Contax and Pentacon thread mount Cameras
- Taken
from long gone website
(Designed and Manufactured by Zeiss Ikon in Dresden, East Germany
Since 1958, VEB DEFA in Dresden and 1964 VEB Pentacon was formed as the
result of merge of VEB DEFA and VEB Kamera und Kinowerke, Dresden.
In 1968 merged with VEN Feinoptisches Werk Gortlitz to produce Kombinat VEB
Pentacon, Dresden)
Contax S, 1949-??
First camera with built-in pentaprism
Shutter: 1, 1/2, 1/5, 1/10, 1/20, 1/50, 1/100, 1/200, 1/500, 1/1000
Flash: ?? Flash synch socket was located in the tripod bush
Metering: none
Finder: Ground glass
Battery: none
Non automatic diaphragm
No instant return mirror (Mirror returns with film advance)
Self Timer
From : I have a contax s and have repaired a number of contax/pentacons,
so I though I would add some information regarding the flash synch. The shutter
has a fast/slow speed range switch, with the changeover occurring between 1/20
and 1/50 second. The flash synch is X on the slow range and bulb-delay on the
fast range, so that you get a similar effect to the automatic synch selection of
the later color-dial contax rangefinder cameras. This feature was carried over
to later contax and pentacon models.
People interested in repairing Contax-S - have a look at the description Rick
put on his web page:
http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-28.html
Contax D, 1952-??
Same as S, but the flash synch socket was on the top plate of the camera and
improved shutter mechanism
Contax E, 1953-??
Same as D, but with selenium meter built to the prism housing.
Contax F, 1956-??
Same as D, but with automatic diaphragm.
There were also FB (with selenium meter) and FM (with interchangeable
split-image focusing screen) and FBM (combinaton of FM and FB) models.
Pentacon Z1 (Pentacon D?), 1952-??
Identical to Contax D, but with a different logo name.
Pentacon F, 1957-??
(and FB, FM, and FBM) identical to Contax F
Pentacon Super, 1966-??
Vertical metal and cloth shutter. Interchangeable viewfinders. TTL exposure
meter with open-aperture metering and displays of both the shutter speed and the
aperture setting in the viewfinder (in 1966!). The range of accessories included
a 250-exposure back and a motor drive with remote control.
Shutter: 8(10?) - 1/2000, B
Flash: Standard F and X-synch at 1/125, no hot shoe
Metering: TTL with open-aperture metering (2 pins)
Finder: Interchangeable
Battery: PX13 - on the side of pentaprism
Auto diaphragm
Instant return mirror
?? Was used by Soviet Cosmonauts in outer space ??
Should you buy a Pentacon/Contax?
According to [1], the shutter is not very reliable and, unfortunately, Pentacon
Super is scarce and expensive.