Yay! A Contax IIA is coming! Now what?

L

ljsegil

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I gleefully won an auction for a IIA with a Zeiss Opton 50mm f1.5 lens, and should have it in my grubby little hands in a week or so. Now, I am not entirely new to rangefinders (or RFF), but I am entirely new to Contax. What do I have to look forward to? What surprises, good or bad, lurk in this camera? Any tips, advice, or scorn? What do you wish you had known when you first got to use your IIA? I yearn for the collective wisdom of the forum to help me through my much looked forward to transition to the Contax world.
Thanks to all,
LJS
 
there's not much that you need to know.. other than the lens is excellent.. get yourself a decent lightmeter and enjoy!
 
Congrats.

Unless your IIa has been recently serviced, you will want to keep an eye out for shutter tapering @ the high speeds (1/1250 & 1/500), where top part or all of the photo will be dark. If this happens, you'll know that you need to have it CLAed (I recommend Wolf Umbach).

If it's working properly, there's not much to understand w/a Contax. Some people don't like the focus wheel, but you're not forced to use it. Just remember that the focus wheel is also the location for the infinity lock. If you're used to Leicas, then the focus direction (using the lens barrel) can be a little confusing because it is in the opposite direction. However, if you're used to using Nikons, then you're already used to the ZI Contax focus direction, because Nikon adopted their original lens mount from the Contax (originally for their RFs, which carried on into the F system of SLRs). The same goes for the Contax lens mount, which goes in the opposite direction as Leicas (clockwise to remove the lens when looking @ the front of the camera)--unlike the focus direction, which may have been chosen arbitrarily, I think this is actually more ergonomic for changing lenses w/the camera facing away from you or to the sides (perhaps this is why the lens-changing direction was adopted by other camera systems in addition to the Nikon RF, like the Olympus Pen SLRs).

ljsegil said:
I gleefully won an auction for a IIA with a Zeiss Opton 50mm f1.5 lens, and should have it in my grubby little hands in a week or so. Now, I am not entirely new to rangefinders (or RFF), but I am entirely new to Contax. What do I have to look forward to? What surprises, good or bad, lurk in this camera? Any tips, advice, or scorn? What do you wish you had known when you first got to use your IIA? I yearn for the collective wisdom of the forum to help me through my much looked forward to transition to the Contax world.
Thanks to all,
LJS
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Improving contax IIa

Improving contax IIa

Do not forget to add a hood it improves the quality of the picture a lot... and as the 50 mm 1.5 is a greta lens ... I am sure you will be delighted with the color..
Most of the contax IIa are not as silent as the contax II and if a CLA is needed most of the time it is the shutter to be improved.
I have many cameras but this one is really extraordinary !!!!:rolleyes:
 
f2eyelevel said:
The postwar Contax IIa camera is a superb photographic tool which unfortunately has a certain number of typical weaknesses, some due to design mistakes, some due to a lack of use.

Please take note that the following list does not apply to the prewar Contax II camera which is a totally different camera not even sharing the least screw with its postwar successor.

Here is what you must check as soon as you receive your camera and before putting it at use :

- the RF image may be vertically out of alignment
- the shutter may stick at slow speeds (1/25 and below - 1/5s, 1/2s and 1s are often critical)
- the shutter may fade at high speeds (1/1250 and 1/500) and even travel closed at 1/1250
- the selftimer may run but be hesitant, or even stick
- using the selftimer may make the shutter fade or travel closed at 1/1250, 1/500 and even 1/250
- the shutter may stay open when you set the speeds selector on B, depress the shutter release button, and then remove your finger from it
- the shutter may sometimes not want to release at all especially if your camera is a "color dial" Contax IIa.

I highly recommend a complete overhaul if you plan to regularly use the camera, unless this has been done recently.

The lens should be okay provided that it's fungus and separation free and has no oil on the aperture blades. If the aperture ring is very hard to move, do not force it and have the Sonnar serviced as well.
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Not much to worry about then!!!!!!!!!!
 
paragon said:
Not much to worry about then!!!!!!!!!!
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Old dried grease is the cause of most of these problems. Either use it regularly, or service it regularly. More trouble than the Leica system, probably, but the payoff is the incredible lenses and images they will produce.

Fortunately the mechansim can be cleaned and lubed with a lot less effor than the Contax II and the design of the Contax IIA is probably inherently more accurate. Look here:

http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-95.html

Michael
 
I just got a Contax IIIa, and the first thing I am doing is to get the camera overhauled/repaired. I then got an inexpensive FSU lens.

Raid
 
Thanks eyelevel - really good info

I just got a ll to go with my Nikon S - (father and son if you like)

I have not got my hands on it yet but the previous owners coments were - "this is not like most Contax ll - the shutter works?"

Maybe I should find a nice cosy spot for it in the living room and just admire its lines

Cheers
 
f2eyelevel said:
That said, they are indeed lovely cameras and their lenses are first class even by modern standards. Let's think of them as divas having to be cherished...
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If I talk to my doctor about the human condition it is all disease and decay.

I have two Contax IIa and one Contax IIIa. Two were immediately sent out for overhaul (only one really needed it urgently - the IIIa because the meter was dead) but the third has been going strong for a few years now without much attention from me.

I don't know whether the absence of Mr Nerwin was the cause of the Contax IIa design anomalies: Zeiss Stuttgart seems to have managed all on its own to produce camera designs that went from bad to bazaar. Indeed Zeiss designs were a major contributor to the end of the German camera industry. On the high end rangefinder front all designs went into the toilet when Leitz trumped everyone with the M3 (until Nikon captured the pro market with the Nikon F).

Contax users divide up into those who prefer the Contax II and those who prefer the Contax IIa and never the twain shall meet. I actually have more Contax II bodies than Contax IIa/IIIa bodies but I think the IIa a more practical everyday user. That is a debate that will never be settled

Michael
 
f2eyelevel said:
I don't know much about your Contax II and Contax IIa gear, but you may switch to another more optimistic doctor.
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Doctors are worse when they are bubbly - my doctor recently gave me a turn when he started bragging about a good outcome; made me wonder what were his usual results!

As you know the point was when you take things apart you see all that has gone wrong and think about how you would have designed the thing better. As you said these are lovely cameras and we shouldn't scare the hell out of LJS. Any 40-50 year old camera and lens would benefit from an overhaul and will need one sooner or later. In the heyday of mechanical cameras pros regularly had them CLA'd at least once a year; 40 or 50 years is pushing the envelope especially when many of these classic cameras whiled away the years in the attic, garage, basement or other hostile environment.

Cheers
Michael
 
I must be the lucky owner of a Contax IIIa that has a spot-on lightmeter and no particular problems. Let's pray it'll hold well until Henry gets a hand on it. :)
 
"Use" is probably the operative word here. "a" Contaxes are poor shelf queens, but great users. My own IIIa has been constantly used by myself and my late dad since 1953, and it never required service. Out of a whim I had it serviced for her 50th birthday, but everything was working OK except for the selftimer. BTW, I regreted it, as now some controls are too loose for my taste, and the new light meter cell is not as accurate as the old one it replaced. But back on topic, I shoot/have shot the living daylights out of this camera, to the point it is quite brassed, something you don`t often see in a IIIa. Every other example that has come my way has put mine to shame in outward appearance, but had mechanical issues.
 
No Fear

No Fear

Thanks to all the posters, and those expressing concern for my well-being, but this discussion has been exactly what I hoped to elicit with my initial question. I wanted to learn more about this camera than one can find in eBay descriptions, and I have certainly accomplished that.
The more input, positive, cautionary, and negative, the better in my mind.
Thanks to all for their contributions.
LJS
 
f2eyelevel, I tend to prefer the two younger ones, as they are more patient and compliant, but I'll post a couple of the eldest in a few hours time, due to popular demad :)
Edit: If they scan right (I still can`t scan worth a $·%), I'll post some that sure revindicate the 135/4 Sonnar - a great but underappreciated portait lens
 
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I bought my 135/4 Sonnar by luck and I don't regret it at all. It is a lens that I look forward to use often.

I have a fondess for the 180/2.8 Sonnar, but it is way more bulkier with the Pentacon Six than a 135/4 Sonnar with a Contax IIIa.
 
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