wide angles on Kiev/Contax

JoeFriday said:
congrats, RJ.. only 2,965 to go... not that you have to stop then
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___Brett!
If you get a chance, could you upload a picture of your IIa so I know what one looks like? :confused:
 
Short answer: It won't fit as IIa/IIIa.

Long answer: The Soviet lens is based on the prewar Biogon, complete with large rear element that extends deeply into the body.

If you do mount it on a Contax IIa or IIIa, it will press against the shutter curtain (I believe). And when you advance the film, the metal shutter will drag across the rear element. And when you release the shutter, it will slam down on the rear element. Nothing about that experience will be enjoyable, although it will be painfully memorable (at least the Soviet lens shouldn't set you back too much).
 
My J-12's won't even get close to the shutter of the IIIa- there's a rounded bump that traverses the shutter chamber and the rear element bumps into that about 2 mm before the mount even gets close to the body.

Ah, well.
 
I'm not sure if getting a 28mm is worth it . I think it's uncoupled, and it costs waaaay too much. The J-12 will do it, but only on pre-war Contaxes.
 
Brett

Get the J-12 from Fedka.com. Mine is pretty good and they are cheap in comparison to the Voightlander lenses. I was thinking about getting one of the Voightlanders myself, probably the 25 mm. Does anyone know what is the filter size for this is as I would like s.t. which is like the rest, namely 40.5 mm.

regards

Stephen
 
Brett, I have not used this camera extensively, only one roll of film, but I'd say that yes, the external finder is, on balance, useful for me to have on the camera. The size increases and the lines are not as sleek, but the view is much brighter and clearer for me. Once the camera goes and comes back from a CLA the viewfinder may improve enough to dispense with the external finder, I don't know.
 
FrankS said:
Someone wanted to see a picture of a IIa? Here's mine:
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Drools massively.. ack! my keyboard is out of order now :(

I've seen a nice Contax II at my usual reseller, i'm too young and too broke for this now, but I wonder if it's a pre-war or not. I'll know this next week certainly!
 
d-avenger, it's pretty simple to tell at a glance whether it's pre-war (II) or post-war (IIa).. at least once you figure out a few things.. the RF window used to be way over to the left, right under the film advance knob.. on Frank's you can see that it's been moved toward the center slightly and is now over the self-timer knob.. also, the pre-war model had a 'tripod foot' on the bottom that stuck out a bit under the lens mount

beyond that, the IIa is slightly smaller, but that's not obvious unless you had them side by side
 
JoeFriday said:
d-avenger, it's pretty simple to tell at a glance whether it's pre-war (II) or post-war (IIa).. at least once you figure out a few things.. the RF window used to be way over to the left, right under the film advance knob.. on Frank's you can see that it's been moved toward the center slightly and is now over the self-timer knob.. also, the pre-war model had a 'tripod foot' on the bottom that stuck out a bit under the lens mount beyond that, the IIa is slightly smaller, but that's not obvious unless you had them side by side
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Brett, I looked at a picture of a IIIa and it also has the rangefinder window directly in front of the focusing wheel, above the self timer lever.
http://www.keh.com/images/fullsize/CY02060500114.jpg
Thanks, that's an easy way to recognize a post war Contax.

R.J.
 
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