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Review Date
December 21, 2004
Overall Rating
 5 of 5
Value Rating
 5 of 5
Used product for
More than 1 year
Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes
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Reviewed by
MBR
, Expert
Price Paid
$0.00
Photography Experience
21+ years
, Outdoor
Summary
I'm in love with this lens.
It's very sharp and contrasty and has a focal length that is appropriate for a wide variety of situations.
The lens particularly impresses me with its sharpness at all apertures. I got this lens with a Contax Aria and they make a first-rate combination for travel. This little 45mm Tessar has produced so many "keepers" for me that I feel like it is becoming indispensable. I have bigger zooms that cover the 45mm range, but the color rendition, contrast and sharpness of the Contax 45mm Tessar seem to be the most satisfying.
Strengths
Size, weight, optical quality, build quality.
Weaknesses
Close focusing--the lens cannot focus closer than approx. 2 feet (as compared to the typical 1.5 feet of many standard lenses). However, I have gotten around this by carrying around a medium strength close-up filter with me and it works very well for close-ups of flowers, still life compositions, etc. In fact, with the contrasty quality of the 45mm Tessar behind the close-up filter, it seems that the results are usually superior to those other standard lenses that can focus at closer distances. I'd like to see Contax bundle a compact hood for this lens similar to the one that comes with Nikon's 45mm P lens.
Similar Products Used
Nikon 45mm (also very nice and a winner for people shots, but doesn't seem to be quite as contrasty or sharp as the Contax (Zeiss).
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Review Date
January 16, 2004
Overall Rating
5 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Used product for
More than 1 year
Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2 votes
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Reviewed by
VincentD
, Intermediate
, from NEW YORK,NY,USA
Price Paid
$175.00
at ebay
Photography Experience
11-20 years
, Outdoor
Summary
This is a gem of a lens. It is great for street photography and I think this baby renders colors even better than my other CZ lenses. It is called a pancake with good reason and with the Aria or the Yashica FX 3 Super 2000 it makes you almost inconspicuous on the street.
Strengths
Sharp, great color rendition(the Best of all???) nice and small.
Weaknesses
None
Similar Products Used
n/a
Customer Service
n/a
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Review Date
June 24, 2003
Overall Rating
5 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Used product for
More than 1 year
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Reviewed by
russmead
, Intermediate
Price Paid
$300.00
Photography Experience
21+ years
, People
Summary
This lens is unusual. It is as sharp as they come with the slow speed and 4 element desing. But the best thing is the size. I have it on a 139 and I can put the rig in most pockets like a point and shoot. The only thing I have seen better is a 105 hassablad for medium format.
Strengths
size, sharpness
Weaknesses
a bit small to grab to focus.
Similar Products Used
I know of nothing like it in the "normal" lense catagory for 35 mm
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Review Date
March 4, 2003
Overall Rating
5 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Used product for
1 to 3 months
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Reviewed by
etienne33
, Expert
, from New York
Price Paid
$250.00
Photography Experience
11-20 years
, Outdoor
Summary
This is my live-in lens for a Contax S2b.
The combination works a treat.
Shrapnel comes to mind. This lens splits hairs in images of 16x 12in.
Very powerful performance, in such a tiny lens. I work at mostly f4-f11 and the results are impeccable. The advantages of a 50mm f1.7 just aren't there for me (this is my main travel camera combination).
Thoroughly recommended for any manual C/Y SLR users.
Strengths
1. Ultra-portable and really really tiny
2. Very high definition at all apertures
3. Sharp and contrasty at all the mid-
range apertures.
Weaknesses
1. You might already have a 50mm lens,
and have to sell it on the market, or
keep it and rarely bring it out.
Similar Products Used
Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.7, 50mm f1.4, G series 45mm lens
Customer Service
Never needed (Carl Zeiss)
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Review Date
July 6, 2001
Overall Rating
5 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 3 votes
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Reviewed by
Craig Norris
, Intermediate
, from Hong Kong
Price Paid
$200.00
at Tin Cheung Camera
Photography Experience
2-5 years
, People
Summary
I bought this lens to go with a Contax 167MT. I took a lot of shots, mainly portraits of a beautiful woman and her daughter. Later, I upgraded to the 28-85 Vario Sonnar zoom and then an Aria body. I loved the zoom and the Aria. Then one day, I reviewed some of the older photos in my portfolio and was moved emotionally by the quality of the pics that were taken with the Tessar. So I put the Tessar on the Aria body and immediately fell in love with that combination. It looks so good and feels so good in the hand. And then, lo and behold, I shot a roll of film and found the Tessar to be noticably sharper than the 28-85 zoom. Now I leave the zoom at home. The Aria with the 45mm Tessar and the TLA200 flash are an unbeatable combination for super quality in a compact, easily portable package.
I carry a Mutar 2x converter when I need a 90mm focal length for a great close-up portrait. The results are beautiful. This 45mm Tessar is my favourite lens.
Strengths
Small, light, sharp and contrasty.
Weaknesses
None
Similar Products Used
Minolta Rokkor 50/2.0
Customer Service
Not needed
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