Amateur Photographer - UK (2021-03-06)

46 http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk

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It’s a TLR, but not as you know it. John Wade

explains all about this unusual 35mm camera

I

f you are familiar with twin lens re ex

(TLR) cameras from the  lm age,

mention of the type will bring forth

images of the Rollei ex and the many

models that copied its shape and way of

working. You’ll be thinking of an upright black

box with two lenses of the same focal length

one above the other, the lower lens to shoot

the picture, the upper one to re ect its image

via an internal mirror to a waist-level

view nder on the top of the body. It will take

120 size roll  lm, running vertically through

the body to shoot twelve 6x6cm square

pictures. Well, when it comes to the Twin

Lens Conta ex, you can forget all that. Sure it

has two lenses, but that’s about its only

similarity to a traditional TLR.

Made in 1935 by Zeiss Ikon in Germany,

the camera was correctly known simply as

the Conta ex. Today it is more usually

referred to as the Twin Lens Conta ex, in

order to differentiate it from a single lens

re ex of the same name launched by Zeiss

in 1953. Advertising at the time of its launch

boasted that the Conta ex was ‘ ve years

ahead of any other’.

The  rst big difference between the

Conta ex and other TLR cameras is in it

being one of a small group of TLRs designed

for 35mm  lm to shoot pictures in the

24x36mm format. Unlike most other TLRs,

the  lm runs horizontally through the body

from side to side.

Apertures are set on the lens, shutter

Twin Lens Cont afl ex

The Zeiss Ikon Twin

Lens Contaflex with

5cm f/1.5 Sonnar

standard lens fitted

View from the top, showing

the enlarged focusing screen

with markings for the

telephoto lenses

How the Contaflex was advertised

Twin Lens Contafl ex