You Can Convert Your Contax G 28mm f/2.8 Zeiss Lens to M-Mount

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A black Leica camera with a Carl Zeiss Biogon lens is placed on a red surface. Next to it is a detached lens facing upward, showing its metal mount. The background is blurred.

Lens makers Funleader and Mr. Ding have teamed up again to deliver a new Contax G to Leica M Conversion Kit, this time for the legendary Contax 28mm f/2.8 Zeiss Biogon T* lens.

Co-developed in the 1990s by Contax and Zeiss, the Contax G system rangefinder cameras stand out in large part for their autofocusing capabilities, a rare feature for rangefinder cameras. However, the cameras themselves have generally become niche, despite favor with celebrities like Sabrina Carpenter and “Marty Supreme” star Odessa A’Zion, the Contax G lenses remain beloved, regular targets for adapting to other camera systems. There are plenty of adapters to put Contax G lenses on full-frame mirrorless cameras, for example, including from well-known brands like Fotodiox and Kipon.

However, adapting Contax G lenses to other rangefinders, like the nearly ubiquitous Leica M System cameras, is more complicated. It is not a matter of simply bridging the gap between the G and M mounts. Putting a Contax G autofocus rangefinder lens on a Leica M-Mount rangefinder requires replacing the Contax lens’s autofocus helicoid with the rangefinder-coupled helicoid Leica cameras require. This is precisely what the new kit enables, and it promises to convert the Contax G 28mm f/2.8 lens to Leica M without destroying any of the original components.

A Leica film camera and three camera lenses are arranged on top of a red photography book with a sepia-toned cover image of train tracks.

The non-destructive conversion kit doesn’t alter the lens’s optics or the mount. The installation process requires a screwdriver, a paper clip, and a rubber wrench. As the video below shows, it will take time and care, and it requires removing the entire lens group from the lens so it can be placed inside the helicoid assembly.

The new conversion kit is built from brass and aluminum to match the build quality of the original design while remaining lightweight and durable.

Funleader and Mr. Ding began this project back in 2019 with the release of their first conversion kit for the Contax 35mm f/2 Planar prime. They then followed it up in 2021 with a conversion kit for the popular Contax 45mm f/2 Planar. Finally, with the wide-angle 28mm f/2.8 Biogon supported, the companies have covered three very practical, beloved lenses and focal lengths for a wide range of photographic applications. It is worth noting that Funleader released a revised G35 v2 Conversion Kit late last year, featuring a new focusing mechanism and improved internal design based on user feedback. Funleader and Mr. Ding say they are open to conversion kits for other focal lengths.

A black Leica camera with a Zeiss lens is placed on a red book, next to two additional camera lenses, one black and one silver, on a wooden surface.