This Old Lens: Contax G Zeiss Planar 45mm f/2

Update 1: Have repurchased this lens since this post.

No surprises here. Nearly predicted as much in the opening paragraph below. New film samples below.

Update 2: An interesting product was released that converts Contax G 35mm f/2.8 lenses to M Mount and I wrote a post about how I do not quite get it. Personal preference but I would rather use the 45mm with a Contax G body. Cost wise I purchased a Contax G1 and a Zeiss G 45mm f/2 for less than the converted Funleader lens. On the practical side (I know. None of this is practical.), personal preference again, the G film solution offers auto exposure and AF. Digital wise I would be fine using a $35 MF G to FE adapter with a Sony body. Lastly, I ended up selling my Leica M mount film bodies because 1) I was shooting the lenses adapted to digital more than with film, and 2) the real end goal was M glass, not M bodies but in the end, I could not justify the prices. Fully worth it. Just was not willing to step up. So using non-Leica M glass on Leica M bodies made less sense to me as time went by. That being said… whatever floats your boat. You do you and I wish all the best and much success to Funleader and their customers. Onward.

Preface

Writing this post is a horrible idea for me. Why? I do not have this lens. Samples are from a prior Contax G bender a few years ago.

I bought back into the Contax G system last year and convinced myself that I would not be purchasing this lens again… We’ll see how that goes after going through these images again.

Film or digital, no matter the camera, if the lens is no good none of those other things will matter. There will be no spoilers as I will like all of these lenses. This lens is the last of the Contax G lens trio I had previously. Will nearly be a cut and paste of the G 28mm and 90mm.

Asking Price

This lens is a bit more than the 28mm and a fair bit more than the 90mm at less than $400 for the Titanium version and more for the Black version.

Value

For reference I will compare this Planar ZEISS 45mm f/2 to current new model manual focus ZEISS Loxia 50mm f/2 for $809 and AF ZEISS Batis 40mm f/2 CF for $1,104. While in hundreds and not the $1,000 gap as seen with the 90mm there still value to be had here. That being said it is still the best value if you are determined to obtain a ZEISS lens.

Why I (Had) Bought It

It is a Zeiss lens. It is a normal lens. That is usually more than enough reason for me right there. It was last time. Why not this time? Simple. I enjoy the 28mm and 90mm lenses and I have the 50mm-ish focal length covered out the whazoo (technical term). Will this reasoning stick? We’ll see. That being said this is a great lens.

As mentioned previously I had sold this system to fund another purchase but later wanted back in. Since I jumped back in I have picked up the 28mm and 90mm. So far I am sufficiently distracted with the two lenses. Digital AF is possible with the TECHART AF adapter.

With the repurchase, I chose the manual focus digital route.

Image Quality

<ahem> It is a Zeiss lens. Once again mostly a copy of the 28mm, 90mm, and CY mount 50mm f/1.4 (the main reason I can fend off the G 45mm for now) lens characteristics points below. It ticks off every single positive lens attribute box. Brief comments below but I will largely let the samples talk below, but again it hits it out of the park.

• Flare
  • Have not witnessed any flare with this lens.
• Sharpness
  • It is the Zeiss-eist. Wonderfully sharp with film and digital.
• Colors
  • Zeiss scores again. Wonderfully color rendering. Looks better than the actual scene without looking artificial.
• Bokeh
  • Another win. Not only in the amount of bokeh available but in the quality. No squirrely distractions like some other lenses. Just creamy backgrounds and foregrounds.

Samples With Film

New Samples with Contax G1

Original Post Samples with Contax G1 and G2

With Digital

Conclusion

A great lens. You could spend more for modern mirrorless MF and AF versions, but if you enjoy shooting on film and digital this lens is a great option. While not as much of a savings as the 28mm and 90mm I do still recommend this lens.

-ELW