Contax III copy

[ully]

Just saw some of these 'copy's on ebay. What are they and where were they made?

Thanks

Richard

 

[Ash]

KNEB's... Kievs. USSR post war.

 

[Xmas]

The RAF & USAAF fire bombed Dresden the Zeiss fire safe cooked all the drawings.
The Red Army liberated Ge. The Russians explained they wanted to make the Contax, the Ge had to reverse engineer the drawings, and supply 3x prodiuction lines and the Ru made Kievs from 47 to 84 or so.
A '47 to 49 is a collectors piece, the Russians made so few
The build standard slowly dropped, but the design was still there but if you are a fondler buy before '72, the first two digits of serial is the date, except pre 50.
The Russions made most of the lenses, and some accessories, cassettes, finders, stereo.
They are real nice cameras.

Noel

 

[paragon]

I have also seen a very nice Contax ll copy in Black with Sonnar 5cm f2 - speeds up to 1/1250 - about $115 from the Ukraine - including shipping
I am a "fondler" of this old stuff - plus a sometime shooter - but prefer my M3 and Nikon S.

Anyone got one of these - are they OK - same wieght as original and presemably good for shooting the odd roll or two.

Really fancy one? as I keep missing the chrome "real things"

Cheers

 

[Ash]

i had my 'real thing' for sale but it's too expensive for most people, who are used to the american priced bargains (since the UK exchange rate is brutal).

 

[Xmas]

Some parts are interchangable with Contax parts, upsetting if you are a Contax collector, and pay top $ for a camera with Ru parts. The J12 35mm (Biagon clone) will fit and work on your Nikon S (I think), real cheap compared with a Nikon lens.

The winder is slow, compared with the M3 the viewfinder dim.

Noel

 

[michaelging]

I have a "no name contax" (Kiev) that was made in 1962. The quality of the camera is not up to the high standards of the post war West German Contax like my IIIa , but the quality in this camera at least is pretty good, especaily compaired to the Russian Kievs of later years,as said above 1972 and newer. The contax I have is worth more as a collector's Item than as a camera,but I only paid $280 for the camera and lens. It came with a Zeiss Opton 35mm 2.8 Biogon, and that was the real reason I bid on the camera and lens combination. The Biogon sells for more than $500 by itself. I do not think they ever came from the factory in Black , but I might be mistaken.

 

[paragon]

Contax l in Black

Contax l in Black

This has just sold on EBay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=180113527236&rd=1&rd=1

 

[michaelging]

Actually it did not reach the reserve ,so you can still buy it. It does look like a professional owned it, it's pretty beat up.

 

[40oz]

They are real nice cameras.

Noel

couldn't agree more.

I have a '78 without meter, and a '79 with a working meter. Both are solid pieces, a pleasure to use. I don't know how they compare with pre-70's examples, but mine are comparable to my Canonet and Minolta SRT-101 as far as finish and build goes. Even the silver finish on the cameras is very similar. A far as lenses go, the Jupiter-8 and Jupiter-3 are fantastic, coated and smooth focusing. My '78 & '79 J-8's have a chrome finish, while my '56 J-3 has a silver finish almost exactly matching the camera, which leads me to believe the finish on the cameras hasn't changed all that much since 1956.

I'd say the late 70's Kiev's are at least comparable to other cameras of the same era from the rest of the world.

 

[Doug]

Just saw some of these 'copy's on ebay. What are they and where were they made?

Hi Richard -- If you were in the Ukraine or Russia and had access to a bunch of Kiev 4 cameras, which closely derive from the pre-war Contax II and III, you might paint some of them black and mark them as "Contax" cameras, thereby at least tripling the sale price for a modest additional cost. Sometimes they're sold as authentic Contax cameras, sometimes the seller waffles on the provenance, and sometimes they're noted honestly as imitations.

Some (perhaps most) buyers will be satisfied owning a "Contax", set it on a shelf for display, and not bother using it. I understand the sellers consider this, and may choose less-functional samples to start with. My phony Contax, shown below, has a shutter problem that causes it to be accurate only at the top three speeds. And light leaks of course, an apparently endemic problem with them. Some day I may dare to send it off for repair.

Edit: Oh, that's not really a Zeiss Sonnar on it, but a Jupiter-8 with the ID ring re-scribed. Note the "5sm" mark that should be "5cm", a tell-tale mistake.