Zuerich Contax II Photo Walk

[@LosPeregrinos51]

Followed you here from Lisboa! Glorious monochrome shots though the colour tones in the video remind me the 35mm Agfacolor I used to shoot in the 1960s. Enjoying your videos, thank you for sharing.

[@sentimental7167]

Thanks, glad you liked it. It’s a Delta 400 developed in T-Max-developer. The Panasonic I am using. Is oversaturating, so I loose contrast; therefore, I choose to desaturate. Agfacolor was always a little on the blue side, if I remember.

[@variousvisfineart]

Very nice. I was in Zurich in 1991 and recognize some scenes. I recently got a camera that is maybe a contax 2 or a counterfeit. It has a nice leather case too.

[@sentimental7167]

Thanks! Have fun with it!

[@randallstewart175]

The Contax II had a exceptionally long life. At the end of WWII, the Russians seized the Zeiss tools, dies, and ll, plus more than a few of the Zeiss employees, and shipped the whole factory to Russia, where the camera was made and sold as the Kiev for decades to follow. Is it a replica if made on the same equipment and by the same people?

[@sentimental7167]

@@randallstewart175 Yes, they (the Soviets, to be historical correct) actually didn’t use the original tools from Dresden, but had Carl Zeiss Jena / Saalfeld make two new tooling rows as part of war reparations and brought these together with many employees to Kiev, Ukraine - if I may add this.

[@michaelanono2412]

hello, i notice that this camera only goes up to iso 200. is there a way to shoot higher than that?

[@sentimental7167]

Hi, thanks for watching. This camera doesn’t have a lightmeter of any sort, so put in any ISO you like.

[@erichung9043]

Reminds me of the fiddly film loading with my post-war Contax IIa. Still much better than the Barnack Leica at the time though until the M3 showed up.

[@sentimental7167]

… or most of the Canon Rfs - easy backdoor loading

[@lucab1733]

I like the Kiev more, the viewfinder is alot better and its way cheaper! But it's the same quality and reliability, I've got a very early version before the machinery started to wear out

[@sentimental7167]

Early ones are really nice, had one too, 1951. Love also the Helios, one of my favorite 50s.

[@randallstewart175]

This camera and lens was my first camera in 1959. It cost me the princely sum of $70, big money at age 13. It was in good shape, and it always functioned properly. However, the film advance and shutter cocking was very stiff at higher shutter speeds. The lens, both fast and uncoated, suffered very low contrast and high flare. Uncommon for Zeiss historically, the internal lens mount is weak and easily damaged if camera is banged on the lens. (Not a good look for Nikon when they adopted it for some reason.) Most of the lenses do not rangefinder couple, which is not a problem because today in the US, finding lenses for that system is nearly impossible. So, if you are thinking about buying one of these and must do so, buy it with the superior 50mm 2.0 Sonnar.. If you are on the fence, have your best friend punch you in the face, then move on.

[@sentimental7167]

Nice story, thanks for sharing! Actually, I got this camera many years ago with it’s original lens, a prewar coated 1,5/5cm Sonnar, which, like the camera, is like new. I had to wait many years though for a decent repair guy who fixed the shutter straps an cleaned the slow gears (have another one I could use in between…) Banging the lens/ camera is never a good idea, but yes, you can damage the mount - on old LTM Leicas you bend the body… old technology… I have been assembling a lens line up (as far as they are affordable) for these for the past twenty years and often use a 2/8,5cm Sonnar and the 3,5cm Biogon, both prewar and both coated. They do flare, but often than can give a pretty vintage look on the image 😉.