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Post by dee on Jan 3, 2010 7:15:08 GMT -5
My Contax II , once a box of bits with non matching back '37 / '38 - has been rebuilt in Kiev by ex-Arsenal Techs with Kiev II shutter and other parts . New body paint , polished chrome , new front leather and restored stamped rear leather with bumps removed . It's fabulous . Above all it's MINE because , sensibly , this bitsa was ' worth ' little more than as a donor camera for others . It has been saved from an almost ineviatable obliteration in the home of Kiev , which has a certain irony and a recent history . To be honest , I would have been content to combine a Kiev IIa body with the nameplate and body parts , yet someone painstakingly rebuilt this camera . It's history has been obliterated , so it's new beginning commences in 2009 . It is to be matched with a 1959 Jupiter 3 now mounted in an original 30s mount . Perfect someone with per own IDee dee'slocation !
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Post by dee on Jan 3, 2010 5:36:32 GMT -5
Thanks Peter - it will be engraved in Ukraine , so maybe Ukrainian .
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Post by dee on Dec 31, 2009 19:50:59 GMT -5
seems Contessa is taken by Zeiss , so Kontessa for my Kiev Grande Dame !
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Post by dee on Dec 29, 2009 18:23:22 GMT -5
Been racking my tiny mind for a title for my all time fave Art Deco Grande Dame Contax / KNeB III dee-rangeed finder - it has to be ' Contessa ' framed by the meter door !
I would love it in nickel or Champagne paint , all restored and working of course - as companion to my Contax III .... final crazee fling ?
At this rate , I shall only have a dozen or so working Kontaxes !
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Post by dee on Dec 29, 2009 16:37:35 GMT -5
New Nikon SP and as new Contax II with all the accessories . Is this predictable ? Oh , and a Leica M9 as a back up . LOL
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Post by dee on Dec 3, 2009 18:07:17 GMT -5
Once upon a time , I bought the latest , much praised SLR . Eventually I traded this fiddly , spiky controls , OM1 for an ancient SRT 200 [ used import into UK ] a new SRT IOIb [ one of the last , followed ] and I now have just 6 . There is something ... smoother somehow compared to the contemporary Nikons / Canons etc . I have to confess that the SR1s and SR7v are my favourites .
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Post by dee on Nov 15, 2009 19:03:50 GMT -5
Missed out on that Contax III and 50 f !.5 , but could not really stretch to it . Brian Sweeney has a fine reputation for Sonnar / J3 lenses - and I need to give my ' Jonnar ' a chance LOL .
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Post by dee on Nov 12, 2009 12:23:10 GMT -5
Thanks Bob and Wayne . I am so pleased with the J3 Sonnar , and have been pushing my Helios wide open and loving it ... but the Contax III has been fully serviced and must be a good buy at £160 ... I would never spend the £80 or so that a 50 f1.5 Sonnar would go for , but linked to my all time favourite Grande Dame III , it's irresistable !
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Post by dee on Nov 11, 2009 19:14:38 GMT -5
Eagerly awaiting from Kiev , home of ... well , Kievs ... several compromised Contaxes . All rebuilt by ex-Arsenal techs . This was and is , a once in a lifetime opportunity as the economic situation in Kiev is unsettled . They may not be around for much longer . A service and shutter repair is £50 with £20 return shipping , which is acceptable .
Contax II , Kiev II shutter , silver paint body , tan leather .[ from parts camera ]
Contax III restored , shutter and meter repaired . Minor Kiev parts . Original .
Contax IV - Contax III with early and rare , Kiev IV top with plain meter cover as post-war Contax IIIa - no self timer .
Contax II dirt cheap rat camera - now working sweetly behind it's tired facade . Intended as black , I became intrigued by the contrast twix my near mint Kiev II 1952 and a well travelled Contax II !
Rigid 50 f 2 Sonnar .
In the pipeline is a Kiev IIIa with Kiev IV top , painted Metallic Silver Blue , possibly a Kiev IIIa and Jupiter 8 in the same finish . Just my favourite Kiev III / IV ' Blue-Belle ' as a 'set ' with lens would be fabulous .
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Post by dee on Nov 11, 2009 18:58:09 GMT -5
My Autistic Imp[airment] creates this kind of word association [ do words join associations ? ] and puns . I love it .
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Post by dee on Nov 11, 2009 18:54:47 GMT -5
I have been gifted with a 1959 Jupiter 3 glass in 1930s Sonnar mount by Brian Sweeney , who loves playing with these lenses . It's specifically for a Contax III body from which meter parts were donated to my Contax III restoration project . A 1958 Kiev IV top has been grafted on to complete my set of Contax II / III / IV profiles . I have also aquired a clean collapsible Sonnar and a Rigid 50 f2 ... and am considering a 50 f 1.5 Sonnar complete with serviced Contax III ... funds permitting .
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Post by dee on Nov 11, 2009 18:46:35 GMT -5
Thanks Wayne . I have noticed prices dropping - even since I started with Kievs a couple of years ago . I have bought several cheap Contax cameras as donors for my specials [ and one really nicely restored and original Contax III with collapsible Sonnar . At the same time Kiev II cameras are getting more expensive . Brian Sweeney has gifted me with a rebuilt1959 J3 glass , in genuine Contax mount , and I have bought a rigid Sonnar 50 f2 for £40 . It's purely a collection thing - a Contax II Contax III and hybrid Contax III / Kiev IV top - all with Sonnars ... I could sell on the Contax , but something tellls me I won't !
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Post by dee on Nov 10, 2009 14:00:27 GMT -5
I have just seen a nice Contax III - shutter tapes renewed , meter working , less than £200 shipped to UK .
I have another Contax III imminent from restoration , so I would not be interested BUT it sports a 50 f 1.5 Sonnar with a little repaired damage to the rim , but seems good ... These seem to be expensive to buy . It would have to be instead of my special KIEV III with English logo in metallic silver blue paint .
At least the Contax would have some ' value ' ... dee'cisions !
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Zodel??
Oct 18, 2009 2:54:17 GMT -5
Post by dee on Oct 18, 2009 2:54:17 GMT -5
The Zodel was contemporary with the 1972 Prinzflex STTL - both cameras made by Chinon and often work clunkily , but effectively many decades later . The cameras are virtually identical other than that the Prinzflex had a front mounted shutter dial . I bought a black Prinzflex only to find that , unlike the Zodel , it was painted over chrome . Wallace Heaton offered the Zodel , only in black , and Dixons , the Prinzflex in black or chrome . I did not realise that they were sold outside the UK . A good one could fetch about the same as Praktica
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Post by dee on Oct 18, 2009 2:35:18 GMT -5
I love available light photography at max aperture - 50 f 1.4 Rokkor on 4/3rds Leica Dig 3 , but it all so depends on the period we are speaking of . Also my f2 Summitar on the M 8 . However , a 50 / f 3.5 is perfectly useable when the need to focus is eliminated by a rangefinder . My ' new ' Jupiter 3 [ Sonnar derivative ] born of the 30s was considered genuinely ' fast ' Even my 70s Rokkor 1.4 was fast in times of ASA 64 and ASA 25 . Unheard of today with ASA 100/200/400 being the norm . The factor to be taken into consideration is tha shallow depth of field of the 1.5 over a F2 Jupiter / Sonnar on my Kiev II .
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