Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super . . .

j.lukow · Expire: 2021-11-25

Life keeps one away without realizing it, but that's another topic . . . Rolling Eyes

Anyway, starting to finally get back into photography, and discovered my Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super was loaded with film fro this past fall when I found a Pro Tessar set in an Antique Market Shocked

(though this is where my Minolta XE-5 was rescued from).

I guess I meant to check them out last fall, but weather / life /my body or whatever else, said No.Tucked into my accessible gear caddy I built and now I am digging it out.

Here are my questions if anyone knows . . .
The body does all the work, and when the lenses are locked into place there is a gap between the 2.

I guess one would visually tune in the image after setting aperture and doing the main focusing via camera and finally shoot. There are no stops with the auxiliary lenses, just a dof scale . . . am I missing anything? Very appreciative if anyone has any experience with system. Always loved the camera, don't use it as much as I should and was so excited when I found the auxiliary lens set.

Thanks in advance!

visualopsins · Expire: 2025-04-11

Anybody know how to operate it?

Doc Sharptail · Joined: 23 Nov 2020 Posts: 1216 Location: Winnipeg Canada

I've got a couple of auxillary lenses like that here myself that I've never used.
One is marked "Nikkorex" and has a pretty small threaded mounting ring at it's base.
The other is marked "Ricoh" and appears to have a 49mm threaded base.
They came in one of my package deals. I suppose I should try the Ricoh unit one of these days- I'd be more likely able to get it mounted on one of my lenses.

-D.S.

SandroB · Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2024 5:04 pm Post subject:

You may have found since you posted, but anyway. Zeiss Ikon kept the central shutter, which meant they could not make an easy lens changing system, like we're used to with a focal plane shutter. So the lenses you bought only change the focal lenght, but otherwise you just operate the camera as you were used to: apertuse and focusing are done on the camera instead of the extra lens.
Lex

observer · Joined: 14 Jun 2015 Posts: 4 Location: New Zealand

I had a passion for these cameras and still have a "Super" like yours plus a couple of the later "Super-B" types with auto metering. Years since I used them but I recall that after setting film ASA you select a shutter speed then adjust the aperture using the wheel on the left. Butkus has the manuals of course. I had one of my later ones rebuilt with a brand-new shutter by local Zeiss-trained expert Chris Wood. All three of mine the shutter stays closed after firing, they made a final version(s) where the shutter re-opens after taking the shot but that was too much for the syncro-compur to stand and they tended to die. I had an black-paint "electric" one like that. Still have all the auxillary lenses including the "Macro Tessar"...

I still have a pile of new spare parts too. BTW the knurling around the front of the auxillary lenses is actually a normal right-hand male thread for attaching filters. Still have all those too, some a quite bizarre sizes. Plus hoods...