Black Dial Contax IIa and IIIa

[Elmar Lang]

Perhaps, an upgrade directly made at the factory.

E.L.

 

[VisualDarkness]

After some further secondary checking I found a couple of alarming signs.

http://www.zeisscamera.com/services_buying.shtml

"If the 1/250 speed is greater than 5.5 milliseconds the camera is a Frankenstein because it has a 1950 era shutter curtain module in it or it has bad shutter springs"
I got about 10ms with my limited testing gear.

"When the shutter springs are over tightened the camera butcher will tighten them unit the shutter no longer blanks when the speed is set at 1/1250. When this is done the actual speed is about 1/300."
I found it to be pretty much exactly 1/300!

 

[zeissguy]

I just got a IIa with everything seemingly color dial but a serial number of P99868, that's weird.

The IIa Black Dial bodies with the "P" prefix in the serial number all have the larger rangefinder window. The rangefinder window on these bodies also lack the two screws normally found on all other rangefinder windows. These two screws secure an internal frame that holds in the glass.

Does the front plate on your "P" Contax IIa body have the larger rangefinder window with NO screws for the glass? Does your "P" Contax IIa body have the standard PC sync with which we are all familiar?

 

[Grytpype]

Zeiss Ikon would do convertions from what we know as "black-dial" to "colour-dial". Supplement II of the service manual referring to the "fully synchronized" cameras says:

The synchronizing device cannot be inserted at a later date outside our factory, since the entire shutter mechanism must be exchanged. Cameras without full synchronization, therefore, should be sent to the factory.

I've seen one or two on eBay that should be black-dial according to their serial numbers, but seem to have been converted. Any camera with a PC socket but with a black-dial speed knob and serial number will be a repair man's bodge, though.