Extremely accurate focus & quiet shutter. Very good build quality (although 1950s-era quality control wasn't as good as today's) & nice design (surprisingly small compared to my new G2). Wonderful lenses that hold up well even today.

What you would expect from 50 year-old technology. Not easy to find qualified repair personnel nowadays.

One of the great classic all-mechanical rangefinders & a much better value than comparable Leicas (it's too bad Zeiss Ikon didn't stay in the game). I actually have a "black dial" (non-PC-sync) IIA. For more info, see Stephen Gandy's web site @ .

Customer Service

N/A.

Similar Products Used:

Leica M3.

* Legendary Carl Zeiss Lenses
* Sturdy, Hardy and Reliable
* Usurpassed Precision Build Quality
* Incredibly Accurate Focusing
* Metal, Vertical Travel Focal Plane Shutter, Quieter with Less Vibration Compared to an SLR
* No Battery(ies)

* Small Viewfinder by Current Standards
* Heavier than Current RF"s and SLR"s
* Selenium Meter Not Coupled to Shutter Speed Dial or Lens Aperture Ring
* Accessories and Lenses Other than 50mm Require Searching and Patience

The Contax IIa and IIIa CD (color dial) is a legendary, professional grade, 35mm rangefinder system made from 1954 through 1961. The difference between a IIa and IIIa is the IIIa's integral Selenium light meter. Using Carl Zeiss lenses that are still among the finest ever made, this is a system technologically ahead of its time and its contemporary competition:
* Bayonet mount Carl Zeiss lenses from 21mm through 500mm
(Carl Zeiss 21mm Biogon is still rated *the* finest wide angle ever made)
* Ultra fast 50mm f/1.5 Carl Zeiss Sonnar standard lens
(contemporary standard lenses were typically f/2.8 or f/3.5)
* Vertical travel, metal focal plane shutter with highly accurate speeds from 1 to 1/1250th
* B and T shutter dial positions for timed exposures
* Incredibly accurate focusing using one of the longest
rangefinder bases in a 35mm camera
* Self-timer with three positions for length of delay
* X-Sync for electronic flash at 1/50th
* IIIa has an integral meter (not coupled to shutter or aperture though)
* Selenium meter and mechanical shutter means *no* batteries
Many are still in use today. It is testimony of their quality and utility.

One roll of film through this classic will show its user why the Zeiss Ikon Contax has its legendary status. The 50mm Carl Zeiss Sonnar is one of the highest resolution, highest contrast, super low distortion corner-to-corner lenses of the 20th Century. Completely mechanical and totaly manual operation requires the photographer to understand and *think* about composition and exposure. One shoots fewer frames, but the yield is higher. Three distinct advantages of a rangefinder: * viewfinder image is not lost, before, during or after exposure (panning with fast moving subjects is much easier) * shutter is quieter with significantly less camera shake during long exposures because there is no mirror slap noise or vibration * focus helical is on the camera body allowing smaller and lighter lenses Its primary, contemporary competition were the Leica IIIf/IIIg and Leica M2/M3. The Mother of all 35mm Holy Wars ran 30 years between the Zeiss Ikon Contax and the Leica's. Today, the Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa and IIIa cost 33% to 50% of their contemporary Leica models and are less cumbersome to use than a Leica III. They are one of the better kept secrets among the older 35mm rangefinder systems. Professional 35mm rangefinder systems were supplanted by SLR's such as the Nikon F in the early 1960's, but not totally eradicated. The Contax G1/G2 and the Leica M6 live on today as testimony to the utility of the 35mm professional rangefinder camera, albeit in a secondary role.

Customer Service

* Factory service no longer available
* A half-dozen shops specialize in their repair within the U.S. They know the camera and do good work for reasonable rates.

Similar Products Used:

* Argus C-3
* Yashica SLR
* Agfa 35mm Half-Frame
* Rollei 35T
* Rollei 35S
* Olympus OM-10
* Olympus O

This camera is in my family since 1958. It's use to differend kind of photos. many of my photos I've taken on cars rallys. Super speed of shutter (remember it's quite old camera) makes possible to take a cars photo which is on full speed and you can still read a ruber size :)
My brother often makes a portraits. His favourite combination of apperture and distance is f2/0.9m-it gives just great effects.
Lens (f2/50mm) has excellent resolution and it's very sharp.

After over 40 years of use:
*very small pieces of apperture (dust) are fall on lenses
*expensive and really difficult to buy any equipment

You can hold in yours hand a huge piece of history.
One of the best camera in history.
Let's try it!

Customer Service

42 years without ANY repairs!

Similar Products Used:

Praktica (made in DDR)
Fed, Zenit, Kiev (made in USSR)

Zeiss glass, Zeiss glass, Zeiss glass. The 50/2 Sonnar is magnificent. If you're shopping lenses, look for the West German stuff; I understand the East German (marked Carl Zeiss Jena) lenses are quite good too. I also have a Nippon Kogaku 35/2.5 which I haven't shot enough with to render an opinion.

There is a wonderful, jewel-like precision to the shutter and controls that must be felt to be appreciated. This is a machine that likes to shoot.

Amazingly fast shutter, with a top speed of 1/1250.

Super-accurate rangefinder focusing. It's nice that the double-image patch is brighter than the rest of the finder.

It's like a 40-year-old Bentley. It might be old, and it might be some people's idea of stylish, but the fact remains that it flat-out delivers the goods in every way that matters.

You can get a Contax IIa/IIIa and a couple lenses for less than a screw-mount or M-mount Leica body alone. A lot less.

I frequently wish it had a rapid wind lever instead of the knob.

The rangefinder is somewhat dim compared to modern rangefinders (and, of course, there are no framelines).

Non-standard flash sync connection socket.

The "speed-focus" wheel under your right index finger is slower than simply focusing the lens directly - yet, if you do this, be aware that it will lock at infinity until you depress the little catch at the speed focus wheel.

Aw, heck, it's 40 years old. Maintenance issues are important, and repairs can get pricey.

With the Contax IIa/IIIa (I have the IIa, which lacks a meter and is therefore less bulky and more-popular than the IIIa now that most IIIa meters are going bad), you hold in your hands a work of art that challenges your vision to equal it in your photography. It doesn't have "weaknesses," it has character; it's not just a tool, it's inspiration itself.

Customer Service

For a vintage camera?

Similar Products Used:

None, although I've used a ton of SLRs, mostly Nikons.

The quality, the feeling, and the
CZ-optic!!!

A little bit slow to use maybe,
but why hurry?

On a hiking-tour in the Swedish Montain last month I use a IIIa with a
1:5/ 5 cm( without T*). And a 1:4/13,5 cm (CZJ)
No problems!
No battery! ;-)
A very handy equipment! (I always use Kodak Elite II).
And what about the picture with the Sonnar without T*?
Clear and Wonderful!!
Thank you Mr. Bertele!

Customer Service

No problems, I'am lucky, one of my friends is an expert to repair early Contax RF.
(He also write books about early Contax RF) :-)

Similar Products Used:

Contax II, III, IIa, IIIa, Kiev II, III,
Kiev 4A, No Name Kiev.
(Leica 1, IIa, IIIf, M2, M3, M6, Canon VI-T).

Great optics (& fast)!
Faster shutter speed than new M6TTL (1/1250th)
Very cool!

I've had the shutter repaired twice. Not many repair shops have spare parts, or will work on these oldies.

My father gave me his Contax outfit a few years ago. He bought it used in 1945 in Los Angeles for $500.00. I've got a whole camera bag full of accessories to go with the IIIa body, including a wonderful set of Zeiss close-up lenses with finders. Who says you can't shoot macro with a rangefinder?!

The lens is the CZ 5cm/1.5 which was produced before Zeiss was coating their lenses. After coatings were introduced, my father sent his lens back to the factory where they disassembled it, coated all air to glass surfaces, and returned it to him in 'better than new' condition.

I had a broken shutter repaired, and then loaded it with a roll of my favorite B&W film, Kodak T400CN. I haven't figured out how to use the meter yet (maybe it doesn't work) so I just guessed at exposure settings. I was really surprized to see the quality of the prints this camera produced! Crisp, sharp detail in focus, and beautifully soft out of focus backgrounds when exposed at f1.5. Great contrast too.

This is a very fun camera to use in todays plastic, motor driven, computer designed, world.

Customer Service

I wish

Similar Products Used:

No other experience with a classic rangefinder.