Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-08-22)

53

John Wade  nds a landmark SLR

withaddedstereocapabilities

Contaex II

• Steritar

THE CONTAFLEX II was

similar to the previous year’s

Conta ex I, but with a built-in

meter. A dial on the top plate

marked with shutter speeds

of 1-1/500sec is rotated

againstaninnerdial

containinganf/2.8-22

aperturescaleuntiltwo

needlesin anadjacentwindow

lineup.Theinnerandouter

dialsthenindicatesuggested

shutterspeedsagainstapertures

forthecorrectexposure,to beset

manuallyonringsaroundthelens.

TheContaexeswererarein

35mmsinglelensreexesfor

featuringleaf

shuttersin

placeof more

traditional

focalplane

types.Asthe

camerais

woundon,a

cappingplate

foldsdownto

blocklightto the

BLAST FROM THE PAST

LAUNCHED 1954

PRICE AT LAUNCH Camera, £65; Steritar, £21

GUIDE PRICE NOW Camera, £20-25;

Steritar, £50-60

Tech Talk

 lm and the re ex

mirror drops into place, as

the shutter and the lens aperture

both open. Shutter speed and

aperture are set, but the

aperture remains open at its

widest setting for focusing. As

the shutter release is pressed,

the shutter closes, the

aperture adjusts to its

preselected setting, the

mirror and capping plate

swing away, the shutter

opens and closes again for

its preselected time – all in a

fraction of a second.

The lens is  xed, but a special

accessory can be slid over the

front element into which

screws a 1.7x

teleconverter, a Teleskop.

This accessory also allows

the addition of the Steritar

beam-splitting stereo

attachment. This features two

mirrors that record twin images

on a single frame, each

from a slightly

different

perspective. A metal

mask  ts to the front

of the Steritar at right

angles to the mirrors, helping keep

the two images separate. In short:

ingenious mechanics to fascinate

collectors in a camera that is still

very usable for  lm enthusiasts.

What’s good Compact size,

Zeiss precision mechanics and

optics, built-in meter.

What’s bad Complicated

shutter mechanism –

usually reliable but check

before buying.

The 1.7x Teleskop converter fitted

and the meter flap open

With Steritar

attachment to shoot

stereo pairs on a

standard 35mm frame

View from
the top with
the Steritar’s
metal mask
in place