Just bought a contax I + postwar sonnar

[S.H.]

http://www.ebay.de/itm/140688462842

😱 I really do not need it ... but I find them too beautiful. And this one does not look too worn. For those who do not read french, this shutter does not work.

Strangely enough, it has no repair code. Probably was not used much before it stopped working... I will probably have it repaired, I'd like to shoot at least one roll with it.

Anyway, the lens looks gorgeous and I have a soft spot for sonnars... they even work well on my M8 ! I already have a sonnar f2 black/nickel, a wartime coated f1.5 and an opton f1.5, which is like very much. Even the black/nickel one (from 1934) gives interesting pictures :






Some questions for the specialists :
- the lens looks to be from 1952. Is this not a little late for east german Jena lenses? I thought most were manufactured between 1949 and 1950.
- on the cameraquest main site, it says that Contax I whithout the repair code are uncommon. Is this really the case?
- does the price I paid (270€/355USD with shipping) looks right ? I did not found cheaper bodies for a long time... are the original Contax really sought after?

 

[batterytypehah!]

Bump for the experts to weigh in.

All I can say is I think you got a great deal at that price. Congratulations.

 

[S.H.]

Thanks to both of you.

I will perhaps have my sonnar cleaned. But in fact, I also bought it for the flare effect 😉, to try an "alternate" look, soft but not fuzzy. The lenses are not scratched and look good to me. I think Zeiss probably fine tuned the optical formula all along production, in particular during the 30s. I can explain the differences between lenses from various production batches (even the barrels can be quite different for the black/nickel sonnar f2)

I will have to find Hans-Jürgen Kuc's book about the Contax... but these books are GAS amplifiers.

 

[dexdog]

the lens looks to be from 1952. Is this not a little late for east german Jena lenses? I thought most were manufactured between 1949 and 1950.

The lens serial number does not check out against Hartmut Thiele's book of CZJ lenses. He gives this serial number as part of a batch of f:3.5 Tessar lenses produced in 1950, not in Contax mount, but in M42 mount. That said, the lens looks very much like a post-WW2 CZJ 5cm/1.5 Sonnar, which also is pretty much identical to the early J-3s made in Contax-Kiev mount. That said, Thiele's book is not perfect and it is possible that your lens is a CZJ product- you would have to unscrew the lens elements from the outer barrel to do a positive identification.

Agree that you got a good price on the camera and lens.

 

[bowieknife]

The lens is made by CZJ, don't rely on books , as factory records often weren't accurate. My own West German Contax IIa from 1950 sports an East German Sonnar too. Not unusual during the days when there still was no Berlin wall, people could buy a camera in the West, then shop for a lens in Eastern Germany (=soviet zone then ).
My 1932 Contax I is marked A and U, has the 1936 upgrades.
It cost ca 450€ to buy and CLA was around 320€.
Be careful, these shutters are fragile !

 

[S.H.]

Thanks. The lens looks legit to me too (small details on numerals, finish, ...). Dating late forties Zeiss items is not exact science, that's why it is fun.

For the body, if the serial is really U it probably have been factory upgraded at some time... I just hope it is not a franken. I will have to wait for some days to have it in my greedy hands.

I know the shutter are delicate, but I did not buy it for heavy duty use 😉. Speaking of delicate shutter, I do not want to break it stupidly, even if it does not work now: does anyone has a copy/reprint/pdf file of the instruction manual, even in german 😕? I have the "contax connoisseur" booklet, but is does not says much about the things to do or not to do with it.

 

[sevo]

The lens is made by CZJ, don't rely on books , as factory records often weren't accurate. My own West German Contax IIa from 1950 sports an East German Sonnar too.
Not unusual during the days when there still was no Berlin wall, people could buy a camera in the West, then shop for a lens in Eastern Germany (=soviet zone then ).

In general yes. A 1950 50mm Sonnar however will probably have been the original kit lens. At the start of the IIa/IIIa, Zeiss Ikon Stuttgart still used some lenses from Zeiss Jena, as Zeiss Oberkochen (Opton) was not yet up to providing the needed numbers... But a lens from 1952 probably would be too late for that - your explanation (or a fake) would be more likely there.

 

[bowieknife]

Indeed I have a pdf of the instruction manual, could send it by e-mail.

 

[S.H.]

Indeed I have a pdf of the instruction manual, could send it by e-mail.

Thank you, that is very nice. I will send you a private message with my email.

 

[Vics]

I took a walk with my IIIa and Sonnar 50/1.5 this afternoon, and what a joy to shoot with! Everything seems like instinct! I love this little camera and the lens is just perfect!

 

[Dralowid]

Cameras without the repair code are not really as rare as some suggest. Must say I do like the earlier ones like yours that have the black distance scale.

I think yours is the version that has slow speeds but no infinity lock?

It looks well looked after, the only component I'd query is the focussing wheel which looks chrome/steel. I wonder whether it should be nickel and has been replaced.

As to breaking the camera, I'd advise that you only ever turn the speed/advance knob in one direction...if memory serves, anti clockwise when seen from the front (BUT PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK!!!).

Repair? I have a few of these but nowadays only put the effort into keeping one working!

Michael

 

[Highway 61]

The lens is an early postwar Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5cm 1:1,5 T and this is an extremely rare lens, it's told that only 700 were made, while way more 1:2 CZJ Sonnars T were produced at the same time.

Those postwar lenses were made to fit the first Contax IIa series, when the Oberkochen plant hadn't gathered itself enough to produce lenses yet.

They were sold as a kit with the first IIa bodies :

 

[S.H.]

@Dralowid : I do not have the camera yet, so I do not know about infinity lock. I will post some infos when it arrives. It is always possible that is was upgraded/mismatched...
I will surely double check 😉, I do not want to make mistakes with an old Contax, repairs can be costly. I will try to locate a genuine instruction guide to go with it.

@Highway 61 : wow! I really did not think east german 1.5 were so rare 😱 ! In contrast, I saw quite a few postwar east sonnar 50 and even 85 f2 (I have one sonnar 85), during last year on eBay. 700 lenses is a very small batch. So, finding one in good shape was a stroke of pure blind luck... Had it been in an auction house like Westlicht, I would not have sold for 350$ with a Contax as lens cap.

 

[dexdog]

@Dralowid : I do not have the camera yet, so I do not know about infinity lock.

The ebay pictures for the camera show that it does not have the infinity lock above and to the right of the lens, as seen from the front. It also has the folding foot around the tripod socket. This combination of features makes it a type 1c, and the U serial number indicates production date of 1932 or 1933.

 

[S.H.]

@dextog : Thanks for the positive ID.

[edit]
Well I just got Kuc's book, I had a good deal on eBay (again 😎 ). My german is a little rusty but I will have some background info. I will ask about the lens serial on the ZICG.

 

[Dralowid]

Just to confirm. Wind on clockwise (won't turn the other way). Lift out and twist in either direction for slow speed/fast speeds etc (red and white dot) and set speeds (inner ring) always anti-clockwise.

You have to have it front of you to get the gist...

Michael

 

[S.H.]

(...)
You have to have it front of you to get the gist...

Indeed 😀 . I just tried it, and I don't know if I ever saw a more complicated way to set a shutter speed. Those Zeiss engineers were nuts.
As the seller said, the 2nd shutter blind has broken his ribbons and stays down. The shutter mechanism itself is not seized, the focus is hard and should be cleaned. Rangefinder looks OK.
The camera is in nice shape, some small marks on the paint, looking young for an 80 year old. It probably was not used nor repaired since it broke a ribbon, God knows when it was. And no marks on screws either, so it was not tampered with.
The lens did not saw much action : no scratches/marks on the glass, almost none on the barrel. All in all, a nice find 🙂.

 

[S.H.]

Something about this sonnar : the focus at 1meter is 10-20cm behind the subject. I even thought that my M8 was out of alignment, but no. This lens need some serious calibration! It explains why it was not much used 😀.
Did Zeiss Jena became sloppy at some point? Also, nothing definitive on the ZICG.

A strange lens...

 

[Highway 61]

Something about this sonnar : the focus at 1meter is 10-20cm behind the subject. I even thought that my M8 was out of alignment, but no. This lens need some serious calibration! It explains why it was not much used 😀.
Did Zeiss Jena became sloppy at some point? Also, nothing definitive on the ZICG.

A strange lens...

This is not uncommon and due to basic sloppy QC, yes. I have a like new prewar CJZ Sonnar 50/1.5 (uncoated) which, when bought several years ago off a reputable German shop, was similarly and heavily out of calibration.

Now, just properly collimate it yourself and that's it.

 

[S.H.]

I did not have the problem with my Opton, QC should have been different at Oberkochen. It is a good way to obtain 60+ years old pristine lenses 😛