Contax II and III Serial numbers

Serial numbers on these cameras are inside on the removable back to the left of the pressure plate, and stamped on the bottom of the shutter frame.
 
I think that the ones with the serial number on the rewind know were the export versions, and often had distance scale in feet rather than meters. I will have to consult my reference books on this issue.
 
dexdog said:
I think that the ones with the serial number on the rewind know were the export versions, and often had distance scale in feet rather than meters. I will have to consult my reference books on this issue.
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I think you might be correct as this camera's distance scale on the lens mount is marked in feet. It will go down to slightly under 3 feet so I guess that would be close to .07 meters.

Bob
 
For that time Zeiss seemed to be a bit disorganized in terms of camera numbering.
Usually Contax II and III had their serial numbers in the accessory shoe as well as in the bottom of shutter crate and removable back (left side seen when removed). The first character is a letter which is referred to manufacturing year but this letter is not related to a specific model rather than to a general production numbers, so two different cameras of different models may have 1 l.s.d. of difference in serial numbers.
The listing your link points to is just a model code number list (intended for internal Zeiss and vendors use) but it isn´t related to serial numbers. AFAICR there is a listing in the Zeiss Historical Society, which tells you when your camera was made.

Example A XXXX means a Contax made in 1937.

Cheers

ErnestoJL
 
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Pardon me reviving such an old thread. A friend of mine has a Contax II that although it has a serial number at the bottom of the shutter box, it does not have one inside the film back. Could that denote a possible fake?
 
Nikos72 said:
Pardon me reviving such an old thread. A friend of mine has a Contax II that although it has a serial number at the bottom of the shutter box, it does not have one inside the film back. Could that denote a possible fake?
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It could be possible that the film back is from a kiev II/III. The contax II backs also have the zeiss ikon logo stamped onto the leather which the kievs don't, so you could also check for that I guess.

nathan
 
Hi Nathan,
It has the Zeiss Ikon stamp on the leather on the back and everything on it looks to be genuine. The weird thing is that only the serial is missing from it. Everything else is identical to my Contax II (except the serial of course 🙂 ).
 
Under gunpoint Zeiss cameras were given to Russian soldiers at the very end of the WWII. Unnumbered cameras were also smuggled out to get something to exchange for food.
 
Hi all, I guess it's been almost a decade since I last posted here. Anyways, a few weeks ago a friend of mine who is presumably also an RFF member (Antoine, from France) was visiting the family and we took our Contaxes out (we also swapped back our lenses, me giving him back his J3, and him giving me back my Opton Biogon 35mm).

We spotted a Contax III body in Prague which sported a 50/1.5 Sonnar, Antoine grabbed the set for the lens, and left me the camera body. Interestingly, the body has serial number A51162 (spaced as A 51 16 2), scale in meters, film sensivity in ºDIN, back plate has number K.56987. I guess it's safe to assume that body and back aren't from the same single unit?

Thanks!
Max
 
In the eary 50s Zeiss had a repair and upgrading service, anti reflection on Lenses and adding Flash sync on cameras. Leaking backs were refitted and it happened that they had to put on another back. I had a Swedish friend who had that on his III.
 
It's possible that someone mixed it up to make a frankenstein. It's also possible that some camera service - swapped it out. However from what I know official service locations would have stamped the new back with the appropriate serial number.
 
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