shawninus
Newbie
This is my contax IIIa and I love it so far. It does not work at faster speed than 1/100, but I can live with it at the moment.
I shared an album of this camera here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.300712676699508.59300.276301335807309&type=1
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The story:
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIIa with Carl Zeiss Sonnar 50mm F1.5 T*, 1953
- I found this nearly mint Zeiss Ikon Contax IIIa from a local flea market. According to one of the masters, Contax IIIa never showed up in any flea markets and he has been to many. So I consider myself very lucky. It is such a nice and well made camera, so I did my research on it. Surprise to me, these cameras were hand made (to an extend) and adjusted in the Zeiss factory in the post WWII Germany. It is over engineered from the standards back then.
I tested it with a roll of Kodak slide and only half of the frames came out fine (the others were just blanks. The shutter did not appear working reliably). However these successful shots do show very vivid color and sharp image, especially considering the age of the camera and lens. According to its serial number, this camera was manufactured back in 1953, almost 60 years old.
I shared an album of this camera here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.300712676699508.59300.276301335807309&type=1
----
The story:
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIIa with Carl Zeiss Sonnar 50mm F1.5 T*, 1953
- I found this nearly mint Zeiss Ikon Contax IIIa from a local flea market. According to one of the masters, Contax IIIa never showed up in any flea markets and he has been to many. So I consider myself very lucky. It is such a nice and well made camera, so I did my research on it. Surprise to me, these cameras were hand made (to an extend) and adjusted in the Zeiss factory in the post WWII Germany. It is over engineered from the standards back then.
I tested it with a roll of Kodak slide and only half of the frames came out fine (the others were just blanks. The shutter did not appear working reliably). However these successful shots do show very vivid color and sharp image, especially considering the age of the camera and lens. According to its serial number, this camera was manufactured back in 1953, almost 60 years old.
Vics
Veteran
You need to post a MUCH smaller photo here so we don't have to scroll back and forth!
shawninus
Newbie
ray*j*gun
Veteran
Get it serviced.... there's no better camera when it is working properly.
Vics
Veteran
My IIIa was inoperable when I inherited it from my Dad. I sent it off to a place in Los Angeles for an overhaul, and after some months and $200 it was still not working. Then I found Henry Scherer. Henry turned it around in a week (This was in 2003, before the waiting list) and the camera still works perfectly. It's a real joy to shoot with, but now I'm using the lens from that camera on my Leica M3, using an adaptor from Amadeo Muscelli. It's a marriage made in heaven!