I love shooting macro and the Contax 645's macro lens is about the sharpest thing I've ever used. However, like all macro lenses it has its limitations when working very close to an object - perspective distortion.
Even if one can find a Contax 645 Auto Bellows, it is a crazy price and beyond my means. However, Mamiya made a superb bellows for the original 645 - the Auto Bellows N. I managed to buy a new one a week or two ago and grabbed a Mamiya 110mm lens which was going for a song - I'll grab a 55mm when I can. With swing, tilt and shift, the Bellows is identical to the Contax one but at a quarter of the price and its manufacturing quality is superb. So, I can now shoot serious macro stuff using a Contax 645, Mamiya Bellows and record the images on a Hasselblad Ixpress digital back. And this is all made possible by the Zork adapter which permits Mamiya 645 lenses to mount on a Contax 645. Now, I'm a seriously happy bunny!
Even if one can find a Contax 645 Auto Bellows, it is a crazy price and beyond my means. However, Mamiya made a superb bellows for the original 645 - the Auto Bellows N. I managed to buy a new one a week or two ago and grabbed a Mamiya 110mm lens which was going for a song - I'll grab a 55mm when I can. With swing, tilt and shift, the Bellows is identical to the Contax one but at a quarter of the price and its manufacturing quality is superb. So, I can now shoot serious macro stuff using a Contax 645, Mamiya Bellows and record the images on a Hasselblad Ixpress digital back. And this is all made possible by the Zork adapter which permits Mamiya 645 lenses to mount on a Contax 645. Now, I'm a seriously happy bunny!
