80mm lens for Contax 645 impossible to find

2wenty

2wenty

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:bang:Thanks wedding photographers for screwing up the market for the Contax 645.:bang: Apparently the lens is so good you dont even have to be a good photographer to take great photos with it.

From what Ive seen these lenses aren't that rare. I just think people are scooping them up to combine with the camera to make the setup worth more and wont sell them separate.

I looked on eBay, forums, adorama, bh, samys, keh, smaller camera stores, craigslist, had someone check places in japan, etc. And nothing. Granted theres one on eBay but I'm not paying $2k.

This has got to be up there with one of the most rare pieces of photo equipment at the moment.

Does anyone know where it might be possible to find one?
 
The value of them is pretty much between $1.6-2k. If you want one, that's just something you'll have to accept. Anyone who sells one for less than that is giving it away.
 
People sell kits between $3000-$4000 and I see the bodies sell for $1500 with a back so with a little basic math that brings you to $1500-$2500. Not many people are adapting these lenses onto other bodies and the Contax 645 body alone is more difficult to sell so it only make sense.
 
I doubt that that is the matter - there are relatively few 80/2's around in Germany as well, where there is no similar cult of wedding photography and the latter is pretty generally executed by some seedy guy with a mid range Canon and zoom.

The lens is relatively rare, as a unusually fast medium format lens (besides it there is only the Hasselblad equivalent and the Mamiya f/1.9), from the most rare recent 645/6x6 system - all fast MF lenses seem to be in high demand among the East Asian "bokeh cult" crowd. And few of the pros that originally bought a Contax 645 did so for its low light press capabilities, so that it may have been outnumbered by the higher resolution and more studio-ready 120mm Macro to start with. These days, with 645 pretty much dead as a regular pro tool, desirability seems to have reversed...
 
SaveKodak said:
The value of them is pretty much between $1.6-2k. If you want one, that's just something you'll have to accept. Anyone who sells one for less than that is giving it away.
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The other day there was a 645 with an 80mm going for $1500 on eBay. It was local so I went to look at it since the listing didn't say anything. I only had 5 min to look at it before the listed ended. I got caught up in looking at it and lost the listing. It went for $1625. It seemed to be working and the lens was clean. :bang:

But there was another one complete that was working with a 140mm that I bought for $1400 :cool:
 
It's like anything semi-rare. You'll find the magic one with patience. Just check ebay every day. There is also a Contax 645 user group on facebook where they are quite regularly traded, but don't go in there looking for screaming deals. Those people paid a pretty penny for their Contax kits and know what they're worth.

The real tragedy is that Contax stopped making them, and stopped servicing them. I'd take a reliable Contax 645 over any H2 or Mamiya AF body.
 
SaveKodak said:
It's like anything semi-rare. You'll find the magic one with patience. Just check ebay every day. There is also a Contax 645 user group on facebook where they are quite regularly traded, but don't go in there looking for screaming deals. Those people paid a pretty penny for their Contax kits and know what they're worth.

The real tragedy is that Contax stopped making them, and stopped servicing them. I'd take a reliable Contax 645 over any H2 or Mamiya AF body.
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There is a place in NY that bought the rest of the stuff from TOCAD to still service Contax.

Thanks for the heads up on the group. Just tried to join, apparently its private. Looks like its mostly wedding photographers, lol.
 
The Contax 645 AF lenses autofocus on the Leica S cameras with the Leica made Contax 645-Leica S adapter. That is likely driving prices up.

I have two, and paid less than $400 for each. The trend may pass, but given that the 70mm Summarit for the Leica S is $4.4k, half a stop slower and arguably only about as good, it probably won't.

Marty
 
Yes, it is a great lens, but it makes a lot more sense to use it on the body it was designed around. I've used the lens where it was designed to be used, on the 645, and I've used it "adapted" to a 35mm full frame, where it is , frankly, wasted. Adapting it to a Leica S2 with one of their dedicated adapters makes more sense, but it is still cropped and compromised. I know people do that and are happy, but that says more about what people are willing to settle for than anything else.
Get the lens, get the body, and use it the way it was designed to be used instead of kludging it onto a frankencamera and thinking you are getting anything close to everything out of the lens.
 
2wenty said:
I looked on eBay, forums, adorama, bh, samys, keh, smaller camera stores, craigslist, had someone check places in japan, etc. And nothing. Granted theres one on eBay but I'm not paying $2k.
[…]
Does anyone know where it might be possible to find one?
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Item # 172299971466 perhaps? Less than EUR 1k.
 
It gets thrashed. I take a lot of photos of children, and it is about perfect.

I have two because I fear I will wear the first one out, and I am not joking.

In the gap between the digital takeover and the analogue restoration, this sort of stuff went for close to nothing.

Marty
 
2wenty said:
There is a place in NY that bought the rest of the stuff from TOCAD to still service Contax.

Thanks for the heads up on the group. Just tried to join, apparently its private. Looks like its mostly wedding photographers, lol.
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Tocad ceased servicing Contax equipment on April 1st 2015.
 
2wenty said:
Where at? Not seeing it on the US eBay. Thanks
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Oops, my bad :(

Item location: København K., default, Denmark Postage to: Worldwide
Excludes: Russian Federation, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, United States, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Djibouti, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Eritrea, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, Cape Verde Islands, Kenya, Comoros, Congo, Republic of the, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Zambia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Chad, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Central African Republic, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Bahrain, Iraq, Yemen, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan Republic, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
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Good luck.
If he doesn't ship it to US I can forward it to you (I live in Poland) if you'll pay him for it and shipping.
But I hope that he will send it to you.
All the best.
Zbigniew
 
That's the main Camerastore of Denmark (or so it is my impression). Passed by during my visit but kept away of the insides. Hope the best.

The hype around the Contax 645 and mainly the planar is interesting and it is curious to see the thread. Didn't think too much about it,as they are pretty expensive. I can tell you I'm not grabing that one unless the lotto hits.
Given the prices, and if they were to dry up and rise, it may make sense to manufacture a similar camera again!
 
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