Zeiss Contax II (1936–1942)
The Contax II is one of the most important cameras Zeiss Ikon ever made, and one of the most consequential rangefinders of the 1930s. Introduced in 1936 in Jena, Germany, it replaced the original Contax (later called the Contax I). Zeiss had struggled with the Contax I's notoriously unreliable shutter, so for the Contax II they went back to the drawing board. By most accounts, they got it right.
The headline feature was optical. The Contax II was the first 35mm camera with a combined coincident rangefinder and viewfinder in a single window, built around a long base of about 90mm with high magnification. That long base gave focusing accuracy that even Leica users had to respect. The shutter was a different story. It was extraordinarily complicated, varying both the size of the slit and the travel of the curtains to adjust speeds, and it contained roughly 700 parts, far more than a contemporary Leica. Shutter speeds ran from 1 second to 1/1250s plus Bulb. The chief designer was Hubert Nerwin.
The camera used the Contax rangefinder lens mount. Typical lenses included the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 2 f=5 cm and the Tessar 3.5 f=5 cm. Body dimensions were approximately 8.5 x 14.9 x 5.5 cm. It took the Contax aluminum film take-up spool. Accessories included the original Zeiss Multi Finder and the highly regarded 85mm f/2 Sonnar.
Casual Photophile (June 2018) described the Contax II as "then the finest 35mm film camera in the world," and noted that a photographer used one to shoot the famous "Magnificent Eleven" photos of the D-Day landing during WWII. The camera stayed in production from 1936 until 1942, when war production intervened. Most surviving Contax II / III bodies are well worn. They were working tools, and it shows.
The Contax IIa, released in 1950, is a separate, post-war model. It was a major update rather than a variant of the original II. The two are often conflated, but they are distinct cameras.
Known Specifications
- Type: 35mm film rangefinder camera
- Production: 1936–1942, Zeiss Ikon, Jena, Germany
- Viewfinder: Combined coincident rangefinder/viewfinder, single window, ~90mm base
- Shutter: Focal plane, speeds B, 1 – 1/1250s
- Lens mount: Contax Rangefinder
- Typical lens: Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 2 f=5 cm, or Tessar 3.5 f=5 cm
- Dimensions: approx. 8.5 x 14.9 x 5.5 cm
- Film take-up: Contax aluminium spool
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