Introducing 1954 Contax IIa and 1957 Contax IIIa

[Deleted]

I bought these two Contax cameras, last Wednesday:

Beginning in 1954 it was first model year of the Colour Dial, for those not familiar with this terminology it basically means that the shutter speed dial at 1/50 is in yellow for both X and M flash synchronization, 1/100 - 1/1250 second are in red, the lens that came with this camera is the Pre-War Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5cm f2 Collapsible. These post-war cameras are slightly smaller in size than the pre-war Contax II cameras. However unlike their older siblings, my version uses aluminium vertical shutter slats that are held in place with silk tape and the shutter mechanism is geared. Another major difference is the way you set the shutter speed, for those who own the Contax II from 1936 and the Contax III from 1939 will be familiar with the fact, that you need to wind the film advance knob first before lifting it to set the correct shutter speed. For the first time, the shutter selector dial is now a high polished chrome flat disc on both the II-A and III-A, you don't need to advance the film knob before setting the shutter speed. The prefix "A" at the end of number designation, meant that in 1951 Zeiss Ikon had introduced a mechanical electronic connection at the back of the Contax IIa and Contax IIIa bodies that would allow the user to mount the Part No. 1361 flash synchronization cord on these black dial cameras.  The Pre-War cameras do not have flash synchronization. Starting in 1954 Zeiss changed the Contax IIa and IIIa camera body to incorporate all of the necessary electrical parts for flash synchronization inside the camera itself. Instead of a mechanical connection on the camera back there is a modern type female PC electrical socket.

Do not convert any Post-War black dial Contax IIa and IIIa to PC electrical connection, this would damage the shutter mechanism the reason being is that the flash synchronization electrical system inside the Color Dial model is very complex. It contains four separate electrical switches along with contacts and wiring. The shutter release mechanisms are entirely different. It is basically an entirely different camera and the basic frame of the shutter is also different.

The Contax III was originally released in 1939, it was the first time that a selenium photometer cell was affixed onto the top-plate of a camera. I won't go into detail with this version, since I don't own one. With that being said, my Contax IIIa from 1957 amazingly enough, the selenium photometer cell still works but how accurate, I'm not sure. In order to allow the selenium photometer to work, set the inner ASA ring to the exact film speed hence by the little black arrow on the right side below the rewind spindle. Next rotate the outer ring that shows the shutter speed from 1 upto 1/1250, the needle on the top right display would align with the black diamond, the little dot below the diamond indicator is for under exposure. Attachment DeletedThe lens which came with this camera is the Carl Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f1.5 Rigid with the Contax IIIa body, had a MSRP of $418 U.S. when new! 


Attachment Deleted

[gray1720]

I have to say that I thought the Contax III was introduced in 1936, though I might be getting confused with the lens on mine.

That said I was extremely vague on the vagaries of Contax nomenclature so thank you for the informative post, Simon.

[Deleted]

You're welcome, gray1720 and I have included a list below of each marking on the lenses:

The Carl Zeiss Jena Contax lenses are pre-war with markings in cm, next came the early-mid post-war Carl Zeiss Sonnar without the "Jena" script markings in mm and followed by the later Carl Zeiss Opton-Sonnar, these Optons are made in Oberkochen, West Germany.

Nikon to Contax Compatiblity:

Nikon S2, S3, S4 and SP wide-angle lenses can all fit Contax II, IIa, III and IIIa cameras due to fact that these lenses are mounted on the outer bayonet.

However, the Carl Zeiss Contax II, IIa, III and IIIa 50mm Standard and 85-135mm Telephoto lenses do not fit Nikon S-cameras due to the difference in diameter of the helical coupling of the inner lens mount on the Contax is 50mm whereas the helical coupling on the Nikon is 51.8mm.

[gray1720]

Should be a pre war lens

flic.kr/p/2nY2XHA

1935... so even I haven't remembered its age right! No idea what is like to use as the shutter was kaput with broken tapes, just that it makes Nikons look like lightweights!

Anyway, enough of my one, over to your two, Simon.

[Deleted]

Thank you, gray 1720 for sharing the link to your Contax III.

After a bit of research today on the Kiev 2, 3 and 4 cameras, the Jupiter series of lenses used on those bodies are completely compatible with Pre-War Contax bodies, but not the later IIa and IIIa. To add confusion to the issue of compatibility, the 1950-53 Black Dial Contax IIa was available with the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5cm f2 collapsible lens, this is where the history gets blurry, as to when Carl Zeiss dropped "Jena" from the lens? I'm afraid that I don't have the answer.

On some of the forums that I found online, stated that the Pre-War Contax II lenses are not compatible with the later Contax IIa and IIIa Colour Dial bodies. Unless the CZJ Sonnar 5cm f2 collapsible is the only one can be swapped between the two cameras? Sadly though, Zeiss Historical Society is no longer with us as they were disbanded in 2016.

[John Farrell]

Have you seen this explanation of the Zeiss situation?

www.zeiss.com/corporate/en/about-us/past/history/the-zeiss-logo.html

[Deleted]

Apr 6, 2023 5:32:44 GMT John Farrell said:

Have you seen this explanation of the Zeiss situation?

www.zeiss.com/corporate/en/about-us/past/history/the-zeiss-logo.html

I remember reading something about the longest running lawsuit in reference between Oberkochen and Jena, from several years ago.  I really appreciate the fact that, John was able to refresh my memory from the attached link.


I had to bypass the Contarex Super, because this was a SLR camera that I heard about but never seen it in person due to the lavish second hand price tag and to my lack of knowledge, it is best to leave it for someone else.

The Swan Song:

However, in 1976 a stroke of genius by Zeiss would begin a long partnership with Yashica but what happened first is little known – they partnered with Pentax, an R&D relationship which lasted for 12 months, under the auspices of Dr. Erhard Glatzel. He was the man, responsible for the Apollo mission medium format Distagons used by NASA and the 50mm Planar F0.7 used by Stanley Kubrick on Barry Lydon.


Although the partnership was mainly to develop advances in Zeiss’s T* coating, significantly two advanced Zeiss designs were put on the market by Pentax; the SMC-Pentax 15mm F3.5 and SMC-Pentax 28mm F2. The optics for Glatzel’s Zeiss 28mm F2.0 were shipped out of West Germany to Japan in 1976 and assembled by Pentax in their own casing. The build isn’t as good as the Contax Zeiss version, but for a $60 lens that was actually $800 Zeiss lens!

Final Thought:

I didn't delve into the full concise history of Carl Zeiss because it was beyond my scope. I only wrote as to what I know within my capabilities to be able to familiarized myself with the cameras that I own and to show my deep appreciation for the brand. This in my opinion is the soul of the camera, that the men and women who designed, manufactured, assembled, serviced and marketed the product at Carl Zeiss during the reconstruction of Germany after World War 2 are no longer with us. Yet their legacy lives on for those of us who have bought, use, collect and teach others about Contax series of cameras and the historical achievements that have stretched from 1846 into the 21 Century, with names like: Planar, Biogon, Distagon, Topogon, Sonnar, Tessar, Triotar and in the modern world this includes the Batis, Otus, Loxia, Milvus, Touit and ZM for Leica M shooters.

If I missed anything, I apologize.