Zeiss Ikon Contessaamat STE

[johnnyrod]

Hi, I am just about to dip my toe into the world of rangefinders as I am awaiting delivery of a Contessamat STE. Despite dribling over the Contax IIIa and 533/24 my budget as an occasional snapper isn't going to stretch to those. But I might keep an eye on the classifieds...

Anyway if anyone has any tips then let me know, my technical skill is pretty minimal. I have a couple of SLRs as well - Pentax Super A and an MX. The new RF has a Tessar 50mm f/2.8 lens and a built-in selenium meter (said to work - I still need this) which can be used coupled (shutter speed chosen by user) or it can be just used as a manual camera. I sort of fell into this as two weeks ago I was having a conversation with a friend, which led me onto rangefinders (never heard of them before), and I admit from reading a great deal of William Gibson that the Zeiss Ikon name has a certain appeal, which you can really see in the older ones.

Hopefully by the end of the week it'll be here!

John

 

[Pioneer]

Good luck. I am sure you will enjoy the camera. No tips right now but perhaps a caution.

Keep a very close eye on your new rangefinder and keep a very strict curfew. They seem to breed like rabbits if you don't. I started with an Ansco Super Memar a few years ago and now I am over run by them. 🙂

 

[Vics]

Search around HERE for some info. I'm guessing that the Contessamat has a fixed leaf-shutter-in-lens that will make it sync with flash at all speeds. The tessar should be a good shooter, and the shutter will be scary quiet. That's all assuming that the camera works.

 

[mbisc]

There are a fair amount of different specs for these babies, and the pure name isn't much help. Yours appears to have the Tessar lens (which is good), and, I assume, a coupled rangefinder (which is great) and a working meter (which is great, too). If it has the unit-focusing specs (i.e. the whole lens & shutter assembly moves, rather than just the front element), then you have a truly awesome camera! I have a couple of these, but none of them have everything (unfortunately). For "best" (sharpest) results keep the aperture at f5.6 or f8 -- and definitely enjoy!

 

[Vics]

Looks more like a scale-focus camera than an RF. HERE is the manual. If you download it, be sure to send Butkus a few bucks.

 

[johnnyrod]

Hi, it is indeed a coupled rangefinder - the Contessamat (and -matic) without an E in the suffix are scale-focus cameras as you say. I downloaded a lot of manuals from Butkus to help figure things out before choosing so yes I do owe him! It does do some flash synch (X) but the SBE (top) model does a whole lot more - more than I could figure out just now. There's alsoa lowe rmodel rangefinder (SE), I didn't look to get one of those, think I read somewhere that the Colour-Pantar lens was "unremarkable" and I presume other things - I've fogotten now, looked at so many web pages.

It's described as in great condition and working, and if the pictures of it are accurate then it's very shiny at least. Not sure about the shutter details, it's a Prontor-matic 500SL but to be honest that also means little to me. There doens't seem to be a massive amount of info around, thanks for the link, will have to join that group and check it out.

Why use f5.6 or 8, or do you mean keep it stopped down? I deliberated for a bit over whether I should use 200 or 400ASA film, but I am probably going to plump for the latter as the photos I produce need more work than just a better grain! I badly underexposed the last two films, and I think it's better to over- rather than under-expose for colour negative film?

 

[rhl-oregon]

Old rff thread link may be useful: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19345

All this is likely to lead you further into the delightful and varied maze of fixed lens German rangefinders, the Baldas and Voigtlanders and such, or into deeper the realm of Contaflex, or the Zeiss Werras, and then you're lost for good, shuffling from eBay to Craigslist to garage sales muttering Prontor, Compur, Tessar, Novar...and that's before you discover medium format folding cameras....

Good luck, enjoy the quest.

 

[lxmike]

its a slippery slope once you have one you have to have more

 

[mbisc]

Why use f5.6 or 8, or do you mean keep it stopped down? I deliberated for a bit over whether I should use 200 or 400ASA film, but I am probably going to plump for the latter as the photos I produce need more work than just a better grain! I badly underexposed the last two films, and I think it's better to over- rather than under-expose for colour negative film?

Tessar lenses (by design & the laws of physics) are razor-sharp when stopped down to f5.6 / f8, but a rather soft (especially in the corners) wide open.

 

[johnnyrod]

Thanks for that Mike. Well it arrived yesterday, have had a bit of time on and off to fiddle with it. It's actually the SBE model, not that that makes a big difference, but it is the top one. Meter appears to be accurate by comparing it with as many things as I could find including the sunny f16 rule. Eventually stuck a film in and started taking some pix, I have a wedding next month so hopefully can finish the first film before then so I can see how it looks. Plumped for Fuji Superia 400 in the end, and as the metering looks good have set it to 400ASA. And to top it all, it's very shiny and also surprisingly heavy. If you open the shutter on Bulb you can see a few bits of dust in there, not sure how or if they can be removed, or how much differece they will make.

 

[NeeZee]

Congrats to your purchase!

I wouldn't worry because of the dust as it usually has close to zero effect on image quality. Haze or a lot of scratches are a different thing.

 

[farlymac]

You could have a lot of stuff in that lens, and it will still perform splendidly. Have fun with your new acquisition.

PF

 

[mbisc]

If you open the shutter on Bulb you can see a few bits of dust in there, not sure how or if they can be removed, or how much differece they will make.

Won't make any difference! Enjoy!

On a side note (and not to hijack this thread) -- does anyone have any recommendations for CLAs on these little babies? One of mine has a rather stiff focusing ring, and I will not touch any cameras I plan to use in the future 😀

 

[johnnyrod]

Unsurprisingly I don't have a clue on that I'm afraid. I was looking around for an old-style Ever Ready type case for this. I don't suppose anyone knows if the same one was used for different models? Contina maybe? Seems a long shot to ask but I'm always surprised by the nuggest that people seem to know!

 

[mbisc]

Good question -- my approach would be to take the camera to local used camera stores (and there ERC bins), and just try to find one that fits. Im my case, that would be a place like www.collectiblecameras.com, although the no longer really have a brick&mortar presence...

 

[johnnyrod]

Hmm got my first pics back from this camera, using Fuji Superia 400, with ISO set to the same on the camera. Metering looks good, maybe even a little too bright, but using it on auto is pretty effective. For backlighting you can hold the shutter button half-down while aimed at the shadows to fix the exposur there, then move up to the main pic wihtout it stopping down more.

The problem is that none of the pics are sharp. I used every shutter speed from 1/30 to 1/500, even took the same pic twice with 1/30 and 1/250 so the former was stopped down to f/11; there is little difference, it's not camera shake. None are pin-sharp or even close. In ones where there are things just in front or behind the subject, these are no sharper i.e. I haven't just focused at the wrong distance. Check these:
www.johnnyrod.co.uk/ikon1.jpg
www.johnnyrod.co.uk/ikon2.jpg
I also checked and the distance scale on the lens is reading wrong. The rangefinder images coincide at a real distance of 2m, but the lens marks read 3m. At a real 3m, it is between the 3m and 6m marks.

What do you think? Can I get it adjusted to make it sharper? Would very much appreciate some wisdom.

 

[mbisc]

Looks like the rangefinder is misaligned? A good CLA should take care of that, I would think.

 

[johnnyrod]

Would that give blurry pictures at any distance? I presumed it would just mean the focal distance and the scale numbers didn't match, but I don't know much about these things. Is it a DIY job to realign? I can't find any info via Google.

 

[farlymac]

As diffuse as the photos are, I'm voting for some haze in the lens. Pretty common on older cameras. A good cleaning should take care of that. Otherwise, they look to be in focus. You can always check that at the film plane with a ground glass (or hard plastic with Scotch tape on it).

PF

 

[Argenticien]

Otherwise, they look to be in focus. You can always check that at the film plane with a ground glass (or hard plastic with Scotch tape on it).

PF

What he said. To elaborate: If your rangefinder image coincides on (i.e., "focuses" on) an object at 3m, and the ground glass (or facsimile thereof) at the film plane shows that object in focus (at widest aperture, and checking with a loupe), then the RF is focusing the camera properly, and it does not matter what distance the distance ring on the lens barrel indicates. Obviously for you as the human user, that wrong readout is annoying, but it doesn't mean the RF is out. If the image is in focus at the film plane and only the distance scale is wrong, you want to be adjusting the distance scale ring, not adjusting the rangefinder.

--Dave