Zeiss Ikon Contaflex 35mm Camera w Carl Zeiss Tessar 2.8/45mm Lens

Zeiss Ikon Contaflex 35mm Camera w Carl Zeiss Tessar 2.8/45mm Lens excellent working condition camera with leather case 

 Introduction

The Contaflex family of 35mm leaf-shuttered SLR cameras was introduced in 1953 byZeiss Ikon, using the newly developed Compur reflex shutter. By doing so, a completely new 35mm camera emerged, a concept probably first used in 1929 in the Mentor Compur Reflex. The Contaflex name was made famous and became highly respected due to the spectacular 35mm twin lens reflex Contaflex, introduced in 1935 and only produced a few years.

The Zeiss Ikon AG factory in Dresden was almost totally eradicated by the end of World War II. The remains were gathered in Stuttgart, then in West Germany. Only a few prototypes were rescued. Both the lens- and most of the camera production had to be rebuilt from scratch. This was at the same time a tremendous opportunity for the company to develop completely new products. In this situation, ZI was in desperate need for new cameras models. Yet, it should be remembered that almost all the popular cameras manufactured worldwide, have their origins in Germany; these are typically the 6x6 TLR 1928 Rolleiflex, the 1925 Leica and the 1932 Contax 35mm rangefinder cameras, as well as the 1936 Kine Exakta and the 1949 Contax S 35mm SLR cameras.

This was the situation when ZI started designing the Contaflex SLR camera. Zeiss had already developed the pentaprism viewing system in the late 1930s, and being convinced the compact, reliable and easily manufactured leaf shutter could outperform the focal plane shutter, they set out building a compact high quality camera for the masses.