Cross Over Contax

[dee]

I am not sure where to post this , but I am eagerly anticipating a set of Contax based cameras - Contax II with Kiev shutter , silver paint / tan leather .
Contax III original ... and most controversial of all , a damaged Contax III providing meter parts for the bettter one - transformed into a Contax IV - courtesy of a 1958 Kiev 4 .
All from broken / worn / parts donors .

I have both rigid and collapsible 50mm f2 Sonnars , but Brian Sweeney has gifted me with a 1959 J 3 in a 1937 Sonnar mount - perfect for my Contax IV !

I know that this is controversial - but those broken cameras are no longer destined to become parts , and will live again .

My dee'slexia and Autistic glitch struggles with cyrillic script , and certain details , but this trio will be perfection .

 

[Sonnar Brian]

That lens is on its way across the Ocean. It was it's Deestiny to be on a Kontax.

A sense of satisfaction is achieved in seeing these old cameras and lenses performing properly decades after they were made. Many have been in disrepair for a very long time. I just got back the results with a 1953 KMZ J-3 in LTM with a new 1982 front element. The original front element was really bad, focus mount was way off, focus ring was falling off from lack of set screws, and it needed a lube-and-collimation. WOW! The mix of German and Russian Glass just worked.

 

[dee]

Can a late Jupiter 8 face be added to an earlier Kiev fit J 8 ?
I ask 'cos it would be cool to have an English script J8 from an export version .
Not that I have a UK J 8 at present !

 

[dee]

I feel the same about my Contax cameras having a new lease of life - rather than becoming donors for spares - indeed one Contax III is a source of meter spares and live s again as a Contax IV . That's recycling !

 

[gzuiko]

Was your meter working on the Contax III, or was it revived? I've just acquired a Contax III with a dead appearing meter and am hoping it can be saved.

 

[ZeissFan]

I say all is fair in love and camera restoration. Do what you need to do to get a camera into working condition again.

Good for you in putting those cameras back into service. A Kiev is just the Contax's country cousin from the east.

It's only controversial in so far as those (henry s.) who wish to make it so.

 

[dee]

gzuilko -
The meter was dead , but the Arsenal guy was proud to fix it .
I have lost the link - but new cells are available from USA - I shall look it up .
The Kiev meter is not the same , it seems . I needed a control part from another camera - it's not always the cell .
It cost about 75 euro to completely fix a Contax or Kiev through Mike Haley in Kiev .

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Can a late Jupiter 8 face be added to an earlier Kiev fit J 8 ?
I ask 'cos it would be cool to have an English script J8 from an export version .
Not that I have a UK J 8 at present !

The late Jupiters changed, once I tried to put in a later front element into an early lens. Did not work, the diameter had changed.

The J-3's did not change as much. The design of the optical fixture and diameter of the stand-off rings changed, but front rings did not.

 

[dee]

Thanks Brian .
Hopefully , I shall end up with a no name silver face J 8 .
I was thinking about the Kontax situation - there must come a time when cameras from before ' The War ' exhaust all the spares , and early Kievs will become seen as donor source to keep a Contax alive ! Enforced collaboration !
The alternative is that more and more repairable cameras will be scrapped - I know that bodies are being bought for spares .
The Kiev III / IV alteration happened in Ukraine as owners sought to update a hugely expensive older camera , or the cell died .
In fact , this is sensible idea - keeping the integrity of the original concept , with the less intrusive meter and less ' towering ' controls !
Not with a later Kiev 4 , though as the finish and engraving are crude .
Frankly , I reckon my Contax II / III / IV covers all the bases - neat nicely fiished II with newer shutter , very good classic III and very useable IV .

 

[dee]

Another really scrap Contax [ read cheap ] is also being restored with a new 1947 script Kiev face plate .

It's too rough to keep chrome so it will be rescued and painted metallic Silver Blue with tan leather .
It's actually closer to the mythical 1947 Kiev - in both years and integrity of Contax parts LOL .
It will have a Silver Blue J 8 to create a designer set ! Maybe I need a case with cut outs for it lined in velvet ... should be able to make that !
It will be paired with another Silver Blue K IIIa - ' no name ' with KIEV in English on the meter door ...

Reverse snobbery ? Zorki faced Leica IIIc ? Sticker on emma-the-M8 -' My other camera is a Kiev ' LOL

The Contax fascia will go onto my Kiev III / IV - in black - I always thought that the Kiev 4 ' Contaxes ' looked smart in black , but they are made from late Kiev 4 with plastic covering , sloping face plates and suspect engineering . Mine , at some expense , will be a real CLA camera .
OK , but it's a Konsidered pretender ! Will look super kool with a Sonnar J 3 too !

That's six cameras on average £ 200 each , which could have funded a really good digi-box , several leses .. but I just don't care - it has been a dream to create cameras to suit my
Autistic glitch .

It's impossible to describe how few ' toys ' are real / comparitively ' solid ' to me - that break through the mist of lostess in an out of phase world .
Kontax is THE companion which hands and eyes combine to make real - and where ' not sameness II / III / IV ' becomes intriguing rather than dee'sturbing .

Look at it this way - Leica II is real , Leica IIIf is wrong / Leica II broken ? OOPs !
It's THAT sensitve to shape / weight etc .
Even Kiev 4 [ not same base ] is ' wrong ' but Kiev III / IV is right ! LOL .

Hopefully , I shall have two sets of Contax II/III/IV ' profiles ' which will keep me occupied without either them or me , breaking down !