Biotar 35mm lens on Contax IIa/IIIa

[Dez]

I know that prewar Biotar lenses, like their Russian equivalents, cannot fit on the postwar Contax series cameras without hitting the shutter housing at infinity focus. I have heard that there was a postwar variant of the Biotar which would fit however. How do I recognize this version?

I have just purchased, but not yet received, a presumably postwar Jena "red T" Biotar, with a serial number in the 3.3 million range. Can anyone on the list tell me if this will fit the postwar Contaxes?

Thanks,
Dez

 

[Dez]

Hi Dez, Don't you mean 35mm Biogon not Biotar.?

Quite right- it is Biogon, not Biotar. Wishful thinking maybe. I have a couple pre-war Contaxes in decent condition, so I should be able to get some use out of it.

There are a few such compatibility issues. I have a lovely postwar 85mm Jena Sonnar which fits my II's and IIa's, and my Ia, but not my 1f. The mount fouls the slow-speed ring around the wind knob. I would think a major lens company like Zeiss would handle things like that better.

Cheers,
Dez

 

[dexdog]

The postWW2 CZJ Biometar is also a great lens on the Contax 2a. It is myfavorite 35mm lens in the Contax fold.

 

[Dez]

I think lens compatibility issues with earlier Zeiss Contax's was not on the minds of the post-war East German Zeiss Jena company.They had lost most of their best engineers and managers who fled to West Germany at the end of the Second World War and later set up the new West German Zeiss factory.

I'm sure that was the case, but I was actually thinking more of the Western Zone Zeiss designers of the IIa/IIIa series, who launched a new camera incompatible with the large volume of 35mm lenses already in the market. I suppose that, although they were on the right side of the geopolitical railroad tracks at that point, they were in difficult straits as well. Of course when they introduced their new Biometar lens, maybe it was considered a good idea to strand the old lenses already sold.

Cheers,
Dez

 

[S.H.]

Biometar was CZJ east German, not West as the postwar Contax body. And the amount of prewar Biogon was not that large compared to the number of cameras and 50mm Sonnars/Tessars...
The Contax line was for people with deep pockets anyway : "low cost" lenses did not sold very well (Orthometar, Planar for example) and are uncommon today. So they did not have too much trouble to sell new bodies and redesigned Biogon apparently. The demise of the Contax has more to do with its conservative prewar design and its price compared to a M3 or the Nikon S line.

Incidentally, I managed to grab a Planar and an Orthometar (in a Biogon barrel), but not a good old Biogon yet: current prices are 😱.

 

[Dez]

The light is slowly beginning to dawn. So there were two postwar Biogons, one from the East and one from the West, but only the western one fits the IIa?

Cheers,
Dez

 

[S.H.]

That's right. There was three versions of the biogon
- prewar, uncoated or coated, "heavy" (brass/chrome) CZJ
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photograph...resources/RF-Nikkor/Contax_RF/Zeiss_35mm2.htm
- postwar, coated, "light" (lighter materials used), East German CZJ, otherwise identical to the prewar one. Very close to the Jupiter 12.

Those two do not fit the IIa/IIIa West German bodies.

The third one is from the West Germany (Oberkochen), Zeiss Opton / Carl Zeiss, fits all bodies postwar or prewar. Formula slightly tweaked, very different externally.
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photograph...-Nikkor/Contax_RF/Zeiss_35mm3.htm#Zeiss-Opton

 

[Elmar Lang]

I have both the pre-1945 and postwar Biogons and I can say that both are very fine (also the Jena one -heavy type- is coated and signed with the red "T"); the Zeiss Opton one is better though.

I also like a lot the CZJ Biometar: it gives excellent results, it's very compact and not heavy at all.

Personally, I don't like the Planar 35mm., but this is just my own opinion.

 

[Mark Wood]

For the standard lenses (i.e ~50 mm), there is a Biotar equivalent. As far as I know (and I'm happy to be corrected!), the 53 mm/1.8 Helios-103 as fitted to the later Kievs (4m/4am) is supposed to be a Biotar copy. There's also a re-badged version of this lens labelled "Menopta" (which was the subject of much debate when a glut of them appeared on eBay a few years ago) which appears to be identical.

Mechanically they're a bit crude but optically they're very good indeed and it will fit the Contax IIa/IIIa.

 

[enasniearth]

Biogon

Biogon

The biogon number 300 and up are made in east Germany Zeiss jena to the prewar design . The postwar ones have an extended collar to protect the rear element some when mounting .
I have always heard this lens and the prewar one will not fit postwar German contax iia and iiia due to shutter redesign . Only Carl Zeiss marked opton and later Carl Zeiss ( no jena ) will fit .

Prewar and postwar 300 lenses will fit nikon rf , however some mounts will scratch the Nikon front plate so be careful before mounting .


Postwar west German biogon will fit all contax and Nikon rf numbers start with 600 if I remember correctly and progress upward from there .
Best to stay with these postwar designs .