50mm Contax RF Lens Caps -- Has there ever been a more nerdy inquiry?

[Miles.]

Hi all,

Over the years of collecting Contax rangefinder lenses, I've acquired an array of different lens caps that Zeiss used in the 30s, 40s, and 50s.

My question is, what ones am I missing? I know I'm missing the early leather caps, and the very late "Carl Zeiss" labeled examples from the Oberkochen era, but what else?

Shown below is my small collection. The small one in the center is the original for the pre-war 5cm Tessars.

 

[boojum]

That is niche collecting. Great stuff.

 

[dexdog]

Looks complete, except for the leather ones, which are harder to find. I think that the leather caps may have been for export only, i.e., outside of Germany.

 

[Out to Lunch]

An eBay seller in Hong Kong is offering a Carl Zeiss Jena 32mm leather lens cap for $70.

 

[TenEleven]

Yeah I was gonna chime in that from what I have seen this seems complete.

Not that I am actively collecting these. They sort of come to me as a by product of the lenses.
I have 2-3 ziploc bags full as I clean them and then store them away. I replace them with Chinese plastic ones. So, when I lose or drop one of these it's no big deal.

If I am feeling particularly bored I may go through my plastic bag later and see what's there.

Oh, there are also at least 2 rear cap variations that I know of for Zeiss Contax 50ies.
There's the pre war black painted ones made of some sort of alloy. They have two tongues to clamp onto the rear of the lens. And then there's the post-war aluminium "Opton" ones which use a felt lip. Zeiss code 727.

 

[TenEleven]

An eBay seller in Hong Kong is offering a Carl Zeiss Jena 32mm leather lens cap for $70.

32mm is not going to fit any of the 50ies though. I assume that's what Miles meant. It would have to be at least 42mm inner diameter.

EDIT: Getting nerdier (if such things are possible), I do really wonder where the "ZEISS" labelled one fits into the timeline of these. My personal hunch would be very early post-war.

 

[Out to Lunch]

eBay lists half a dozen more -in all sizes. Cheers, OtL

 

[Sonnar Brian]

This leather one...

 

[TenEleven]

Also going through eBay there seem to be at least a couple of variants we're missing here.

Also from my own collection I know there exists a version of the black Carl Zeiss Jena caps in crackle finish.

Also absolutely bewilderingly -- there are fakes for Carl Zeiss Jena lens caps out there. Haha.

 

[dexdog]

I have a 4 or 5 leather caps in 42mm diameter that will fit the Sonnars and other lenses that accept 40.5mm filters, such as the 13.5cm lenses. Also a couple in 51mm diameter that fit the CZJ 85/2. Most of the leather caps in my possession have gold leaf in the embossed stamping, but a couple are embossed, but no gold leaf. I dont know if they were originally made that way, or if the gold leaf wore away over time.

 

[Miles.]

Alright, alright, I guess I have to keep buying lenses so I can keep getting new caps...

First line of my obituary: "They had the most complete Contax rangefinder lens cap collection known to the world"

 

[Sonnar Brian]

These came with this Rigid Sonnar, but bought used- who knows how that got mixed and matched.
The side of the front cap is chrome, not black.

 

[Miles.]

hard to tell from my photo but I have that front black cap with the chrome rim.

Your Bakelite rear cap is very rare. I’ve only seen a few of those over the years.

 

[dexdog]

32mm is not going to fit any of the 50ies though. I assume that's what Miles meant. It would have to be at least 42mm inner diameter.

EDIT: Getting nerdier (if such things are possible), I do really wonder where the "ZEISS" labelled one fits into the timeline of these. My personal hunch would be very early post-war.

If you mean the plain aluminum ones with a simple Zeiss stamp, I would agree with your hunch.

 

[TenEleven]

Yeah that's the ones I mean. It would make sense from the timeline at least.
Basically they would not have the tooling set-up yet, and they might have been producing these caps for a short while before the Zeiss trademark dispute became apparent.

Also @Sonnar Brian how does that bakelite cap go onto the lens? It's a front cap right? Sorry it's not super clear to me from the pictures.

 

[Miles.]

Yeah that's the ones I mean. It would make sense from the timeline at least.
Basically they would not have the tooling set-up yet, and they might have been producing these caps for a short while before the Zeiss trademark dispute became apparent.

Also @Sonnar Brian how does that bakelite cap go onto the lens? It's a front cap right? Sorry it's not super clear to me from the pictures.

It’s a rear cap, about as deep as a 727, and simply pushes on. I one I have is cracked unfortunately.

 

[TenEleven]

Oh wow. Yeah I have a bakelite rear cap for the 8.5cm, likely from the same period - it also has lost one of it's "fingers". Sadly bakelite especially when finished this thinly is quite brittle.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Yeah that's the ones I mean. It would make sense from the timeline at least.
Basically they would not have the tooling set-up yet, and they might have been producing these caps for a short while before the Zeiss trademark dispute became apparent.

Also @Sonnar Brian how does that bakelite cap go onto the lens? It's a front cap right? Sorry it's not super clear to me from the pictures.

It's the rear cap, you can see it on the lens in the first photo.

Yes- front cap is black, with logo, and chrome metal ring that snuggly fits on the lens.

 

[hilltime]

To answer the original question of “nerdiness”, I don’t find this important to the vintage camera collector. Personally, I have always been in search of the very rare cap, or lens hood, or whatever accessories that actually completes the camera or lens. Many times, I have purchased these kind of items, and paid more than the original camera or lens they are intended for. I call this the “sickness of GAS”, that many of us on this forum experience! But what a great feeling it produces…

 

[dexdog]

Jena caps only. The third from the right top row is hard plastic, only one like it that I have. Looking at the leather caps without gold leaf suggests that they were not gold in the first place.