5 Frames with an Omnar Lenses CX38-28 – Contax T/T2 M-Mount Lens Conversion – on a Leica M10-P

We are finally nearly there. The Omnar Lenses conversion of the Contaxt T/T2 38mm 2.8 Sonnar will be released for purchase off the website around Easter time. The lens will be called the Omnar CX38-28 and has been on the cards for a little while now. So the saying goes, good things come to those who wait. And this lens really is very much a good thing – in my opinion, at least!

Ok, ok, I’m biassed. Omnar Lenses officially incorporated last year, and I am now 50% owner of the business. It was previously a more casual collaboration between me (as 35mmc) and Chris from Skyllaney Opto-Mechanics, but as time went on, it increasingly made sense to set the business up as it’s own entity. We have a few other lenses in the pipeline too, not least the Yashica T cameras series lens conversion, the YS35-35 which when ready will even further open up the doors to us mounting all sorts of other weird and wonderful lenses.

For now though, the exciting news is the Contax T and T2 lens based CX38-28.

This lens really is something quite special in my opinion. I have loved it ever since I first shot a Contax T2, and always wondered what it would be like to shoot on a digital camera. Having it mounted in rangefinder coupled m-mount is pretty much dream come true territory for me.

Around this time last year was when that dream became a reality and I was able to shoot it for the first time in the form of one of our first prototype lenses. I took it on holiday and shoot the entire week with it mounted on my Leica M10-P where it performed really well. It does have some slightly bonkers field curvature toward the very edges of the frame which results in slightly soft corners, but aside from that, it has all of the positive character traits you might want from mounting a 38mm f/2.8 Zeiss Sonnar onto a digital rangefinder. As you can see below, there’s load of contrast, lovely colours and lovely bokeh.

More of my shots here

For me, the real joy is being able to shoot the lens on a “proper” rangefinder. The Contax T is a great little camera, but the viewfinder isn’t exactly on the same level as the one found in a Leica M10-P, or even my M4-P for that matter. There’s also the benefit of it being an interchangeable lens so it can be swapped from film to digital… or from broken camera to working one from that matter.

Outside of its optical qualities, that latter point is one of my main justifications for me wanting to rehouse this lens. The Contax T and T2 are arguably some of the more reliable cameras of their ilk from the era they were released, but when they fail, quite often they really quite catastrophically fail, or “brick” as it’s commonly known. At that point, they become pretty much useless aside from for parts. The one part that really interests me is, of course, the lens!

Over the last year or so we have been collecting bricked cameras – mostly Ts but a couple of T2s – and extracting, cleaning and rejuvenating the lenses. Chris has also been working behind the scenes to perfect the design based on feedback from the prototype I shot last year. As of a couple of days ago, he has just started constructing the lenses ready for sale in a month or so. He’s just sent me these photos today:

Soon enough, we will have 12 completed lenses. Unlike previous lenses which we have made to order, all of these are going to be made to the same specification. Judging by the interest we have previously had, we are expecting them to sell pretty quickly too. After these have sold, we will at some point further down the road be offering a batch of customisable lenses too.

If you’re interested in following the journey, and maybe even purchasing one of these lenses, you can follow the story on our Instagram and/or sign up to the newsletter at the bottom of our website here.

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