Contax S

Contax S

The Contax S was developed by what was left of Zeiss Ikon in East Germany immediately after World War II. There were sketches and projects for a Zeiss Ikon 35mm SLR during the war but they were destroyed by the aerial bombings of Dresden. All the development started again from scratch in 1945 under the direction of Wilhelm Winzenburg. In the meantime the top engineers of Zeiss Ikon had gone to West Germany, where a new Zeiss Ikon company would finally emerge in Stuttgart.

The new reflex was presented and production began in 1949. It was an innovative camera, with a fixed prism allowing direct viewing from behind, not reversed. On the same year the production of the Rectaflex began in Italy, the two cameras share the distinction of being the first prism SLRs. They would define the shape of the SLR for the years to come, and in today's high end digital SLRs there is still something of the Contax S.

The new camera also introduced the 42mm screw lens mount that would meet great success. All the bodies of the Contax S family can take 42mm screw lenses.

There were many little variations during the first years of production.

Contax D and Pentacon

The next model was called the Contax D, and was more the result of gradual evolution than a radical change.

In 1948 the two branches of Zeiss Ikon, East and West, were finally separated. In a series of lawsuits the Eastern branch would lose the right to use the historical names, like Contax. They continued to use the Contax name in the Eastern block market, but adopted the name Pentacon for the export to other countries. Pentacon comes from Pentaprism Contax, but is unanimously qualified as an unfortunate choice. Maybe something like Pentax would have been a better idea!

Contax E

The Contax E is a Contax D with an uncoupled exposure meter on top. It was also called Pentacon E.

Contax F and FM

The Contax F is the successor of the Contax D, released in 1956, with:

• an automatic diaphragm release, that is a linkage between body and lens that closes the diaphragm when the shutter release is pressed
• a bigger mirror
• bigger winding and rewind buttons.

It was also called Pentacon F.

From the Contax F onwards, production was transferred to Kamera Werke in Niedersiedlitz.

The Contax FM is a variant, introduced in 1958, with a split image focusing aid in the viewfinder. It was also called Pentacon FM.

Contax FB and FBM

The Contax FB is a Contax F with an exposure meter, like the Contax E. The Pentacon FB is the same camera.

The Contax FBM is a Contax FM with the same exposure meter. The Pentacon FBM is the same camera.

Links

• Tribute to Contax S
• Contax / Pentacon at praktica-collector.de
• Contax S (Pentacon) Shutter Curtain Replacement by Rick Oleson

Bibliography

• Contax S, A History of the World's First 35mm Prism SLR Camera, A. Schulz, ed. Lindemanns