Question for Contax TVS I owners re zooming

[v_roma]

Hello everyone,

I recently got a Contax TVS I that seems to be in very decent shape overall. But the one thing I quickly noticed is that the movement of the lens when zooming (either using the lever or the ring) is not a smooth/continuous movement from wide to tele but seems to "catch" a bit (for lack of a better word) somewhere between wide and tele. I just wanted to understand if this is normal behavior for the camera/lens or if there is something potentially wrong with it.

Thank you very much!

 

[Michiel Fokkema]

Mine is smooth. But yes, there is a bit resistance in the middle of the zoom range. Never noticed it though until you mentioned it.

 

[OlliL]

Mine behaved the same.
Nothing to worry about I'd say.

 

[v_roma]

Thank you both very much for the responses. It is probably not an indication of a serious problem. It does not prevent the camera from zooming but the resistance on mine is very much noticeable.

If I decide to have someone look at it, does anyone know who works on these cameras in the US?

Thank you again

 

[v_roma]

Ok, follow up question. Is there any way to leave the leader out when rewinding a roll in the TVS? I don't think the TVS I has that custom option but wanted to confirm. Assuming that it doesn't, is there any trick to workaround this and get the leader back out.

Thank you again!

 

[racoll]

Enjoy your TVS. I think it's a very cool camera with tons of features and capability built into it.

Andy

 

[v_roma]

It turns out that the first TVS did have an issue with the zooming. Not sure what was causing it but it did stick significantly more than the second one I got.

Either way, I've been enjoying it very much. The zoom range is perfect and the ability to set the manual focus distance is great too.

EDIT: I ended up getting a hard-copy manual for the TVS I since I couldn't find anything online. If there's significant interest, I can scan it and post it online somewhere.