versions of contax 45mm 2.8 c/y ?

[colinlane]

Just a funny thing I noticed-- if any contax-heads out there want to speculate on this, i'd be curious.

My example of this lens (the 45mm f2.8 pancake) has the auto/MM mode aperture at f8-- in the middle of the aperture wheel.

Whereas the pictures of it I see on the internet (http://www.beanos.com/~tsoutij/lenses/images/contax_zeiss_tessar_t_45mm_f2.8.jpg) have the green MM aperture in the "normal spot," at the end, at f22.

So I guess there are two different versions; my serial number comes substantially before the one in the picture, so I'd tentatively assume that mine is earlier. Any idea why they would have had the MM setting in the middle, or why there might be multiple versions? Haha, meaningless questions, clearly, but curious ones...

 

[KrankyKraut]

Yours is the older AE version. It has a green color f8 for a snapshot setting. It has nothing to do with MM. Maybe somebody at Zeiss liked the color green.

 

[colinlane]

Thanks, Kraut; I had associated the AE lenses with Germany, since all of the AE lenses I have used were manufactured there-- research shows plenty of AE Japan lenses, whoops.

 

[maarten m]

if you align to f8 and set focus to the green triangle, you're ready for snapshooting ...
"hyperfocal"-setting

 

[jjphoto]

Yeah, I've seen these advertised as MM when in fact they are AE. Green F22 means MM, not the green F8.

JJ