I have a chance to get a Contax IIIa.

P

Pfreddee

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Question: is it as good as it looks and handles? I can pick up a minty Contax IIIa at my local real, live camera shop, for not a huge amount of money, and the shop owner can service it as well if it needs it. I comes with a lens, Zeiss, 50mm; I didn't look closely at the model. I already own a Kiev 4AM which is a sort-of copy, but once I handled the real thing, I have been itching to get it.

What do some of you owners think?

Thanks to all who reply.

With best regards,

Pfreddee(Stephen)
 
You haven't bought it yet? I enjoy using all my rangefinders but I absolutely love working with my Contax II. If you don't want it, let me know how to get in contact with the seller so we can work something out.
 
I love my IIIa-cum-Sonnar-cum W-Nikkor 35/2.5! I like the way it handles, I like the contrast of the RF patch, and I like the way it never fails me. Having said that... I'm an early adopter of Henry Scherer. He overhauled my IIIa in 2003 and it has worked perfectly ever since. That overhaul cost me a bundle, but It was my Dad's camera and I really wanted to shoot with it (it was a paperweight when I got it.) I'd advise that you really put the shutter through its paces. Fire it at each speed about 5 or 6 times. Good luck.
 
It's a fun camera to use, and an absolute classic. If it comes with the 1.5 Sonnar, you'll have one of the best lenses ever made. Go for it!
 
Spotted one a week ago in a antique store. Gave my GAS a week to subside but I needed just "one more look". Well it's like they say:"If you hang around a barbershop long enough, sooner or later, your gonna get a haircut". Will try to post a snapshot of my new "prize" soon.
 
I have a IIIa. Lovely camera to look at.... but the viewfinder is not as good as a Leica M.


Once I was King... by *monz*, on Flickr

Contax IIIa with 50mm Sonnar f1.5 lens;
“Colour Dial” model, available 1953-1962

From the 1930’s, Contax and Leica were the key players and arch-rivals in the professional camera arena. The history of both companies is fascinating. In the early years, Contax had the technological advantage. The war photographer, Robert Capa, used a Contax camera for his famous photographs of the Normandy landing.

The Contax IIa/IIIa "Colour Dial" models were the zenith of the Zeiss Ikon Contax marque. The IIIa differed from the IIa in having an un-coupled selenium meter on the top plate. The shutter speed dial numbers were marked in three colours: black (T, B and 1 - 1/25th), yellow (1/50th) and red (1/100th - 1/1250th). Unlike earlier models, the IIa and IIIa had a standard PC socket at the back. The colours identify one of three flash synchronisations: M (black), X (yellow) and FP (red). The post-W.W.II line of interchangeable lenses for the IIa/IIIa eventually grew to a total of 16 lenses with focal lengths ranging from 21mm to an extraordinary 500mm. Shown here is the highly rated factory-coated 50mm f1.5 Sonnar lens.

Production of these cameras stopped in 1962 due to pressures from various sources. The introduction of the Leica M3 and M2, the Nikon SLRs in 1959 and competition from other Japanese camera manufacturers (whose production costs were significantly lower) all played a part in the demise of Contax.

For more information:
johnlind.tripod.com/zi/zeissikontext.html
cameraquest.com/zconrf2.htm
www.cameraquest.com/lrfcrf.htm

Ivor Matanle; Collecting and Using Classic Cameras, 1986, Publishers: Thames and Hudson
Ivor Matanle; Classics to Use; in Amateur Photographer 16th September 2006; pp 35-39
 
If you've already handled one and can get on with it, there's no reason not to like it. On the other hand I never tried one until I'd been using Leicas for a while and I found it big, awkward, over-complicated and limited in lens choice: either you 'get' Contaxes or you don't, and I don't. Even so, they're arguably a better buy now than they were 30 years ago when servicing was MUCH more problematic and they were just 'old cameras': the consensus in those days was that if the shutter broke, it was pretty much a scrapper.

Cheers,

R.
 
Just don't pay too much - Contaxes once had a much higher price than now, and are frequently overestimated by sellers, even more so antique store ones pricing by outdated books. Colour dial is (due to harder repair) less desirable than black dial, and IIIa less desirable than IIa (due to bad looks of mostly useless selenium meter). Untested shutter reduces price even further. And eBay BIN is no reference - go by completed sales, and carefully compare condition.
 
The Zeiss Contax was a work of complicated cleverness.
Leicas are works of simple genius.
Nothing more need be said...
 
I have a really nice IIIa color dial -- the shutter noise is stunningly soft, especially at 1/25 and 1/50. It's almost like the sound of a leaf shutter. The sound of the shutters on these cameras does vary, I know, but this one gives an idea of how good it can get with these cameras. The rangefinder is extremely accurate, for sure, but the lack of framelines (and thus the need for an external viewfinder anything other than a 50) is a drawback, for sure.

The Contax is a stark illustration of how there really is more than one way to skin a cat -- with Leica's shutter design patented, Zeiss Ikon had to come up with something totally different, and they did. Likewise with the rangefinder design. You can say that the ZI design was unnecessarily complicated, but the fact the Soviets made a knockoff of the prewar Contax for over 30 years, despite the attendant quality control issues, speaks volumes for the inherent quality of the design.
 
It's an absolutely lovely camera, and has a precision feel that in my humble opinion, may only be equaled by a really good Leica M2 or 3. When working well they are superb. My only functional beef with the camera is the squinty viewfinder and lack of diopter correction, which give me problems with my glasses.
They are extremely complex and difficult to repair, so check it out carefully. In particular, make sure that the entire frame is exposed at the 1/1000 shutter speed. Any congealing of lubricants in the incredibly complex shutter mechanism is likely to give trouble here. Problems with slow speeds are a non-issue; that mechanism is easily accessible and easy to fix. The postwar Contax is one of very few RF cameras that have completely defeated my repair attempts for some of the things that can go wrong. The black dial model is easier to repair than the colour dial one, but good luck trying to find the adapter cord to use an electronic flash on it- they are as scarce as an honest politician in an election year.

The IIIa, with its funky selenium meter on top, has an extra measure of gadetry about it that is quite appealing. Unfortunately, most of the meters are either dead or woefully inaccurate by now; if you find one that is still usable, it is a great find indeed. I am fortunate to have a colour dial IIIa with a spot-on meter, and the wonderful Sonnar 1.5 lens. It is clearly among the finest cameras I have ever used.

Cheers,
Dez
 
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