A lovely babe ...

Hi folks,

as the topic says, a lovely babe arrives here 2 days ago. We have had six weeks of trouble before, the German Post says that I am not existing, so she went back to the sender... The next travel took only 4 days, and now she arrived.

A Contax II with Sonnar 2,0/50 from about 1936/37. I have NEVER seen such an old camera in a state like this. It looks like new. Chrome and black paint are perfect, I am counting 3 spots where you can see a bit of use. After cleaning and lubricating she looks and works like new, I love the wheezing sound an speeds below 1/50 sec.

Compared to my 49 Kiev II it is at the same level. There is no noticable difference between an original pre-war Contax and the first Kievs that were built on the original Zeiss machines in Kiev.

Here are some pics of the babe :-)









Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

what a nice one... european version ... what are the serial number ? and the type of engravings on the back ? rounded or not rounded ss ?

happy pictures

Stephan

Hello,
Congratulations ! It looks like new, a very hard to find item.

Ulrich wrote :
"I love the wheezing sound an speeds below 1/50 sec."

So am I :)

Best,
Jed

Stephan,

the serial starts with an "F", so it must be from 1936 or 1937.
The ss of Zeiss is not rounded, looks more like mirrored "Z"'s :-)

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

Jed,

you are right, they are hard to find. And it was not so good described in eBay as it really is :-)

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

Fйlicitations, Ulrich!
It seems to be new!
I think I will need such a Contax II, but in some time, after the digestion of the IA and of the 1950 Kiev II!

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Hi Stephan,

I have a Contax II s/n # F.44609 and a Contax III s/n # F.44451.
Both of them were born in 1937-38, I guess.
Both of them have "SS" looking as reversed "ZZ"on their backs.

My question is: What does that mind?
(As you see, I am ignorant in Contax matters )
(And I'm afraid we are out of subject of FSU cameras. Sorry, Vlad.)

Regards,
Michel.

Michel,

mine has F 73531. Completely different to yours which have both F 44xxx.

Out of subject... only a little bit, one that loves Kievs has also to love Contax 8-)

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

Jacques,

I have another Contax II that I want to sell. It has an additional flash sync with two connectors. It's in a very good state, looks nearly like the one in my pics... Mail me back if you are interested in it. I will store in a warm and dry place for you in between ;-)

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

i just wanted to have clues about rounded or edged zeiss Sses... it seems that rounded SS come sometimes during wartime...
earlier backs are engraved with edged SS...



Stephan

Ulrich,
I agree.
But this is very dangerous… for our bank accounts…
It may lead to collect Kievs AND Contaxes…

Stephan,
My Contax IIIa s/n # T36429 (1951-52, so postwar) has rounded "ss".
Should we say : before WWII = edged "ss" ; post WWII = rounded "ss"?

Best regards,
Michel.

for the rounded or edged SS it's almost that... may be they changed the font (only the ss because of some runic reminiscence ? but it seem that late wartime models have already rounded SS embossing, some kind of resistance ?)

collecting contaxes is for more costly than kievs even if models variations are not so numerous...
- contax I (5 variations ?)
- contax II (and III) one major variation (speed scale) and two options (meter or feet scale)... some with importers marks (for china, Allemagne SI, Made in germany)
- contax IIa and IIIa one major variation (black dial colour dial) and two options (meter or feet)
- contax jena (rare and rarer)
this means that a serious collection of contaxes wouldn't be so big (around 16 models)

and of course since you like kievs too, you need a noname... on top.

Stephan

Stephan,

Thanks fo the Contaxes review. Long way to home…

Kiev "no name" I have one.

Amitiйs,
Michel.

BTW this is my 100° message.
(Only 100 ??? But I do my best… )

Hi folks,

another offtopic babe, but it is really nice :-)
Today a cute Contax IIIa (the postwar version of the Contax III) arrived here. It was built in 1952 and has spent most of the years in a warm and dry place and wasn't used too much as it looks...

It arrives with a Sonnar 1,5/50 (the brightest lens that you could buy in that time) and there was the original booklet and the price plate with it!

This babe costs DM 1135,- in 1952, that is a really heavy amount of money for that time. As I have found out on the web an industrial worker has had DM 370,- at this time before taxes! So you have to spent more than 3 monthly salaries to buy a Contax at the beginning of the fifties.







Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

Michel,

btw, this 1952 Contax IIIa has also rounded "SS". And you are right, it is not sooooo good for the bank account, but what should I do? :-D

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

And for all you postwar Contax collectors, here are the serial numbers and the dates when they were built.

The mechanical sync are the "Black Dial" ones, the PC sync are the "Color Dial" ones:

Contax IIa, mechanical sync

Letter, Serial Number, Production date
P, 97,001-100,000, 11/1949 to 6/1950
S, 20,001-28,000, 7/1950 to 4/1951
T, 5,001-9,000, 3/1951 to 7/1951
T, 28,001-35,000, 8/1951 to 12/1951
U, 1-5,000, 1/1952 to 5/1952
V, 15,001-20,000, 7/1952 to 8/1952
X, 1-3,000, 9/1952 to 10/1952
Y, 57,001-62,001, 11/1952 to 3/1953
A, 43,001-46,001, 4/1953 to 10/1953

Contax IIa, PC sync

Letter, Serial Number, Production dates
A, 46,000-53,000, 11/1953 to 9/1954
B, 90,001-95,000, 10/1954 to 2/1955
F, 20,001-25,000, 3/1955 to7/1956
Q, 30,001-33,000, 7/1956 to 9/1957
R, 33,001-34,000, 11/1956 to 4/1958
L, 85,001-87,000, 4/1958 to 2/1961

Contax IIIa, mechanical sync

Letter, Serial Number, Production dates
T, 35,001-40,000, 3/1951 to 7/1952
V, 20,001-25,000, 7/1952 to 10/1952
Y, 52,001-57,000, 11/1952 to 3/1953
A, 53,001-63,000, 4/1953 to 10/1953

Contax IIIa, PC sync

Letter, Serial Number, Production dates
B, 95,001-100,000, 11/1953 to 9/1954
C, 1-5,000, 10/1954 to 2/1955
D, 76,001-86,000, 3/1955 to 1/1956
F, 25,001-30,000, 2/1956 to 8/1956
L, 75,001-85,000, 7/1956 to 7/1961
O, 86,001-91,000, 11/1956 to 7/1957
Q, 1 to 25, 1960
R, 34.001-38,000, 2/1961 to 8/1962

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

thanks... very useful listing

about your wonderful IIIa, the price tag is worthless ;-) but with the camera it's incredible value ;-)
do you have the box ?



Stephan

Hello Stephan,

no, the box is missing. I have asked the seller if she has it but she said no, that were all items she has had.

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

Thanks for that very useful listing, Ulrich.
On comparing with some sales, I wonder if the L 85000-87000 for the IIa, PC sync, wouldn't be a "S" for the same range?

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Well, sorry for posting off topic again, but I have to show you the third really lovely babe that I got here :-)

It seems to be unbelieveable, but this is a prewar Contax III from 1937/38 that looks as it was from the factory. It it still amazing that such items exist after more that 70 years in this state. No Zeiss bumps on the leather, working meter, only a few visbile marks on the black paint.

Look at the shiny chrome, I LOVE it :-)







Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

Jacques,

maybe the list is not complete. As I know the IIa was not built in the same range as the IIIa, they built the IIIa a few years longer.

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de