New Contax IIa

C

Carlsen Highway

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It's a Contax IIa red dial version, made in 1956 according to the serial number, everything works just fine. I got it with a Sonnar 2.0/50 collapsable which is at the end of its days I suspect, a Tessar 3.5 which seems fine, and a Jupiter 8M which is just dandy, (if a bit loosely put together)
Its taking me a little while to get used to using it, with the aperture ring on the Zeiss lenses in awkward places, and the shutter dial having to be lifted to turn, and the infinity lock on the focus wheel....but I am enjoing it...I hope to have some pictures worth showing shortly. Shooting black and white with it.

(I have trouble with my little digital compact camera focusing, so....)
Contax.jpg
 
Nice IIa, Carlsen! I've currently running a first roll of film through a IIa black-dial that is in good shape EXCEPT for sticky shutter speeds beneath 1/25th. Hopefully the higher speeds are accurate and consistent.

FYI, I've read several places that on a Contax IIa one should not use a strap on only one lug, as your picture shows. Evidently the threaded stud on the IIa strap lugs is quite small and is prone to breaking especially when only one strap lug is used.
 
strap

strap

Leigh,

Thanks - your thoughts correspond with mine - I have been looking at that lug sideways, and have already changed the strap...

When you get that film done we will have a special thread for new first time contax owners and their first pictures.
 
Congrats, especially on getting 1 in working condition. A Contax IIa was my 1st old-school system RF. Keep using it & soon it will be the Leicas, etc. that seem to have weird controls & focus in the "wrong" direction. ;)
 
Congrats.

I too was fortunate enough to get one in decent condition.
Just recently got this one (with a 50/1.5 Sonnar) a few weeks ago and of course I took a photo of it first.
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I'm currently running my first roll through it.

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My IIa's are with Henry, moving slowly and inexorably to the top of the list. I hope to use them rather than bequeath them. Nice shots of a great camera!
 
My Contax IIa

My Contax IIa

Hi,

My Contax IIa fitted with a Sonnar 50/2

ContaxIIa.jpg


Very nice rangefinder made in Stuttgart (like Porsche) in 1951 .....Time to time I use the Jupiter 8M from my Kiev4a. I ran a roll of the new TMAX 400 this afternoon in Paris (Beaubourg museum).


A+
 
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It's a great camera. I use a Contax IIa and a Kiev 4 at present. The J-8's vary in quality, but I am lucky to have a very good one - it certainly gives my Sonnar 50/1.5 a run for it's money.
 
I think they are just such pretty little camera's....aesthetics are important too, I say...

DAVID - in your opinion how would a Kiev compare with your Contax? I ask becasue unable to afford a nice Zeiss 35mm wide angle for the Contax, so I am thinking of just buying a Kiev with a jupiter 12
 
These IIa/IIIa Contax's keep on shining like they were bought new yesterday. Mine certainly looks like EXC+. I wonder if the chrome finish is better than Leica's. They sure are beautiful cameras.
 
Carlsen Highway said:
I think they are just such pretty little camera's....aesthetics are important too, I say...

DAVID - in your opinion how would a Kiev compare with your Contax? I ask becasue unable to afford a nice Zeiss 35mm wide angle for the Contax, so I am thinking of just buying a Kiev with a jupiter 12
Click to expand...

Well an older Kiev 4 or 4A that's been properly CLA'd is just about as nice as a prewar Contax II or III in terms of fit, finish, and smoothness of operation. I'd say the prewar Contax in equivalent condition has the slight edge, but at much greater cost.

The Contax IIa and IIIa, especially a late model color dial that's not been run too hard, is in a class of its own. Mechanically and craft wise, they are comparable (in my opinion) to the Leica M2 or M3 (except of course their finders).
 
Joining to collection of new contax IIa , a camera done in April-May 1957 (I was born April 1957)
Lens hood is a Voigtlander Vitomatic one
Thx Mauro

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Yes, they are great and they look even better. I have a IIa and a IIIa with just a few lenses, but each lens is special. The 50mm/1.5 Opton is simply amazing, and the ZJ 5cm/2 is wonderful.
 
I've got a Contax kit on the side. For when I feel different. Prewar body, uncoated CZJ 50f1.5, Helios 103, J8,J11, J12.
 
Frank - photos are required of your Contax kit....


Interestingly, I have printed some pictures I took with both the Tessar 3.5 collapsable and the the Jupiter 8m, and have scrutinized them and damned if I can tell the difference in sharpness or contrast between them. I was ready for the Soviet lens to be acceptable at best, but am pleasantly surprised.
I have put about 13 rolls through the camera since I got it and with the click stops on the 8m I am using it most often. Sadly the Sonnar 50/2 collapsable lens is so far gone with etching to the glass and flare that it is for 'special effects' only.
I would show the pictures but I havnt yet mastered the in and outs of this scanning thing.
 
They are very pretty cameras....However, I have a Leica IIIa that has chrome every bit as pretty as anything I have seen new or old and it was made in 1936.

Ray

HuubL said:
These IIa/IIIa Contax's keep on shining like they were bought new yesterday. Mine certainly looks like EXC+. I wonder if the chrome finish is better than Leica's. They sure are beautiful cameras.
Click to expand...
 
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