The lowly? Contessas?

[titrisol]

I own and cherish a few non-Folding Contessas.
I believe these cameras are highly underrated, they brandish a 2.8 Tessar (50 or 45mm), a Pronto Shutter (several flavors) and some have rangefinders.
They are well buitl, and after 40+ years I have found that most lightmeters work after a little cleanup
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Contessa_LK.jpg

The lineage contains the following (thanks to THIS SITE (http://www.wctatel.net/web/crye/z-i35mm.htm)) :
Zeiss Nbr Model Years Lens Shutter Notes
10.0639 LBE 1965-1967 f2.8 50mm Tessar Prontor 500 LK range finder
10.0637 LK 1963-1965 f2.8 50mm Tessar Prontor 500 LK view finder
10.0638 LKE 1963-1965 f2.8 50mm Tessar Prontor 500 LK similar to LK but with range finder
10.0351 S-310 1971 f2.8 40mm Tessar Prontor 500 S viewfinder
10.0354 S-312 1971 f2.8 40mm Tessar Prontor 500 S similar to S-310 but with range finder
Contessamat 1964-1965 f2.8 45mm Color Pantar Prontormatic viewfinder
10.0652 Contessamat SBE 1963-1967 f2.8 50mm Tessar P-matic 500SL rangefinder
10.0654 Contessamat SE 1963-1965 f2.8 45mm Color Pantar Prontormatic 500 rangefinder
Contessamat STE 1965 f2.8 50mm Tessar P-matic 500SL rangefinder
Contessamatic 1960-1961 f2.8 50mm Tessar Prontor SLK viewfinder
10.0645 Contessamatic E 1960-1963 f2.8 50mm Tessar Pr SLK Spezial range finder


Any more comments on these?

PS I have uploaded some pics in my gallery with photos taken with Contessas
More in the next few days (when I get to scan those negatoives)

[bmattock]

And to prove it, here's a photo of titrisol in Raleigh over the weekend with his Contessa. I can say that this certainly appears to be an excellent camera! I have a few Contina's, some with the removeable Pantar lenses, but no Contessa's. Ah, one more marque to collect!

[BJ Bignell]

I have the LKE, and I love it. It was my first rangefinder; it got me hooked! The camera needs a teardown for some servicing. The shutter gets slow on cool days, and the film advance has come out of spec, occaisonally jamming and requiring a sharp rap on the side to dislodge it...

Only negative that I would say about this camera is that the lens tends to flare really bad when you're pointing directly at the sun.

This picture (http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=5432&cat=4805&page=1) in my gallery was taken with it, as was the picture I've attached.

[BJ Bignell]

Oh, and ssshhhhhh! Let's keep these cameras underrated so that I can pick up a couple of cheap LKEs as spares... :D

[titrisol]

You are right, I guess there is no coating on those lenses....
But a shade usually is enough.
I have a LK, LKE, Contessamat SE, and Contessamatic
The E stands for rangefinder (Entfernungsmesser) and makes a distinction on the names of these cameras (LK and LKE are identical, except LKE has rangefinder)

The contessamatic is the one I like the most, because the shutter has speeds below 1/15 (15-8-4-2-1), but does not have a FP flash socket.

The Contessamat was the 1st camera my dad allowed me to use (when I was about 9) after an Instamatic I got for my 6th birthday.


I have the LKE, and I love it. It was my first rangefinder; it got me hooked! The camera needs a teardown for some servicing. The shutter gets slow on cool days, and the film advance has come out of spec, occaisonally jamming and requiring a sharp rap on the side to dislodge it...

Only negative that I would say about this camera is that the lens tends to flare really bad when you're pointing directly at the sun.
.

The Pronto shutters are very easy to take appart and clean, so it works buying one that says "it doesn;t fire" for $7 @ePay.

[titrisol]

Yipee ! Got a $5 Contessamatic_E (wih RF) It needs a good CLA so it'll be my weekend project
It even came with an Ikoblitz 4 flash gun!

[BJ Bignell]

Nice find!

I had the LKE apart two weeks ago, and almost lost my cool! I officially need a spanner wrench before I undertake any more repairs on the old girl... I don't want to hurt her.

You're right about getting the shutter apart for cleaning, etc, though. I was able to get to it without issue, but I want to get further in to the shutter and aperture blades, and that's a bigger trick. Someday...

[bmattock]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7520947220&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

I was so taken with titrisol's Zeiss Ikon from Artsplosure, that I had to get this. Did I do OK?

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[BJ Bignell]

Bill: You did terrible. Save yourself the grief of having to deal with that junk, and have it shipped straight to me! :D Seriously, it looks like a nice find. It's got the "Color Pantar" lens which I know nothing about, but if it's half the lens the Tessar is, it'll be just fine.


You are right, I guess there is no coating on those lenses....
But a shade usually is enough.
The LKE is definitely coated, and the LK should be too. I think the flare is just part of the character of these lenses.

BTW, what's the thread size for the screw-in hoods? I'd love to pick one up, but I just don't know for sure what it is.

[titrisol]

So it was you who bought that one!
you did good.
The Contessamat is a very good camera, it HAS rangefinder (you may have to use the sharpie trick)
It was the 1st 35mm camera my dad allowed me to use, the color pantar is a very capable lens, and 45mm is the perfect focal IMHO.
The lightmeter is kind of ineresting, and it is probably in working order, 4 out of the 5 cameras I have are still alive.

There is a manual for it in the Butkus site (http://66.49.230.119/pdf_files/zeiss_ikon_contessamat_sbe.pdf)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7520947220&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

I was so taken with titrisol's Zeiss Ikon from Artsplosure, that I had to get this. Did I do OK?

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

Me thinks it is 27mm but I'm not positive, let me check tonight and I'll come bcak with this tomorrow

BTW, what's the thread size for the screw-in hoods? I'd love to pick one up, but I just don't know for sure what it is.

[titrisol]

I forgot, look into my photo_web (http://www4.ncsu.edu/~pcorone/photo_web/Ecuador/index.html)
I'm pretty sure 3 or 4 of those were taken with the contessamat SE, plus there is apic of the Contessamat :)

[titrisol]

The instruction manual of the LK says:
lenshood
flexible 27mm Parto No 20.0713
need not be removed when closing the eveready case

The Contessamatic manual says there was also a metallic hood, and lists 27mm as well.

FYI I got a set of Proxar lenses that said for Contaflex and they worked fine

[BJ Bignell]

Thanks for the update. Now I know what to watch for; I've seen pictures of the fixed metal hood on an LKE, and it looked good. I would prefer the metal one over the rubber.

Also, very cool about the Proxar lenses, too! More stuff to add to the list of items I'm not allowed to buy right now! :D

[titrisol]

Keep looking on ebay, they appear from time to time.
I got the set of 4 for $8.50 including postage :D

[titrisol]

Just uploaded a shot I took with the Proxar #2 lens


Thanks for the update. Now I know what to watch for; I've seen pictures of the fixed metal hood on an LKE, and it looked good. I would prefer the metal one over the rubber.

Also, very cool about the Proxar lenses, too! More stuff to add to the list of items I'm not allowed to buy right now! :D

[BJ Bignell]

Nice shot, looks pretty sharp. Is it necessary to do any exposure compensation when using the Proxars?

[titrisol]

Compensation? I don't think so proxars are clear glass.

I used Tri-X anyways so a tad of over/under exposure should have been absorbded
The negative was scanned, adjusted levels, copped, and voila!

Nice shot, looks pretty sharp. Is it necessary to do any exposure compensation when using the Proxars?

[titrisol]

The Contessa(matic) travels around:

Washington Cherry Blossoms (http://www4.ncsu.edu/~pcorone/photo_web/WashingtonDC_CherryBlosssoms_032k6/index.html)
Holland (http://www4.ncsu.edu/~pcorone/photo_web/Contessa_Holland/index.html)