The Contaflex III is a leaf-shuttered 35mm single-lens reflex camera made by Zeiss-Ikon in West German between 1957-59.The camera uses a fixed 50mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Tessar lens. The lens is coated and the photos from this camera truly zing. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.
The Contaflex III is a simpler version of the Contaflex IV which I have written copiously about (I also have the earlier Contaflex II). The only difference between the III and IV is that the III doesn't have a light meter built-in. Given that most of the selenium meters of the IV series have died of old age by now, this is not an important distinction. I prefer the lines of the III in many ways. Why take up space with a feature that doesn't work? You'll want a detachable meter that reads out in EV, my own preference is for the Gossen Digisix.
This Contaflex came from the estate of Marion Carpenter, who was the personal photographer of President Harry Truman. She was an early female photographer who helped blaze a trail for women who followed her. Unfortunately, she died in poverty at the age of 82 in Saint Paul, MN in the winter of 2002. She was sitting on almost a hundred cameras, but was so poor that turned down the heat and froze to death in her house. It's sad and a lesson to all of us.
This camera came from her personal collection and comes with the original box and manual. The camera is in pristine condition and appears unused. I sold this to a local collector who I hope will use it in good health.
Because the Contaflex uses Synchro-Compur leaf shutter, it can flash-synchronize at all speeds up to its maximum of 1/500.
The front element of the 50mm lens can be removed and alternate focal lengths installed. Since the rear elements remain the same, there are limitations but this was a wonderful way to be able to retain the Synchro-Compur leaf shutter while also offering lens interchangeability.
None. Lens shutter calibrated in EVs.
Last modified: Thursday, 11-Mar-2010 01:12:52 EST , [an error occurred while processing this directive] .