Zeiss Ikon; contaflex, super

Moodyville-ain · Jan 8, 2010

This is my uncles 1959 Zeiss Ikon Contaflex super. He got this from his uncle, who was a photographer back in the day. I was showing him my Canon, and he thought that I might like to see this. I thought it was pretty cool. I'm not a fan of the red cloth, but it is better then the ugly floral pattern couch. Plus it was pretty spontaneous, and almost time to leave. So this is all I came up with in a short notice. I figured it was worth showing despite the flaws in my setup. Figured the gear was worth a "show and tell" The build quality puts the new stuff to shame.

This is the gear. There is 3 add on lenses, a lens bag and a camera bag a CPL and all of the instructions.

The Camera itself with the 45mm f/2.8 Tessar lens <--(cough BULL%$#@) kit lens and rubberized hood

As you can see here the hood is rubber and folds back when not in use, pretty cool.

Here we have the lens case, which have threads on the bottom so your lenses stay put during travel. What a great idea not sure why nobody does this anymore. The lenses are 85mm f/4 pro-Tessar, and a 35mm f/4 Pro-Tessar. The bag also has a thread inside for your extra flash, which he doesnt have.

Pretty nice Camera bag, the other kit lens is inside here, but it is practically identical, so I didn't show it. It is the 50mm f/2.8 Tessar

And the CPL which attaches to the back of all the lenses, so you only need one to fit every lens made. BTW it is a 28.5mm thread, in case you were wondering.

The big beast of a lens in the middle of the first pic, which I forgot to get a closeup of. It is a 115mm f/4 Pro-Tessar. It comes with a mason jar like top which threads onto the lens cap, for added protection, which he does have, but again I forgot to show it.

C&C welcomed but I know already the setup isn't perfect, and the pics aren't the highest quality. I just though some people might be interested in an old classic, built with quality unsurpassed, in these days.

Derrel · Jan 8, 2010

A Contaflex Super of that same vintage was my first "serious" camera, back about 1977!!! The workmanship was something. Mine had a 45mm f/2.8 Pantar lens, and a non-instant return mirror, so after taking a photo, the finder blacked out. It had a nifty coupled exposure system; one pinched two buttons around the lens, centered the meter needle, and then released the buttons, and the various f/stop and shutter speed combinations were linked and locked together; if you wanted a slow shutter speed, you turned the ring and the locked shutter speed and f/stop moved together in unison. Shutter speeds were set around the lens, just like f/stops. This type of locking aperture and shutter system was used by Hasselblad as well, and was sort of the height of 1950's engineering and cleverness. For beginners, this type of linked and locked equivalent exposure system was a godsend.

My old Contaflex had a very bright viewfinder image,due to a highly-polished viewfinder screen, which made everything from 1 foot to Infinity appear to be in-focus; only the very center of the viewfinder had a split-image rangefinder and a narrow microprism "doughnut" or ring; this made the screen incredibly bright and clear, but there was NO WAY to tell if the lens was focused or not, except right in the very middle of the image. Ah, yes, the old Contaflex. Mine conked out after about a year of use in the 7th grade,and my next "serious" camera was a dreadful Russian-made Cosmorex SE. The engineering and mechanical quality of the Cosmorex and the Contaflex could not have been a wider gulf--the Russsian camera and lens were built to absolutely laughable standards of fit and finish.

Moodyville-ain · Jan 8, 2010

Shutter speeds were set around the lens, just like f/stops. This type of locking aperture and shutter system was used by Hasselblad as well, and was sort of the height of 1950's engineering and cleverness. For beginners, this type of linked and locked equivalent exposure system was a godsend.

That would be a very nice feature. With all these clever features, it's a wonder why nobody uses them anymore. :grumpy:

I mean come on some of these ideas were golden.

This camera also has a non returning mirror, so unless you are really fast at turning the lever, taking multiple shots would be impossible. Still though, I really wanted to put film in his camera and take some shots.