Contax D/F X Sync. speed?

[kl122007]

<p>What is the X sync. speed for Contax D /F camera? Is it 1/60 as usual?</p>

<p>I am going to get one of them. I notice the mirror of F is much smaller than D. When one is more favorable for general use?</p>

[miss._heidi_mae_billing1]

<p>It makes no difference what Camera it is. it is all set up to your Flash set your Flash ASA to film you are using set shutter speed to 1/60Th see user manual Link.<br>

<a href="http://www.butkus.org/chinon/">http://www.butkus.org/chinon/</a> <br>

If you want slower Shutter Speeds than make sure you have a Flash Meter.</p>

[kevin h. y. lui.]

<p>Thankyou for your link but Ican not find the manual. Is there any alternative website?</p>

[h._p.]

<p>NOT all cameras synchronise with electronic flash at the same speed. My Contax D synced at 1/25, as did my Pentacon FM (a Contax F with a split screen rangefinder patch).</p>

[chuck_foreman1]

Hi Kevin,

 

Given the age.. I'd go with 1/25 or less. Perhaps you can do some test firing with the back open and see if you can see it vignetting. Consider yourself lucky if you can get a complete frame at 1/50th. Once on my daughter's birthday,

the SLR was on 1/125th all the photos were half frame. My wife was soo mad and I was really embarrased.

[peter_de_waal]

<p>

<p>Hi Kevin,<br>

I have had a Contax S, model d for many years. One of my favourite cameras and the early Zeiss glass is nearly as good as Leica stuff - I've done the tests. From my original manual:</p>

<p>All at 1/50 sec:</p>

<p>Osram S2<br>

Phillips PF110, PF45<br>

FP6, FP26<br>

Sylvania 2A</p>

<p>All other flash bulbs: 1/10 sec.</p>

<p>Electric Flash: 1/20 Sec.</p>

<p>This really is a great camera. I have the Biotar 2/58; Flektogon 2.8/35 and the Sonnar 4/135. Get out there and use that piece of history!</p>

</p><div></div>

[peter_de_waal]

<p>

<p>IMPORTANT:</p>

<p>1) ALWAYS WIND THE SHUTTER BEFORE SELECTING THE FILM SPEED!</p>

<p>and</p>

<p>2) ONLY TURN THE FILM SPEED SELECTOR WHEEL IN AN ANTI-CLOCKWISE DIRECTION!</p>

<p>Those shutter timing gears are quite shallow and are easy to strip. I have never had a problem with mine, as I always followed the instructions.</p>

</p><div></div>

[fred_c1]

<blockquote>

<p>the early Zeiss glass is nearly as good as Leica stuff</p>

</blockquote>

<p>You got to be kidding. Pre-WWII Zeiss lenses (now <em>that's</em> early) were distinctly better than anything from Leitz -- why else would guys worshipped by Leicaphiles like Henri Cartier-Bresson put Zeiss lenses on their Leicas? Leitz started copying Zeiss designs as far back as then, e.g. the Elmar was a Tessar-clone with the diaphragm placed at a different position to circumvent Zeiss patents. After the war, Leitz, like everyone else in the world, copied even more Zeiss designs like the Planar, Biogon and Sonnar (Ernostar). Only then did Leitz lenses started to catch up with Zeiss, not the other way round.</p>

<p>Even 1950s Leitz lenses like the 50mm Summitar, Summarit, Summilux (the Summicron less so) were still much softer than the 50mm Zeiss Sonnars.</p>

[fred_c1]

<blockquote>

<p>ALWAYS WIND THE SHUTTER BEFORE SELECTING THE FILM SPEED!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>What film speed? The camera doesn't even have a meter.</p>

[fred_c1]

<blockquote>

<p>When one is more favorable for general use?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Get a Bessaflex, especially if you want to use flash. Or a Pentax K-mount body with M42 adapter.</p>

[peter_de_waal]

<p>Sorry about my instructions, that should read:</p>

<p>ALWAYS WIND THE SHUTTER BEFORE SELECTING THE SHUTTER SPEED!</p>

<p>I sometimes get a bit vague late on a Friday night...</p>

<p>Quite true Fred, Leitz 'copied' many of the old nineteenth century Zeiss designs in the course of developing a range of optics for the Leica, and as a coarse generalisation the Leitz designs are notably softer than the equivalent Zeiss optics until you get to the post-war M-series lenses. I have the above mentioned early alloy Zeiss Jena optics, plus a few M42 Zeiss Jena MC lenses: the 20/2.8; 35/2.4; 50/1.8 in both the Pancolar and the revamped Oreston marked "Multicoating"; the 80/1.8 Pancolar and the 135/3.5 Sonnar.</p>

<p>I also have a 50 Summicron-M "Rigid", 90 Summicron-M Chrome (Type 2) and 35 Summicron-M (Type 1) which are all 1960's lenses. I also have a Leicaflex SL with a 21/4; 28/2.8 (Series VII); 50/2 (both Series VI and E55); 90/2 (E55) and 180/4.</p>

<p>This Leica glass is noticeably sharper than the Zeiss Jena alloy 1950's lenses and the 1980's MC Jena lenses, but the colour rendition is very similar, and to my eyes naturalistic and pleasing in a way that no Japanese optic is. This isn't bias, I also have a 1965 Spotmatic SP (another great camera) and quite a few Super Takumars and S.M.C. Takumars. The 1980's MC Jena lenses are slightly richer in saturation than the 1950's ones, but I prefer the 1950's single-coated designs.</p>

<p>I also like the bokeh of the Leica lenses and the Zeiss lenses also have excellent, but not identical, bokeh. I used to repair cine equipment here and we were the Zeiss agents, so I am familiar with Zeiss designs and have done a lot of lens testing in my time.</p>

<p>A Bessaflex is pretty dear for what you get. I always thought a Minolta SRT 101 with a Minolta-P adapter (or an X-700) is a good cheap way to get a decent body to use M42 lenses with. </p>

<p>Another option is a Canon T60 (practically identical to the Bessaflex) with a Canon M42 adapter.</p>

 

[kl122007]

<p>I notic tha Pentacon FM 's shutter speed nob don't have an arow to inducte the direction. Is that mean it is acceptable to go in both diferent direction.?</p>

[h._p.]

<p>I'm trying to remember but I think you can turn the FM's shutter either way. Mind you, it's 40 years since mine went to the great studio in the sky :-)))</p>

[chuck_foreman1]

Kevin

 

Look carefully on the dial. either at the 9:00 o-clock position left or the 3:00 o-clock position right.

There should be a black or a red arrow/triangle indicating which speed dial; fast or slow is active.

This can be be selected with the sliding switch just right of the viewfinder.

Better to follow the counter-clockwise recommedation on the dial!

 

Thanks

[peter_de_waal]

<p>Hi Kevin, the Pentacon FM has exactly the same shutter gear train as the Contax S and D, so you can only turn the shutter speed setting wheel anti-clockwise after winding the film on and selecting which speed range you need with the small sliding switch on the back adjacent to the speed selection window. The speeds are colour -coded, just as Chuck describes, and you must line up the selected speed EXACTLY with the coloured triangle. Also, you must push the milled speed selection wheel fully down to engage the speed changing mechanism before trying to move it!<br /> If you don't do it this way you will destroy a Contax S immediately, and a D or F will die a short while later. These are beautiful old cameras and it would be a shame if another one is ruined. I have seen so many of these reduced to "parts cameras" because people were ignorant of how to operate them, or didn't care.<br /> They are rewarding to use, and sometimes you can even come across somebody who knows what it is you have in your hands. I recommend getting the Peter Dechert monograph on the Contax S family: ISBN 1-879561-10-8. Good luck with that Contax!</p><div></div>

[kevin h. y. lui.]

<p>Thank you Peter, the book is great! I will try t oget this book. How much is it?<br />And whay we can not turn the speed dial in the alternative way? What is inside?</p>

[peter_de_waal]

<p>Hi Kevin,<br>

I got my copy of Dechert's book on www.abebooks.com. There is also another German-authored history of the Contax S published by Lindemanns Verlag which looks interesting. From Rick Oleson's site:<br>

"<strong>Contax S</strong> is just becoming available at the end of February, 2003. Written in English by German photo historian Alexander Schulz, this book tells the story of the Contax S and its Pentacon descendants from the prewar research work at Zeiss Ikon to the end of production in the 1960s. It contains a wealth of information that is extremely hard to find today, especially in English. The link takes you directly to the publisher's web site where you can get a closer look and order the book; you can find other interesting works at their website, too. (I tried to link directly to the book description, but the site won't let me link past the front page; enter and search for "Schulz" to find it quickly.) "<br>

Inside the top cover is a train of fine gears that controls shutter slit width. If you turn them clockwise, or turn them without winding and charging the shutter first, or turn the shutter speed selector without gently pushing the milled wheel as far down as you can go, you will strip them and ruin the camera. See <http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-28.html></p>