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Contaflex 126 Lenses
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 01, 2017 9:05 am    Post subject: Contaflex 126 Lenses Reply with quote

I was wondering about some of the technical aspects of the Contaflex 126 lenses.

Some of the designs were re-used for the Contax SLR or Rollei SLR - the Tessar 2.8/45 and the Tele-Tessar 4/135 respectively, and also the Sonnar 2.8/85 I believe.

So are the Contaflex 126 versions of the Tessar 2.8/45, Sonnar 2.8/8 and Tele-Tessar 4/135 basically the same optics as the later Contax/Rollei versions but without the T*/HFT coating?

What coating do the Contaflex 126 lenses use - the same coating that was used on the Contarex lenses?

There are two Distagons for the Contaflex 126 - a 4/25 and a 2.8/32, in the case of the former, is it the same as the 4/25 for the Icarex? I can't find any info on this lens, is it at all related to the Contarex 2.8/25 or the later 2.8/25 for Contax SLR?

The 2.8/32 appears to be unique, is the design related to the later 2.8/35 Distagon?


PostPosted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 11:27 pm    Post subject: Re: Contaflex 126 Lenses Reply with quote

Ian - I've only just seen your post from July 1st -did you find the old MFLenses thread at http://forum.mflenses.com/contaflex-126-system-t7170.html?

Although I did once sell a new Contaflex 126 back when they were being made, I can't add very much, if anything, to what's there in the old thread. However, regarding coatings, I've always understood that the Contarex lenses were 'colour harmonised', as were the the Hasselblad ones, by juggling the coating. I think the late Geoffrey Crawley in the BJP may have been the one who wrote about that, but it's decades ago and my memory isn't that good. If that is indeed correct, then it begs the question of whether Zeiss applied the same policy across all its lens ranges. Given the hugely different markets for the various types, it's perhaps unlikely that the firm went to the same trouble for models that were expected to digest mostly colour neg films that would be indifferently processed.

Might it be worth writng to Zeiss? Company archivists often welcome arcane enquiries, especially if they come with an explanation of why the information is needed.

As for the Contaflex 126 itself, it surely was another of J S Lipinski's 'Masterpieces of misplaced ingenuity', along with the Retina Reflex 126 and the Rollei SL26. A shame the Leitz 126 project was terminated before it came to fruiition Smile


PostPosted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 2:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cheers Stephen. Writing to Zeiss is a good idea as there is so little info on the net about the Contaflex lenses.