Nettax (35mm)

Zeiss Ikon Nettax image by Christopher Chen (Image rights)

The 35mm Nettax (Zeiss Ikon 538/24) was a 35mm rangefinder camera introduced in 1936 as a cheaper alternative to the Contax II. It should have been called Super Nettel III, because it was a successor of the Super Nettel and Super Nettel II, but the Nettax name was preferred just before the release. Its Zeiss Ikon code number was 538/24.

Unlike the Super Nettel, the Nettax is a rigid camera. The shutter is a focal plane model to 1/1000, the same as the Super Nettel, an intermediate design between the shutters of the Contax I and the Contax II. It has a short-base coupled rangefinder, separated from the viewfinder window, and interchangeable lenses with a specific bayonet mount. The lenses incorporate a part of the rangefinder optics, like the lenses of the Tenax II. The very limited range of lenses was the following:

• Carl Zeiss Jena 5cm f/3.5 Tessar standard lens;
• Carl Zeiss Jena 5cm f/2.8 Tessar standard lens;
• Carl Zeiss Jena 10.5cm f/5.6 Triotar tele lens.

An adapter ring allows to mount the Contax mount Zeiss Tessar 2.8cm f/8 on the Nettax, but this lens is not coupled to the rangefinder.

The Nettax was not a big success and is quite uncommon. The tele lens is very rare, and today the price is high.

Leaflet for the Super Nettel II and Nettax in English, dating 1937. (Image rights)

Links

• Nettax at Pacific Rim Camera