Contax IIIa - First roll (Dial-up warning)

R

Rich Silfver

Guest
Got the first two rolls back that I put through my new-old Contax IIIa from the 50's and so far I'm pretty pleased with the performance of the lens (sharp and with pleasing out of focus areas). The lens could be a tad more contrasty and I may get a yellow or yellow-green filter.

Camera: Contax IIIa
Lens: Sonnar 50/1.5
Film: Tri-X 400

I'll be posting more photos and some ramblings about the camera and lens over at Batteries Not Included later in the week for anyone interested.

Sample Photos:

No 'artistic' merits or values - just some photos to try the lens out in various settings.

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Hey Rich,

what kind of roll was that, with only six frames?:D
Anyway, contax is great!! (in many cases, but not always!!!)

Is it a coated Sonnar? My versions produced images that were contrast enough...
 
ghost said:
nice pics, but they're underexposed.
Click to expand...

I should have added that I often like to present the final images a tad darker (personal preference of course). The exposure on the original negatives are in line with what the hand-held meter was reading.

There were however 5-6 frames on the last roll that extremely over-exposed to the point that it was hard to salvage any details at all. I am hoping that was sloppy metering at the end of the roll and not an indication of the shutter curtain dragging.

Guess the next roll will tell.
 
Pherdinand said:
Is it a coated Sonnar? My versions produced images that were contrast enough...
Click to expand...

Yes it's a coated Sonnar from 1954-1955. I didn't use neither hood nor a filter and may try to change that for the next time I take this camera out.
Need to decide if I really want to spend 70-80 dollars on an original hood for the Sonnar though. Yikes.
 
I suggest using a roll of fresh slide film for the next one, Rich. Not that i don't trust your developing skills:D
 
Pherdinand said:
I suggest using a roll of fresh slide film for the next one, Rich. Not that i don't trust your developing skills:D
Click to expand...

Oh, I'm lazy - it's developed by a local lab :D
 
You can get vented, round metal generic hoods from americaneagle_camera or other ebay sellers, in the 40.5 size. Or you can get a cheap plastic russian hood made for the Jupi-8 in the 42mm slip-on size. Both will be under 10$ incl shipping.
 
Also, the original post-WII Zeiss Ikon hoods (1119 S 40.5mm screw-in & 1115 A 42mm slip-on) are big & block a significant part of the VF. The pre-WWII hoods are smaller, but still block more of the VF than the vented hoods (either modern or vintage).


Pherdinand said:
You can get vented, round metal generic hoods from americaneagle_camera or other ebay sellers, in the 40.5 size. Or you can get a cheap plastic russian hood made for the Jupi-8 in the 42mm slip-on size. Both will be under 10$ incl shipping.
Click to expand...


BTW, the pix don't appear underexposed on my monitor.
 
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Very nice, that's the great sonnar look alright :) (also look properly exposed on my monitor)

Thanks Rich for posting, and Melanie for modeling.
 
I got mine from heavystar as well, and it's very useful to change fstops on wide lenses (ok ok, on my various J-12's :D)
 
Contax IIIa's are cool, I have one with the Jenna 50 f2 Sonnar and I get really nice results out it. Join the club/cult.

Bill
 
Great shots, I LOVE the laughing female. Good exposure time to catch the laugh AND the motion unsharpness of the hands. Copied that one on my hard disk. Great Bokeh, too. Have obtained similar results with my Contax II & pre-war Sonnar 1.5/5cm single coated.

Yeah, let's form a club.

Jesko
 
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