It just feels better

[shadowfox]

Hi folks,

New to me, a Contax IIIa. I used to look down at the big head (that big meter on top) and told myself, there's no way I'm getting that one over a IIa.

Well, to make long story short, I got one in my hands and suddenly the well built craftsmanship and the shiny chromes melted my heart 🙂

And you know what...?
The bulbous meter doesn't bother me at all... in fact, it looks cool now.

Now, the lens, it's one of my dream lens, an honest-to-goodness Zeiss Sonnar 50/1.5. I remember watching auctions for Jupiter-3 went by and feeling the GAS. Now I am using the "real thing" 🙂

So, how do these two perform? well, if I can get off my butt and actually scan the roll of Tri-X that I developed a couple days ago (still hanging in my spare bathroom), I would be able to tell you.

From the cursory look on the negatives, at least there are some pictures in there 😛

Now the inevitable comparison with the Kiev 4A that I also have. It's better made, feels better, and one interesting thing is that the removable spool actually straighten itself when I wound the film up for that first blank shot with the back open. That never happened with the Kiev, I have to half-nudge, half-hoping that the bottom of the spool will connect with the cam on the back.

Having said that, I stand by what I said always, the Kiev is *not* a bad camera. It's just the Contax feels a bit better made. 🙂

I'll post some pics from that test roll soon.

 

[robin a]

Very Handsome....................Robin

 

[shadowfox]

Robin, thanks you're always the encourager 😀

Here's three from the test roll:

They are not kidding when they say that this lens is sharp 🙂
And this is the first time I use tri-x ever, and I like the look, very much.

 

[David Murphy]

Will, I agree with you 100%. The Contax IIIa is a miraculous little creation of photographic technology. It must be seen and used to be fully appreciated. From a historical perspective it's eye opening to see just how advanced German photographic engineering was (at that time) compared to the rest of the world. I also agree with you that the Kiev is also a decent camera, one certainly worthy of backing up and complementing a Contax collection, but it's not at the level of genuine Contax.

 

[David Murphy]

Those are excellent shots by the way - nice work.

 

[crawdiddy]

Nice shots there, Will. The Contax looks sharp, and of course the Sonnar does also.

 

[shadowfox]

David and Dan, thanks for the kind words.

If this is going where I think it would go, I'd have to let go of the Kiev kit and have it used by someone else rather than gathering dust in my cabinet 🙂

 

[ray*j*gun]

Hi Will

Tell me about the Kiev kit.....lol the only reason I haven't taken that particular plunge is my fear of getting a broken camera that's in need of tricky work. I am truly all thumbs!

Ray

 

[shadowfox]

LOL Ray, glad you picked up on that 🙂
I'm not ready yet (mentally) to pull the trigger on the Kiev, I do like it very much.

I'll let you know when I'm ready.

 

[ray*j*gun]

Thanks ......

Ray