Zeiss Ikon Contaflex - first results (finally)

8 months down the track, I've finally got some results from the Zeiss:






Also the first roll of Fuji Neopan 400 (B&W, not C41) I've had developed. It's quite grainy, but I don't mind. Seems to do the trick, and at the price I paid I'm certainly not going to complain about quality.

Having another look at it, the film does seem a bit cold, so it might be well suited to non-people shots (architecture? abstract? studies?). I have to admit there were a few people/animal & landscape shots in there that I just didn't like all that much. Well exposed, in focus, but not quite suited to the film.

Could just be the development! Anyways, just my initial thoughts on a film I think I quite like...

It's alive!

After a bit of fiddling about on the weekend, I discovered a wonderful thing: the match-needle light meter on the Zeiss works. Both of them, actually. But only in "A" mode. I'm not sure whether this was a decision made in the design process, or whether it's just a quirk it's developed over the last 40 years. Could be either, and as someone who refuses to read the manual in depth, I may never know...

I'm pleased - while I have a light meter on the way, it does mean that I won't have to rely on carrying it with me in future. I'll just have to bear in mind that it's not an aperture-priority mode - which I use mostly when the Minolta isn't sulking - it's a shutter-priority automatic mode. It'll take a little getting used to, and I wonder whether I'll still be thinking in terms of depth of field rather than speed of subject...

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In other news, I completely fucked the first film I put through the Zeiss. Tore it clean in half, as it were. I wasn't aware (translation: i didn't read the manual) that I needed to turn one of the locking screws on the bottom to "R" before rewinding.

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as you can tell, I like to learn things the hard way.

Ebay

Isn't it a beauty? I'm sure it will be a bit more scuffed up than this pharmacy-catalogue-style image (update: camera was pretty much as new! not scuffed at all!), but I don't mind a few dings here & there (as long as they're not in the lens). I've wanted a Zorki/Fed for a while, and only recently have I managed to get into a position where I can justify the admittedly small spend. They're a good looking camera, and yes, I'm aware it's a Leica copy - but as I can't afford a Leica I'm happy to rely on the precision Soviet craft of ripping off someone else's design.

I just bought it through ebay using the buy-it-now function. Much better than the disappointment of being outbid (as always) because I have the money now, but inevitably don't when I get outbid, and hence can't afford to up my bid. Savvy?

Anyways, this is coming from the Ukraine, not sure how long it will take. With a bit of luck, it'll be here for Commie Camera Day, 1st of May 2009. If it's not, I still have the Vilia, which is a neat little beastie anyway. And I can always use it for Red Oktoberfest, the follow-up to International Commie Camera Day. Honestly, I am not making either of these celebrations of communist cameras up

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In other news, I am planning on putting the Contaflex to work doing star trails this week. It's the only camera I own which accepts the cheapie cable release I bought last year. I've never done star trails before, and I'm sure it's something that's done to death...doesn't mean I don't want to try it myself!

I just picked this up today at the Evandale Tinker, located about 25 minutes drive from my home. We (myself & "the tinker") had a bit of trouble riddling the shutter out - I took one shot & it all went black - before he decided I could take my chances for half price ($40 Australian).

After a bit of reading & frustration, it turns out that the winder just needed a bit of "encouragement". So while it looks beautiful, I discovered it might not be the most reliable of beasties. It also came with a brown cover & some magnifying lenses.

I'm quite pleased. Google tells me it's an all mechanical SLR from the 1960s. The lens was probably made in Jena, Germany (my favourite "went-through-without-stopping-on-the-train-wish-I'd-stopped-now" place), and the cameras are supposed to be fairly unbreakable - I'm guessing all that brass & steel would contribute to it's considerable heft.

It has a light meter (supposedly TTL) which I'll need to take some time with to figure out, and the mirror doesn't return when you take the photo - hence the moment when everything went black & I got a considerable discount - but all in all I'm happy with it, and I look forward to putting a roll of Reala through it some time after NZ.

Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super

A recent trip to an antique/second hand dealer & I found one of these beauties. I didn't buy it at the time, but I have my eye on it. Not sure whether $85 is a good price, but it did seem to be in awfully good nick, the shop owner assured me the shutter is functioning. If it's still there following the honeymoon, I'll be spending my had-earned on it. Provided it works properly. There was another camera (folding camera, takes plate film but comes with a DIY 120 back - looks nice, although I have no guarantee it's functional) in the window which has been there for at least two months, so that gives me confidence that stock moves slowly there...

My god is it heavy though! I think I read it's mostly brass & steel, which I guess would account for it's considerable heft.

The other objects of desire are either a TLR of some kind, or a Fed 1/Zorki 4.