should i buy a zeiss 60mm macro?

[Lenny Manfred]

i have been offered a very clean zeiss 60mm T3 macro. it is an old lens, but it is in very good condition and it seems to work well. they are asking $4,500, and i know the lens originally sold for $6,000 new, but, as you all know, there really isn't much else out there.

my reasoning here is that when i finally decide to purchase a set of primes in the near future (most likely a set of ultra primes, maybe cookes, but most likely the ultras) having a macro would not be a total waste of money, because i could always use a macro. right now i rent lenses, but i want to have at least one inexpensive lens in house for when i just need to test something, or shoot something for myself, or just play with the camera, and a nice, a little slow but still decently sharp macro like this seems like a reasonable option. is $4,500 crazy? is this a good lens??

[Fredrik Callinggard]

I've bought quite a few lenses by know and I haven't regretted anyone, even if I will buy a "new" set from any maker soon.

If you feel you have need for the lens I'd say you should get it. When buying a lens set you will not have a macro and as you say it will come in handy at some point.

For me it's been like a house mortgage. It's scary in the beginning but eventually find your ways and then you wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

I am of course a little of a lens fetishist but still it's nice to have a variety and special purpose lenses are, if not always used, always welcome.

Fredrik Callinggard

[Hans von Sonntag]

As Fredrik said!

I used the Zeiss 60mm Macro often. Nowadays there are the new Zeiss Diopters which can accomplish a lot. Still, having a Macro in your lens set is always nice to have. If you got one you will use it. If I were you I would by it.

Hans

[Greg M]

$4500 is a good price, I paid close to that over a year ago for mine.

[David W. Jones]

This lens is more than likely a rehoused Contax mount Zeiss S-Planar 60mm f2.8.
I have one in the original C/Y mount and it is a great little lens that will do 1:1 mag.
If $4500 is more than you want to invest in a macro lens, you might consider a Berger EOS mount and an original Contax Zeiss macro, and use the savings toward your prime set.

Good Luck!

[Michael Lindsay]

...Nowadays there are the new Zeiss Diopters which can accomplish a lot...
Hans

Just tested a master diopter and I think it is very good..

Michael

[Lenny Manfred]

If $4500 is more than you want to invest in a macro lens, you might consider a Berger EOS mount and an original Contax Zeiss macro, and use the savings toward your prime set.

Actually, $4,500 is less than i want to invest, i want to make sure i am getting something that will blend in well later when i get either Ultra Primes, or maybe even master primes. i sold my digi-primes when i bought my red, and i got a little spoiled working with those, but MP are sooo expensive now.

If it is a re-housed 35mm lens i am not that interested, i like to get the real thing. i will ask the seller about that.

[Greg M]

Here are some shots of my Macro as a reference. This is a Arri lens.

Why do you think the lens is rehoused?

[Lenny Manfred]

actually, it is not. i did not think it was, someone said it would be, but i called and confirmed that it is an original. i am going for it, thank you all for the opinions.

[David W. Jones]

If it is a re-housed 35mm lens i am not that interested, i like to get the real thing. i will ask the seller about that.

The reason I wrongly assumed it was a rehoused Contax mount lens was because this was a very popular conversion, due to the quality of the T* optics in this lens.
Same optics as the T3 ARRI? I don't know.
But I do know that I have not had a problem cutting footage from this lens into master shots with Zeiss MkII lenses.