Contax II film tale up spool

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Nikon Bob

Guest
Can anyone tell me what the original film take up spool for the Contax II looks like ie is it plastic or metal construction? I have a plastic one marked Contax and Made in Germany and was wondering if it was original to the camera or a post war replacement.

Bob
 
Bob

I have a similar spool which came from a Contax D SLR. It fits the Contax IIa and Kiev cameras, and must be original to the post-war Contax.

There's a metal spool which is made differently from the plastic version which I saw in a Contax III. It has a non-toothed slot which runs the width (?) of the spool.


Jay
 
Thanks for the replies and confirming what I had thought/guessed. As the plastic jobbie works just fine I don't think I'll be in a rush to find a real original.

Bob
 
1 bit of warning: the plastic spools for the IIa/IIIa (+ the Contarex SLRs) get brittle w/age, so be careful!

Thanks for the replies and confirming what I had thought/guessed. As the plastic jobbie works just fine I don't think I'll be in a rush to find a real original.

Bob
 
Thanks for the warning, maybe I'll look for a Kiev spool after all.

Bob
 
If you look for that unique and scarce take up spool, take a look at Rick Oleson´s website. You´ll be surprised about how cheap it is (and how easy is to get them for almost free).
I did it, when my second Kiev came without a take up spool.
May be it´s not perfect, but it works...


Cheers

Ernesto
 
My recently-acquired Contax IIIa arrived w/o a spool... I made one up from a spool salvaged from 35mm film cassettes.

Recently, I was given a Contaflex IV ( 1957 ), by its original purchaser. This camera has its original plastic take-spool which is marked "Contax Made in Germany". This spool is black plastic, but the "lighter" polystyrene-type plastic, as opposed to a pre-War type of "plastic", which would have been some sort of Bakelite or phenolic ( dense, granular, and brittle.).

Luddite Frank
 
My recently-acquired Contax IIIa arrived w/o a spool... I made one up from a spool salvaged from 35mm film cassettes.

Recently, I was given a Contaflex IV ( 1957 ), by its original purchaser. This camera has its original plastic take-spool which is marked "Contax Made in Germany". This spool is black plastic, but the "lighter" polystyrene-type plastic, as opposed to a pre-War type of "plastic", which would have been some sort of Bakelite or phenolic ( dense, granular, and brittle.).

Luddite Frank
Postwar Contaxes and Contaflexes plastic spools were identical.

Prewar Contaxes had a metal spool.

Another good source of nice metal spools : some third-party reloadable cassettes. Open-up the cassette, and use the spool. I recently bought one for $3 on the 'bay. Very well made. Will be an improvement over the fragile postwar plastic spool of my Contax IIa.
 
The Nikon "AM-1" 35mm reloadable film cassette has a high-quality spool that works in the Contax. They go for cheap these days.
 
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