Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-12-05)

FILM STARS

The Zeiss answer to Leica makes a still very

usable classic camera, as John Wade explains

Testbench CLASSIC CONTAX RANGEFINDERS

F

ilm enthusiasts today looking for

one of yesterday’s quality classic

35mm cameras will often turn to

Leica. But there is an alternative.

Collectors are aware of it, but users might

easily overlook it. The camera is the Contax.

The Contax was launched in 1932, seven

years after the introduction of the  rst Leica

in 1925. The Leica trod new ground. As the

 rst truly viable 35mm camera, it initially

fought an uphill battle against those who

considered the miniature format too small to

provide a quality negative. Seven years on,

the Contax was launched into a world that

took 35mm more seriously. Furthermore, the

Leica had been the  rst camera made by

Leitz. By contrast, the Contax was the latest

in a long line from the far more experienced

Zeiss Ikon company, whose back catalogue

included just about every style of camera

other than a 35mm model.

Back then, those who thought that the

Contax was similar to, and little more than

a copy of, the Leica needed to think again.

The two makes were very different and, in

many ways, some said, the Contax was the

Making Contax

superior camera. It helped to revolutionise

35mm photography in the 1930s and is still

enjoyably usable today.

Contax I

The  rst Contax is characterised by a black,

square-ended body, incorporating a vertically

run, metal focal-plane shutter with the  lm

wind knob and shutter speed dial in an

unusual position on the front beside the

lens. Shutter speeds run 1/25-1/1,000sec.

A long-base range nder is coupled to the

lens, focused by a small thumbwheel that

protrudes from the top plate.

In the years that followed the launch of

the  rst model, several variations were

introduced, each with improvements on its

predecessor. Prime among the cosmetic

changes was the addition of a fold-out foot

on the tripod socket to steady the camera

when placed on a  at surface. Mechanical

improvements included the introduction

of slow shutter speeds and a rethink on

the range nder. In the early models, the

range nder works by the traditional method,

using two mirrors, one of which swings to

de ect light, compared to the image seen

via a  xed mirror. Later cameras use two

The Contax I (left) and Leica I

were two very different cameras

An early version

of the Contax I