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Zeiss Ikon AG., Stuttgart , Germany

Contina

Contina II

The first impression which you get looking this camera is the feeling of quality and when you get more familiar to, you will not be disappointed. It is really a masterpiece of it´s class. Extremely well made and there is a timeless beauty to it´s forms. At the same time it is graceful and sturdy. After fifty years of existence it is still in full working condition. To be honest, perhaps a slight delay in the longer shutter times.


Completeness is broken only in one point, Contina has no rangefinder. Technically this imperfection might be Her privilege.

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Some details

Contina features a coupled selenium light meter, Prontor SVS shutter ,B,1 -1/300, flash sync via PC socket and a cold accessory shoe. It uses 135 film and the negative size is 24mm x 36mm. The lens is 45mm f/3,5 Novar Anastigmat. Minimum aperture is f/22. Because of the selenium meter you don´t have to use any batteries.

How to get energy for the LED´s, CdS´s and IC´s of the more modern cameras of "history" has become a increasing problem for those who still are tempted to use them. Environmental regulations and directives are meant to be obeyed and they are prescribed for the common welfare. All things have their cons and pros.

By no means, Contina is not a High End product of Zeiss Ikon, on the contrary it is a simplified version of those more featured Contaxes and Contessas . Despite of that it has the same characteristics with the Big Brothers. Simply a camera you could easily fall in love with. Perhaps it is time to reveal Her full name : Zeiss Ikon Contina II (a) (527/24)

 
Contaflex

Contaflex (1954 -1971)

All Contaflex variants are leaf-shuttered 35mm single-lens reflex cameras. After a few years production of pre war models it was the first new camera made by Zeiss-Ikon in West Germany. And it was quite a success. Over 800 000 cameras and 14 variable models were made. As an SLR Contaflex name was new but it was used previously by Zeiss in a pre-war twin-lens reflex camera.

"Contaflex is made by zeiss Ikon Ag, Stuttgart. It combines the advantages of a miniature with those of a reflex camera. Its design is based on many years of experience in the manufacture of precision cameras.  While it has been produced for the advanced amateur, it is of equal value to the professional  worker,  the scientist, and the technical photographer.

The sensible lay-out of the various controls and scales, and the coupled shutter tensioning and film transport, are designed for efficient operation of this small and handy camera even under the most difficult conditions. The large, bright, parallax free finder is combined in one eyepiece with the range finder systems. These, together with the outstanding performance of the world-famous 45mm Zeiss Tessar f/2.8 lens, ensure a pin-sharp pictures every time which will always give pleasure."

 

The extensive series of 35mm Contaflex SLR cameras began in 1953 with the Contaflex I with a 45mm f/2.8 Tessar lens with front lens focusing and the last model was Contaflex S in 1971.

 

©2007 Reijo Lauro