IIa Black Dial with PC-Sync ?

[pb908]

Hi, new to this contax forum.
I just got a nice IIa, Black dial (as seen in the speed selector), but the weird stuff is it come with PC-Sync.
serial number is T 313xx, which looks like 1951 era (I believe Color Dial is not yet build that time).

I try to google around to see how the old Sync should be, and indeed I see difference from normal (mechanical) BD sync, with PC-Sync on my BD.

Are there any BD variant like mine ?
thanks a lot for any answer

 

[aoresteen]

The IIa needed a different sync cable/timer for bulb vs electronic flash. Since I'm deployed to Iraq I don't have my reference guide. The bulb sync devices are common but the X sync ones are very hard to find.

 

[aoresteen]

The sync on a BD IIa or IIa is mechanical.

There are two sync cords for the black dial Contax IIa and IIIa. Cord 1361 is for bulbs (M) and 1366 is for electronic (X) .

A pin comes out of the PC connector and strikes the cable adapter that in turn sets off the flash. The Bulb cable has a delay built in for the bulb timing.

 

[Mark Wood]

I once bought a IIa black dial which had been modified with what appeared to be a normal PC flash socket. It looked to be in very good condition from the outside but the first film showed that something was badly wrong, the shutter giving about only 1/125th second for all of the faster speeds. The flash sync didn't work anyway, so I sent it to UK Contax expert Ed Trzoska to see if anything could be done with it and the verdict...

In order to modify the flash sync, the camera had been butchered with several internal parts missing and it just wasn't repairable. As far as I know, no "black dial" cameras were factory fitted with PC sync.

 

[Mark Wood]

Just to add, here's Henry Scherer's take on modifying "black dial" to "coloured dial" in the final paragraph of this web page:

http://www.zeisscamera.com/articles_cdbd.shtml

This certainly echoes exactly what I found with my supposedly "converted" camera. I'd be very wary of any "black dial" IIa/IIIa with PC sync.

 

[pb908]

thanks guys, for all the answer,
I'll try to post picture here to show what it is.

from the top, is my IIa BD (the speed dial is black)
then the clear view of the sync (I believe this is pc-sync)
and then bottom most part is the pc-sync of my dslr.

what I see, both are the same shape/size. but unlucky that I don't have any flash with pc-sync to test.
I don't know if this is a modified version of BD, but I bought the camera from a friends, and he said it was given to him by his old grandfather (the first owner). I don't know if such of modification exist in his grandfather era.

any more comments guys?

 

[Highway 61]

It is very possible to install a PC sync. assembly in a Contax IIa "black dial" by making something very close to what was used in some prewar Contax cameras, and then, on the Kiev cameras : basically, soldered wires linking a PC outlet screwed on the camera casting in place of the original mechanical sync. device, and some small brass flat pieces fitted on the left side of the shutter box and on the first curtain upper left edge, so that the circuitry gets closed when the first curtain ends its journey, and the flash fires when the film is exposed. In this very case it cannot be seen as an attempt of retrofitting a "colour dial" system in a "black dial" camera, and there is absolutely no reason why the shutter would be ruined there. I've handled such a IIa once, the PC sync. was working very well (using electronic flashes was possible @1/50 and lower) and nothing had been touched in the shutter speeds mechanism.

This is probably what was done on yours.