they are right, as Leica has never been associated with a word “affordable”, yet it is not that simple… The thing is, most people who are contemplating to get into Medium Format hardly consider Leica S as an affordable option. Contax 645 lenses on Leica S medium format cameras? While this is not something new, for some it may prove useful indeed.
0 kommentar(er)
