Today Barnack Leicas are often revered, collected and romanticized about by Leica collectors. Zeiss Contax II / III cameras are mostly forgotten about and little appreciated.
Yet Pre WWII, Contax had by far the best 35mm rangefinder camera and camera system. period.
Leica was not even remotely close to the Contax II as a PICTURE TAKING machine. Barnacks had great looks and marketing, but that was pretty much it.
The Contax II and III advantages were
1) better and faster optics 35/2.8 Biogon, 40/2 Biogon, 50/1.5 Sonnar, 85/2 Sonnar
2) much better RF / VF
3) much much much better film loading and unloading.
The Barnack cameras are cute adorable works of art, but poor picture taking machines. Not that you can't take great pics with them, but the gyrations photogs have to go thru to get those pictures are awfully inconvenient.
Have you ever noticed that near mint Barnacks are not that hard to find? That is because so many new Barnack owners gave up on trying to load film into the damn thing and just put it on a shelf.
Have you ever noticed it is VERY difficult to find a near mint Contax II ? That is because pre war Contax II owners were out taking loads of photos with their easy to use camera with GREAT FAST optics.
Capa was shooting a Contax IIA and a Nikon S when he was killed in action. Not Barnacks. I don't wonder why.
Post war with the M cameras was when Leicas became picture taking machines. But that day never really existed with a Barnack camera. The myth of Barnack camera greatness as picture takers is mostly the result of repeated hype by collectors who never really shot with them that much, or Barnack photogs who never shot a Barnack system and a Contax II system side by side.
Stephen
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a similar post from October 2023.
Even so, I have to agree Barnack Leicas are much more loved and popular than their more useful Contax competitors - figure hat one out!
Having owned loads of Barnacks and Contax II / III's I never found Barnacks even remotely close to convenient to use. Sure, users can get used to Barnacks and proficient with them, but saying they are convenient is like getting hit on the head and calling the headache a "feature."
Until you learn how to use them,
Barnacks are among the worst 35mm interchangeable rangefinder cameras
to load properly,
to loose shots because they were misloaded,
to advance film quickly,
and to rewind film quickly.
Ever wonder why beautiful almost unused Barnacks are plentiful almost 100 years later,
while Contax II / III's are typically worn out?
Because Barnack owners gave up on their beloved cameras and packed them away because they were so wonderful!
Yes Barnacks have a jewel like beauty about them, but beauty and convenience are unfortunately different subjects.
Stephen
Yet Pre WWII, Contax had by far the best 35mm rangefinder camera and camera system. period.
Leica was not even remotely close to the Contax II as a PICTURE TAKING machine. Barnacks had great looks and marketing, but that was pretty much it.
The Contax II and III advantages were
1) better and faster optics 35/2.8 Biogon, 40/2 Biogon, 50/1.5 Sonnar, 85/2 Sonnar
2) much better RF / VF
3) much much much better film loading and unloading.
The Barnack cameras are cute adorable works of art, but poor picture taking machines. Not that you can't take great pics with them, but the gyrations photogs have to go thru to get those pictures are awfully inconvenient.
Have you ever noticed that near mint Barnacks are not that hard to find? That is because so many new Barnack owners gave up on trying to load film into the damn thing and just put it on a shelf.
Have you ever noticed it is VERY difficult to find a near mint Contax II ? That is because pre war Contax II owners were out taking loads of photos with their easy to use camera with GREAT FAST optics.
Capa was shooting a Contax IIA and a Nikon S when he was killed in action. Not Barnacks. I don't wonder why.
Post war with the M cameras was when Leicas became picture taking machines. But that day never really existed with a Barnack camera. The myth of Barnack camera greatness as picture takers is mostly the result of repeated hype by collectors who never really shot with them that much, or Barnack photogs who never shot a Barnack system and a Contax II system side by side.
Stephen
-------------------------
a similar post from October 2023.
Even so, I have to agree Barnack Leicas are much more loved and popular than their more useful Contax competitors - figure hat one out!
Having owned loads of Barnacks and Contax II / III's I never found Barnacks even remotely close to convenient to use. Sure, users can get used to Barnacks and proficient with them, but saying they are convenient is like getting hit on the head and calling the headache a "feature."
Until you learn how to use them,
Barnacks are among the worst 35mm interchangeable rangefinder cameras
to load properly,
to loose shots because they were misloaded,
to advance film quickly,
and to rewind film quickly.
Ever wonder why beautiful almost unused Barnacks are plentiful almost 100 years later,
while Contax II / III's are typically worn out?
Because Barnack owners gave up on their beloved cameras and packed them away because they were so wonderful!
Yes Barnacks have a jewel like beauty about them, but beauty and convenience are unfortunately different subjects.
Stephen
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