Zeiss-Ikon Contaflex- Can you set aperture and shutter speed independently?

[Tim Murphy]

Dear Board,

I own 2 examples of this old camera, a Contaflex IV with the offset meter, and an early Contaflex Super with the meter centered under the prism. I really like the chunky little nuggets, and both meters still perform with in a 1/2 stop or closer than my hand-held meters.

The manuals I have downloaded are pretty good. They are the $ 3.00 copies from Butkus.org. Both cameras are set up with the EV shutter/aperture combination metering but I can't figure out how to over-ride that set up?

Is it possible to manually set both the shutter speed and aperture, and if so how do I do it?

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA 🙂

 

[KoNickon]

On the Super, you turn the shutter speed ring (with the black grips) and the aperture settings will turn the reverse direction, to retain the EV setting. But then you turn the knurled ring around the film speed dial on the front and the aperture settings will change independently -- shutter speed remains unchanged. So I'd say that yes, you can set both shutter speed and aperture manually, though really you need to set the shutter speed first and then adjust the aperture. Shutter priority, in effect.

The IV requires you to push that tab at 7:00 as you face the camera toward the body of the camera. That uncouples the shutter speed setting ring from the aperture ring (mine is rather stiff so it takes a little doing to get the shutter speed ring to move freely). So the IV is essentially aperture priority.

I agree, these are beautifully made cameras and pretty reliable -- lens shutter SLRs tend not to be. My main complaint with them is focusing -- the two focus grips can be hard to manipulate since they're asymmetrically mounted, like 160 degrees apart -- I find myself groping around for them when the camera is up to my eye. People talk about getting used to the "Contax grip" -- I think there's a "Contaflex grip" too that needs getting used to.

 

[zeitz]

You may hate it now, but wait until you used it for a while.

 

[wlewisiii]

I miss the Contaflex IV I had. Enjoy!

 

[Tim Murphy]

Thanks everyone, I'm pretty sure I have everything figured out now. Time to put film in the Super and see what happens.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA 🙂

 

[KoNickon]

You may hate it now, but wait until you used it for a while.

Then I'll find it really annoying? 🙂

I should amend my comment about the IV -- push the tab at 7:00 in toward the camera body and move it one way or another to set the desired aperture, after you've set the shutter speed. So in that respect it works just like the Super, i.e. it's essentially shutter priority.

Make sure it works at the fastest shutter speed and smallest aperture -- that combination is most likely to not work, if the timing of the mechanism is off. Take off the back and look from the rear through the lens when you trip the shutter. Quite a complicated sequence.