A local Contax II...

[Gben]

This 1937 Contax II belonged to the father of an acquaintance of mine, both of which are dead now. It's owner was born about 1900 and he died in 1967 after a too-short retirement. His wife and son just left it in a drawer undisturbed where it lay until I rescued it.

Besides being a machinist and draftsman and an avid boater, he was an avid photographer who had a nice assortment of well-known high-end cameras such as Rollei, Leica, Busch, as well as those considered consumer-grade. He entered photo-contests back around WWII and did a good job of documenting the lives of he and his loved-ones and acquaintances.

Henry Scherer was kind enough to supply his usual excellent skill in his overhaul of this classic.

Along with this and a few other cameras I got hundreds of negatives and photos and a few accessories including the Bilora tripod, the Weston meter, some literature etc..

RIP Walter.....

 

[Erik van Straten]

What did Walter do with all those cable releases? In 45 years I only used one that I still have.

Erik.

 

[Gben]

What did Walter do with all those cable releases? In 45 years I only used one that I still have.Erik.

Some of the cables were probably gotten with other cameras he owned. He wrote on the back of some photos what camera he used to shoot it with along with shutter speed and aperture, so I know besides the Contax II he had a Leica III, a couple of Rolleis, a Busch Press, some folding Kodaks and a late 1800s oak 4x5.

The Contax II sat in the drawer of the piece of furniture on the left in this photo which you can barely see because it is buried under 30 years of rubble his son piled up after his mother died in the late 70s. The house will most likely be torn down:

And another room of the house back around WWII, most all this furniture and other stuff was/is still sitting in the house as of this year:

Somebody call the maid!:

 

[Erik van Straten]

I know besides the Contax II he had a Leica III, a couple of Rolleis, a Busch Press, some folding Kodaks and a late 1800s oak 4x5.

I see, he used them all at once.

The small clock at the extreme right is quite valuable. It is a 19th century "rose clock" or "apple clock", a handpainted panel (oil paint) with usually an extremely fine clock behind it from the Schwarzwald in Germany. I myself have one that has been in the family for a long time. Take care of it before it is thrown away by people that do not know what it is.

Erik.

 

[farlymac]

Glad you were able to get it into working condition. Too bad to see how things turned out for Walter's family, what with the son apparently not caring about all the things his parents had spent quite a bit of time and money on accumulating.

PF

 

[Gben]

Glad you were able to get it into working condition. Too bad to see how things turned out for Walter's family, what with the son apparently not caring about all the things his parents had spent quite a bit of time and money on accumulating.PF

Walter's family lived pretty good lives. Obviously Walter Jr. was a bit sick in some way if this is how he was living, but I think in his way he thought he was doing a good thing leaving things as his Father, Mother, Uncle and Aunt left them when they died. Junior had a bit of a sad lonely life it seems, maybe it made him feel like his family was still there because their things were still there, or maybe it gave him a purpose in life guarding time and not letting it move after his family died. I never saw inside his house before he died and only talked to him about superficial things when I did see him. I will make sure his family photos and history stay together as best I can, and I will make sure that the history of the Contax II stays with it the best I can. Things could have turned out worse, if Junior had died earlier before the Contax was worth anything, it may have just gotten thrown away, and so would many other things in the house that are now collectible because he kept them from that fate for over thirty years after everyone else was dead.

 

[Gben]

Given that Henry Scherer now has a six years-long waiting list to do his service on Contax cameras and lenses, can we assume that you got the camera quite long ago, i.e. in the 1980s ?

On planet earth, six years ago was 2011, Welcome aboard!

 

[Gben]

The small clock at the extreme right is quite valuable.Erik.

Well this is your lucky day Erik, because there is one on the opposite wall out of the photo. Tell us how valuable they are and I will box the two of them up and sell you two for the price of one! Starting to hold my breath........now.

 

[Gben]

If Junior had died earlier this would have turned out as a serious problem for Henry Scherer's waiting list for sure ! How "hilarious" isn't it. 😀

Miss, you seem to be trying to communicate some problem you are having with this particular Contax II camera or with Henry Scherer, is that correct?

It seems like a great camera to me and Henry has put it in perfect working order, so maybe if you see some other problem you can be specific an that way myself and the other members of this forum can help you sort that out...that is what we are here for.

Thanks.....

 

[steveyork]

Beautiful camera. You can tell by the condition of the leather case that it was hardly used. And to know the back history makes even more special.

I hope you put some film through it.

Wish Henry didn't have such a long waiting list. Fortunately there are others who can make Zeiss repairs.

 

[Gben]

This is the first photo I shot with it after getting it back from Henry. Early winter and the sun has just gone down, it was cloudy and raining. I put it on it's tripod and gave it a one-second exposure. Probably not to many people's tastes, but I saw something there and wanted to save it.

 

[Deklari]

This is the first photo I shot with it after getting it back from Henry. Early winter and the sun has just gone down, it was cloudy and raining. I put it on it's tripod and gave it a one-second exposure. Probably not to many people's tastes, but I saw something there and wanted to save it.

Nice color! Excellent shut. What film did you use?

 

[Gben]

Nice color! Excellent shut. What film did you use?

I looked at my notebook and it says the photo was shot at f2 and a half-second exposure. Film was new Kodak 400 which I think was called "max". I am pretty sure I "pushed" the film and shot it as asa100 or 200. I have to take better notes.....

I see in the upper left of the photo it looks like maybe I got some light on the film when loading it, the rest of the roll does not have that.

 

[Erik van Straten]

I Film was new Kodak 400 which I think was called "max".

This must be a truly wonderful camera. It makes color pictures on a b+w film!

Erik.

 

[Deklari]

This must be a truly wonderful camera. It makes color pictures on a b+w film!

Erik.

Lol. Erik you need to try this too

 

[steveyork]

I looked at my notebook and it says the photo was shot at f2 and a half-second exposure. Film was new Kodak 400 which I think was called "max". I am pretty sure I "pushed" the film and shot it as asa100 or 200. I have to take better notes.....

I see in the upper left of the photo it looks like maybe I got some light on the film when loading it, the rest of the roll does not have that.

Are you sure that is not the sun in the upper left of the photo?

Looks to have a blue color cast. Probably from the scanning. I get that problem with early morning shots using Ektar.

 

[brbo]

There's UltraMAX color film (ISO 400).
Shooting ISO 400 film at 100 or 200 is PULLING not pushing.
There's a light leak.

And that's a nice looking camera.

 

[Erik van Straten]

There's UltraMAX color film (ISO 400).

Oops! I didn't know that. However, I was only joking. Mr. Gben knows that.

Erik.