I need a back for my Contax 645

[grappa]

I know it does not make any sense but I love my Contax 645. I really like adjusting the aperture by just turning the ring and other idiosyncrasies of the
camera. It's sorta like the people that still like the rangefinder M8. I have a Mamiya with a Phase back but it's not the same tactile satisfaction to me.
I also love the lenses it uses and have several really good examples.
The problem is that I want to find a reasonably priced digital back for the camera. Can anybody point me in a helpful direction ? Any advice ?

 

[Graham Mitchell]

Are you planning to keep the Mamiya?

If you got a Sinar back with an adapter for the Contax and another for the Mamiya, you could run both platforms with the one back. Have a look at the eMotion54LV if you want a 22MP back. Currently goes for about €6K. The 75LV is a 33MP version.

Anyway, there are plenty of backs available for the Contax from all the back makers.

 

[dougpeterson]

I know it does not make any sense but I love my Contax 645. I really like adjusting the aperture by just turning the ring and other idiosyncrasies of the
camera. It's sorta like the people that still like the rangefinder M8. I have a Mamiya with a Phase back but it's not the same tactile satisfaction to me.
I also love the lenses it uses and have several really good examples.
The problem is that I want to find a reasonably priced digital back for the camera. Can anybody point me in a helpful direction ? Any advice ?

You can have a dealer swap your Mamiya-mount back to a Contax-mount back of the same type for US$3000.

 

[grappa]

I do want to keep my Mamiya. I just want to shoot my Contax once in a while if possible.

 

[carstenw]

On LL there is a guy called ixpress or something who is selling an Ixpress 384C, I believe, for something like $4000. I think it is a Contax mount.

I own both M8 and Contax 645, by coincidence, and had pretty much chosen a Sinar eMotion 54LV as my back of choice until I realized that I couldn't do dusk HDR panoramas with it. Now I am wavering even more than usual. There is an e54 owner on this forum who is considering moving up to the e75. What is your budget for this back?

 

[grappa]

I would sure like to keep the price as low as possible. Maybe 5 to 7 grand ?

 

[carstenw]

Do you have any preferences with regards to sensor size, MP, ISO capabilities, portability, software, etc.? What will you be using it for?

 

[grappa]

I am not too picky but the back must be portable. I like to shoot landscapes but want to take my camera on car rallies etc. The last rally I recorded was in Colorado. www.phataxe.com if you want to look.

 

[Chuck Jones]

Grappa, $5-$7K is going to be tough with a Contax mount for your type of work. I shoot a Contax/Aptus 75S myself, but even with it's low resale now, it is still going to be at least double what you are looking to spend. Just looking at some of your shots, I don't think you are going to be very happy with much less than one of the 22-33MP backs. The cropped backs are great also, but you will have to live with the loss in field of view. Not the best solution for either your landscape work or the car rallies. So what's the point of even going there? My advice would be to save your cash until something shows up in your price range that will do your work, knowing that it will likely be at least another year until prices fall into your budget, or plan to spend double what you thought it would cost to meet your needs.

 

[ddk]

I know it does not make any sense but I love my Contax 645. I really like adjusting the aperture by just turning the ring and other idiosyncrasies of the
camera. It's sorta like the people that still like the rangefinder M8. I have a Mamiya with a Phase back but it's not the same tactile satisfaction to me.
I also love the lenses it uses and have several really good examples.
The problem is that I want to find a reasonably priced digital back for the camera. Can anybody point me in a helpful direction ? Any advice ?

Actually it makes a lot of sense, you'll be surprised how many of us feel the same towards our Contax 645. What doesn't make sense is why you went to Mamiya when you had the Contax?

Take a look at these threads on LL,

http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=32734&st=20

http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=32908&hl=contax

 

[edwinb]

Depnding on your choice of cameraback we have a number of ex-demo adaptors from contax and mamiya for sinar camerabacks for small amounts - send me a pm if you see a suitable back without adaptor and I'll check
edwin