Contax Ii Serial Numbers
Photographica PagesAn online guide to collectable cameras and relatedstuffZeis Ikon Contax IAn early Contax I with 50/2 Sonnar. Note the dimple over the end of the focusing wheel's shaft.The engineers at Zeiss must have realized they needed to come up withsomething special. Leitz had their Leica cameras on the market longer than ZeissIkon had been an entity.
This camera has been verified as a fake by a leading UK based Contax II expert and by another Kiev/Contax expert based in Russia. It was made from an early Kiev and given false 1937 serial numbers to look like a Contax II. It is a good fake - but a fake nonetheless, worth a few quid - and it cost me over £130. Zeiss Contax Forum for the classic Zeiss Contax I, II, III, IIa, IIIa, G series, and if you want to push it, the nice Contax point and shoots.
The Leica had won the respect of professionalphotographers with the quality, practicality and ease of use. The Leica alreadyhad (and still has) a very loyal and devoted following.
What they were requiredto design and build was not something merely as good as the Leica. They had tobuild something better, significantly better, giving compelling reason to choosethe Contax over the Leica.So they did.In 1932 the Contax came out on the market. This was the same year Leitzreleased the Leica D, their first model with built in coupled rangefinder.
Thelength of the rangefinder base is a big factor in it's accuracy, and the Contaxrangefinder was considerably longer than the Leica's. The top speed on theContax was 1/1000 of a second as opposed to the Leica's 1/500. The Contax wasdesigned to be faster handling, with a removable back to facilitate rapid filmloading, which could be done cassette-to-cassette to eliminate rewinding. The Leica had a baseplate film loading system that was cumbersome and could leadto a failure to advance if you were careless. The Contax lenses mounted with aquick bayonet, rather than a thread mount that required several turns, as foundon the Leica. And the Contax had a built in finder mask, usually for the 135mmlens, but it could be had with the 85mm mask instead.And the lenses. By the end of 1932, Zeiss offered the 40/2 Biotar, 50/1.5Sonnar, 50/2 Sonnar, 50/2.8 Tessar, 50/3.5 Tessar, 85/4 Triotar, and 135/4Sonnar. In contrast, Leitz offered the 35/3.5 Elmar, 50/3.5 Elmar, 50/2.5Hektor, 73/1.9 Hektor, 90/4 Elmar, 105/6.3 Mountain Elmar, and 135/4.5 Elmar.The most important advantage went to Zeiss with the 50/1.5 and 50/2 lenses.
Zeiss Ikon Contax Ii Serial Numbers
Thefollowing year Zeiss raised the bar with the introduction of the 28/8 Tessar,85/2 Sonnar, 180/6.3 Tele-Tessar-K, while Leitz only released their 50/2 Summar.Both makes extended their shutter speed ranges with slow speeds, Zeiss to 1/2second, Leitz to a full second.Leitz used a new model designation every time they changed the design,offering different models with different features (and prices) concurrently.Zeiss had only one model, the Contax, until they released the Contax II and IIIin 1936. But they constantly made running changes to the design of their Contax,leaving us with no clear cut factory designations of the different versions.There are least two different sets of variations that have been drawn up todescribe the Contax I. Hans-Jurgen Kuc uses seven numbered variations in hisbeautiful book 'Auf Den Spuren Der Contax', and Jim McKeown uses sixletter variations in his price guide. For less than perfect reasons I useMcKeown's system; it's what I've used in the past in my catalog listings, andKuc's book is in German, and I don't read German well. Both systems can beconfusing.Contax Ia- No slow speeds, no foot around tripod socket to keep the camerasitting level with a heavy lens mounted. The serial number starts witheither 'AU' or 'AV'. The viewfinder window is between therangefinder windows.
The camera may have raised dimples over the ends ofinternal shafts on the focusing wheel and the infinity lock release. Somecameras have one, some both and some none. The sheetmetal plate surrounding thelens mount is separate from the front plates surrounding the rangefinder andviewfinder windows.
The distance scale around the lens mount is painted blackwith white numbers.Contax Ib- The front plates are combined into one, surrounding the finderwindows and the lens mount. The camera does not have dimples any more.Otherwise the same as the previous model.Contax Ic- Slow speeds have been added, as has a foot on the tripod socket.The front plate now also extends around the shutter speed dial on the front.Contax Id- A button has been added to release the infinity lock on the focus,at 1 o'clock to the lens. The distance scale is now bright nickel with blacknumbersContax Ie- The viewfinder has been moved from between the rangefinders to theoutside, causing the rangefinder on the wind side to be moved out towards theend of the camera. There is now a groove on the front plate running between theword 'Contax' and the rangefinder window, directly under the infinitylock release.Contax If- The marker for the shutter speed dial is now an arrow, replacingthe slotted screw head from previous models. The accessory shoe now has fourscrew heads visible in it.I believe it is possible to find variations with features split between twoversions.
Zeiss Contax II and IIIContax II and IIIZeiss' Successful LeicaCompetitorAfter being embarrassedwith the failures of their Contax I, Zeiss circled the wagons and came up with awinner. 1936-1942A good argument can bemade the Contax III was the world's first modern 35mm camera, as it wasthe first 35mm system with a built in camera exposure meter. Yes,I know about the earlier 35mm Contax TLR camera, but its outlandishlypoor design disqualifies it from the 'modern' category.' Superlatives aretoo frequently abused. We will content ourselves by saying that ContaxII represents the most advanced miniature camera design and construction ofthe present day.'
1936 Zeiss CatalogContax II mounting aVoigtlander Prominent 50/1.5 NoktonAfter photography conglomerate Zeiss fell on its royallaurels with the incredibly unreliable Contax I shutter, it went back tothe drawing boards and introduced the Contax II and II in 1936.With the Contax II and III, Zeiss not only had alegitimate competitor to Leica, in many ways it bettered Leica and wasoften considered THE Professional 35 system. It was asuccess Zeiss would not enjoy after W.W.II. combating the likes of theformidable Leica M3.
Contax Ii Serial Numbers List
Today mostContax II / III are well worn, they were workhorses. Zeisshad the goal of making it the best made 35mm camera, and many longtimeContax users consider the heavy duty and complicated construction thehigh point of Contax Rangefinders. Leica won the rangefinderrace in the long run, with used Contax prices taking a fall.Contax bodies and lenses sell generally sell for much less than theircontemporary Leicas.In use the Contax II and III proved tobe very reliable cameras - just as reliable as theircontemporary Leicas in my opinion. While the Contaxoccasionally needs shutter curtain straps replaced, the Leicaoccasionally needs shutter curtains replaced.
Bothneed occasional cleaning, lubrication, and adjustment tokeep working. Both pre-war lens systems have the tendency to fogup over the years and will require a professional cleaning if you wantthe best results.The Contax III with 50/1.5Sonnar. The III was the first professional quality 35 with abuilt in meter. Yes, I know about the earlier Contax TLR, but itwas just a bad design idea and not worthy of professional consideration.The Contax II / III self timer was probably the first on a system35.In 1936 the new Contax beat Leica in anumber of significant areas:.A much longer rangefinder for more accuratefocusing.
Instead of amoving mirror system that Leica used, and still uses, Zeiss used amore expensive system which Zeiss claimed was more accurate system.By rotating two glass wedges to achieve rangefinder focus, ratherthan a single mirror, Zeiss claimed higher rangefinder accuracywhich would practically never go out of alignment. Rangefinderbaselength was a gargantuan 90mm with a magnification of about.75,giving an effective baselength of an amazing 67.5 - 8% longer thanthe Leica M3 and 15% more accurate than its contemporary Leica screwmount competitors.A combinedviewfinder and rangefinder, rather than separate RF and VFports. Again, Leica would not match this feature until the M3almost 20 years later. It was a major advance.Neither Contax or Leica offered parallax correction or bright lineframes like the later Leica M series.A single nonrotating shutter dial, instead of the Leica IIIa's separateslow and high speed dials. Contax combined the shutter speeddial with the advance knob, enabling the photog to change speedsbefore or after the camera had been wound. This sounds prettytame today, but in 1936 it was a major technological advance.Leica would not be able to claim the same until the M3 almost 20years later.Ametal vertical traveling shutter, impervious to the sun'srays burning a hole in the shutter.
Zeiss Ikon Camera Serial Numbers
The shutter was verycomplicated, varying BOTH the size of the slit and the travel of thecurtains to adjust speeds. About 700 parts, farmore than the Leica, went into the Contax II / III.The brass slats ran on straps. 60 years after the cameras leftthe factory, its not unusual to find them with inoperative shuttersdue to broken straps.
On the other hand, you have towonder how many times the cloth curtains have been replaced in thatworking pre-war Leica.Atop speed of 1/1250 instead ofthe Leica IIIa's 1/1000. In truth this was more of anadvertising claim than a significantly faster shutter than theLeica. Shutter speed sequence is B, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50,125, 250, 500, 1250. The postwar IIa / IIIa addedT and 1. One Second Plus could be approximate by usingthe self timer on B.Mucheasier loading with its removable back and easy access.Even with the Contax double locks, it was MUCH easier and faster toload and unload the camera.Bayonet mount lenses instead of screwmount lenses for faster lens changing - at least according toZeiss. Real world, they were about the same in the speed changingdepartment.Self Timer: all II / III had selftimers. Only a few pre-war Leicas left the factory witha self timer.The Contax IIIhad 35's first built in meter on a rangefinder.A wider lenslineup from 28 to 500 mm Vs 28 to 400mm in 1936.Faster wide angle lenses with the35/2.8 Biogon and 42.5/2 Biotar.
Leica's fastest wide was 3.5.Sharper super speed lenses: the Contax50/1.5 Sonnar and 50/2 Sonnar were generally thought to be sharperthan Leitz 50/1.5 Xenon and 50/2 Summar.Fastest 85 and longer lens, the sharp85/2 Sonnar.Longest rangefinder coupled lens, the180/6.3 Tele-Sonnar.Fastest longer than 135 lens, themagnificent 180/2.8 Sonnar.