The Contaflex Super's Daddy

The excellent post by Rick Drawbridge titled "Contaflex Revisited" (www.photo.net/discuss/threads/the-contaflex-revisited.5498201/)

on his Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super inspired me to write this post on a Contaflex Rapid that I acquired last year.

 

The Contaflex Rapid was introduced in the spring/summer of 1958 and sported a Synchro-Compur shutter with shutter speeds of 1sec to 1/500sec and B. As was popular at the time the shutter speed ring was linked to the diaphragm ring so that changing the shutter speed also changed the diaphragm opening so the same EV as previously set was maintained unless you pressed down on a small tab on the side of the shutter housing that disengages the two rings.

 

The lens supplied is a Carl Zeiss f1:2.8, 50mm lens of the Tessar design. The front element is removable so auxiliary lenses of different focal lengths can be used. With the front element removed there is a number stamped on the inside of the lens housing that should match the serial number of the standard lens supplied with the camera.

 

This model was called the "Rapid" because the round knob that was turned to advance the film was replaced with a more modern lever advance system which made advancing to the next frame much faster. A small pop-up lever was also added to the rewind knob to make rewinding the exposed film quicker.

 

The Contaflex Rapid was not around very long. Later in the year a selenium light metering system was added to the Rapid and it was

renamed the Contaflex Super. In its short life only about 8,000 Rapids were produced making it a relatively rare camera.

 

This particular specimen was acquired while engaging in the mildly dangerous activity for a person with GAS of surfing the auction site late at night. The camera was advertised for parts because the shutter button was stuck and the frame advance lever moved without doing anything. I won it as the only bidder and when it arrived the shutter button was stuck and the frame advance lever moved freely but with a little extra push it completed the cocking cycle and pressing the shutter button fired the shutter. After ensuring the shutter was working properly (at least at the higher speeds) the only thing to do was to load some film and take it for a spin.

 

 

So here are some photos to prove it works.

 

And another one.

 

Giant Spider

Last one.

 

Another large insect.

A lovely camera, Rod, and definitely a great example of midnight opportunism. I like the clean lines, and the lack of knobs and photocell that tend to clutter the appearance of the Super I featured, and the Tessar is obviously just as competent as the later versions. Thanks for an interesting post.

My first Contaflex was the one with push open selenium meter window cover. I don't know that there existed a Contaflex

without meter

 

Thank you for this info

Rick- For cameras that are 60+ years old they have held up well and still a pleasure to use.

 

MTC- There were many models of the Contaflex and also variants of the same model. Often the lightmeter was left off to market a less costly model.

Yes, the Rapid is the least numerous of all the production model Contaflexes. A figure of 8,000 is about right. It's easily spotted because no other model with a Tessar lens used the cursive script, which was otherwise a feature of the Pantar lens Alpha, Beta and Prima models.

 

There were actually a few types without a meter, most notably, the original SLR model. But the III and Rapid also did not feature built in light meters, or the Alpha either. I scored a Rapid myself a few years ago. If a seller appreciates their specs the asking price may be optimistic. But they are still sold by people who don't know much about them. If you're prepared to put in the effort to scour Contaflex listings and sort all the Alpha, Beta and Prima versions with cursive script from the rare Rapid example, eventually you will see one just listed as a Contaflex for little money. Sooner or later you can jag one for $50 or so, depending on where you are (USA for instance) even substantially less.

 

They have no particular drawbacks or advantages to work on compared to other models. Reflex Synchro Compur shutter that will usually have sticking aperture blades and sluggish slow speeds and timer, easy enough to sort out, simpler than a Super, I suppose, as there's no meter coupling timing to get right when the shutter goes back in. You just have to mate the shutter/lens back to the body. All fairly typical Contaflex stuff. It's a nice model to shoot with because you get to set the shutter and aperture and that's it (no auto modes). On the other hand, it would be even nicer if they weren't EV coupled, but it's no worse than using an early Hasselblad lens, so...