Zeiss Ikon Contaflex

What's so striking with this example is the viewfinder. It's like my Olympus OM-cameras. SO bright and wonderful and easy to work with. This is a keeper! And how could that little lens make so much wonder!?
 
I've bought four in the last fortnight. Two Super Bs arrived last week, another is on its way, as well as a Contaflex Super II, all with the re-computed version of the Tessar. Oh, and I scored a set of Proxars last week, and also 35mm f3.2 and 115mm f4 Pro Tessars this week. One Super B is for me, as is the Super II, and I've also procured one Super B each, for two friends.

Each of the Super Bs which arrived last week (both ex-ebay), suffered from the dreaded sticky aperture problem.
The aperture was operating in each case, but too slowly, and too late. You could see it stopping down after the shutter opened, which will over expose, of course. It must be fully stopped down to the selected aperture before the shutter opens.

This is easy enough to diagnose. With the camera back removed, and the lens pointed towards a bright light source, any problems with the shutter operation, or the aperture setting, soon become apparent. Interestingly, although the iris was malfunctioning, the shutter speeds on each were still spot on, despite some contamination on the shutter blades. Traces of what looked like old lube were visible on both aperture and shutter of each example.

I made a cordial approach to the vendor of one of those, a US based camera dealer who had offered the camera with a description of "MINT mechanical condition". I felt that given this, the failure of the one he sold me to operate correctly on arrival wasn't very acceptable. To his credit, he immediately refunded the full amount of purchase price and shipping via Paypal, and told me to keep the camera in recompense for the inconvenience. Would that more members of that site had a similar customer service ethic to his...

Having read many accounts of the Super Bs complexity, I feared the worst, due, in part, to the shutter priority automatic exposure system, which controls the aperture, when it is set to "A" on the control ring. Sometimes, problems are said to be caused by this auto control mechanism sticking, requiring extensive disassembly to access and clean. But because the shutter and aperture blades looked rather dirty, I decided I had little to lose by giving them a careful clean, before delving deeper.

After removing the front lens element and the middle lens group of each example, a quiet night was spent in front of the TV, swabbing the aperture and shutter blades with small quantities of naptha on some lens tissue, and then wiping them clean before firing the shutters (in order to ensure that the bare minimum of naptha actually found its way into the shutter mechanisms proper, both of which seemed content to work correctly).

Happily, both Super Bs are now firing perfectly at all speeds and all apertures. Even the automatic control of each is regulating the aperture properly according to variations in light value. There are a couple of niggly things I will have to look at, such a self timer that drags a bit on one of them, and some checking, and possible fine tuning of the light meters, which are working on each camera. However, I think they will both be very good examples when finished. A win!

I was actually pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to access the shutter mechanism, certainly far easier than a Bessamatic for example. Completely stripping it might be another matter, but access for inspection, careful in-situ cleaning, or to put a drop of watch oil onto the escapement star wheels, is all very do-able, if the slow speed or self timer escapements are dragging.

Hopefully this information will help other owners or prospective purchasers, because although some buyers, as micromoogman mentions, are fortunate enough to score a good working example, I can't help thinking that many of those offered will need varying degrees of remedial work on arrival before reliability may be assured. Meanwhile, I'll be putting a film into my Super B next week, hopefully, and I can't wait for my Super II to arrive. I think I have Contaflex fever!
Cheers,
Brett
 
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Is there a difference in picture quality or something else between the Contaflex IV and the Contaflec Super B ?
 
I have more good news. I just bought a 115mm pro tessar lens for my contaflex IV.
The Dealer told me that I have to set the lightmeter a bit lower because there is some lightloss because of the lager lens.
Do you know how I can do that to make sure my pictures are not that dark/underxposed?

Thanks a lot !
 
Shahin said:
noone is visiting this thread anymore???
Click to expand...

Cool, mate, Contaflexes are not so popular these days;-)
I don´t think that there is a significant light loss. When you use negative film you won´t have to correct anything. If you want to be sure shoot one film with variations (one pic as measured, one +1 stop, one -1 stop)
 
sounds good, i will try it. my other question was, is there a difference between the contaflex IV and the contaflex super bc in terms of imagequality?
i am thinking of getting one but as far as i understand only the system of the lightmeter is different
and i have to go though the trouble of finding batteries for it.

:)
 
I have a Contaflex IV -- nice and small, all metal, no batteries, everything working, but when the shutter is released it sounds like a firearm going off.

It's a slow and deliberate camera.

In it's day, the Tessar was a very good lens, but now, being over 50 years old, the lens is showing age. At least that was my impression with the roll or two of Kodachrome I put through it. B&W is probably just fine.

It would be a great "back up" camera for traveling.

It's a fun camera to use, but it would never be my only camera.
 
Later Contaflexes were fitted with a recomputed 50mm f 2.8 Tessar lens which is considered to be sharper than both the original 45mm Tessar fitted to the fixed lens versions and the 50mm Tessar fitted to the earlier interchangeable lens models. Ivor Matanle speaks very highly of it in both his camera related guides. Depending on who you believe, the recomputed lens was released for the Super B and later, or maybe from the new Super. Marc Small has suggested to me probably with the new Super, but due to a lack of historical records from Zeiss, and the possibility it was a running change depending on availability, he's advised it is hard to be more precise than that. Certainly the Super BC/Contaflex S models should have been fitted with the recomputed Tessar.
 
Sarcophilus Harrisii said:
Later Contaflexes were fitted with a recomputed 50mm f 2.8 Tessar lens which is considered to be sharper than both the original 45mm Tessar fitted to the fixed lens versions and the 50mm Tessar fitted to the earlier interchangeable lens models. Ivor Matanle speaks very highly of it in both his camera related guides. Depending on who you believe, the recomputed lens was released for the Super B and later, or maybe from the new Super. Marc Small has suggested to me probably with the new Super, but due to a lack of historical records from Zeiss, and the possibility it was a running change depending on availability, he's advised it is hard to be more precise than that. Certainly the Super BC/Contaflex S models should have been fitted with the recomputed Tessar.
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Yeah, my dad's Super BC has the updated Tessar. It takes very sharp and contrasty pictures. Very much of what we think of a Zeiss rendering, with high micro-contrast. This discussion is making me think of pulling the camera out of my dad's closet and taking some pictures with it.
 
or you could sell it to me :D

So it is not only the lightmeter, it also is the lens. i never heard of it before, i thought the tessar lenses for the IV are the same on the Super BC.
Do you think it is worth it to buy a super bc just for that difference?

In addition to that I have to say, that i love my IV because it is very loud and heavy.
My first roll will be finished this weekend and i hope that the results will be good, i will upload
some pictures.
 
dtcls100 said:
Yeah, my dad's Super BC has the updated Tessar. It takes very sharp and contrasty pictures. Very much of what we think of a Zeiss rendering, with high micro-contrast. This discussion is making me think of pulling the camera out of my dad's closet and taking some pictures with it.
Click to expand...

It can't hurt to put a roll through it. I suspect you'll like the results. The viewfinder of my Super B is very bright for a Sixties camera and the prism and split are snappy, and a cinch to use. But see my comments in an earlier post, regarding possible problems with the aperture sticking and some possible solutions for this, before you load it.
 
Shahin said:
or you could sell it to me :D

So it is not only the lightmeter, it also is the lens. i never heard of it before, i thought the tessar lenses for the IV are the same on the Super BC.
Do you think it is worth it to buy a super bc just for that difference?

In addition to that I have to say, that i love my IV because it is very loud and heavy.
My first roll will be finished this weekend and i hope that the results will be good, i will upload
some pictures.
Click to expand...

I have never really read anything bad about the earlier Tessars and indeed even in this discussion thread the comments are generally favourable, however the recomputed Tessar is meant to be sharper. I wouldn't dispose of a Contaflex IV in order to acquire a Super BC (the IV is a less complicated and, hence, potentially more reliable model) but if you like them why not experience other models as well? It's early days for me, but I'm really enjoying my Super B, have new Super on its way, and can certainly see myself acquiring further examples. But as my Bessamatic has been one of my favourite 35mm cameras for some time, my appreciation for Contaflexes is perhaps not surprising, as I really like these German leaf shutter SLRs.
 
Yesterday I recieved my new 115mm tele lens for the contaflex and i have to say that now this camera is the heaviest thing i have ever come across in photography. It is huge !!!

The lens is in very good condition, no scratches and a leatherbag is also delivered with it where
I can put eather my 50mm or the 115mm into.

Short, I am very happy with it,but there is one thing I did not understand. There is a dial on the lens but i cannot focus with it, so my question ist, what is it good for?


:D I am very sorry to ask this stupid question :D
 
thank you very much, as far as i understood the extra dial on the 115mm lens ist only to show me the real distance to the object i am taking a photo of.

:D

thats very good, because i was a bit worried that sth, might be wrong with the lens.
 
Thanks for the compliments on the photos guys!
I thought this thread had died, great to see that you're keeping it alive. I just loaded a roll of film into my Contaflex I, after about 3 or 4 months of not using it. I hadn't picked up any other camera since I got my Leica M4, and it didn't help that my Contaflex doesn't always work well in cold weather, but she's loaded now and ready to shoot.
You guys just gave me GAS for a Super BC with the newer Tessar lens. I'll start looking for one.:D
BTW, if anyone wants to sell a Contaflex Rapid, drop me a PM please, I've been looking for one for ages, I could use the interchangeable backs. I shoot a lot with Tri-X pushed to 1600, and Fuji Acros at box speed (100), sometimes with Tri-X or other films at 400. So I'd like to be able to switch between films.
About the shutter sound: Yeah, it's loud alright. I like the sound though, but you can't shoot without people noticing

Cheers, and let's keep the thread alive with pictures! I'll try to find some old pics with mine, and I'll develop and scan more shortly.
 
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And now some pictures my friends! The first 3 were shot on Kodak Ektar 100, it's like they were made for each other.


Untitled by Roberto V., on Flickr


Are you free? by Roberto V., on Flickr


Untitled by Roberto V., on Flickr


доктор в красном by Roberto V., on Flickr


Untitled by Roberto V., on Flickr


Mademoiselle B. by Roberto V., on Flickr


Untitled by Roberto V., on Flickr


Untitled by Roberto V., on Flickr


A self portrait:

Mirror Introspection part II by Roberto V., on Flickr


And another picture of the camera itself:

Untitled by Roberto V., on Flickr
 
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