Post by dee on Aug 5, 2012 14:58:52 GMT -5
The 1930s pre-war Contax was reborn in Ukraine as the Kiev .
Early Kievs up to 1959 were virtually identical to the Contax and most parts are interchangeable - and inexpensive . My contact in Ukraine made restoring a Kiev , and latterly , a Contax possible .
Ex-scrap Contax rebuilt by ex-Arsenal / Kiev technicians with Kiev back , original shutter .
It was sold as spares so was cheap enough for me to create my own dream Kiev/Contax hybrid - Kontax .
This is the second kontax II , the other being rebuilt from a box of parts with Kiev shutter
Most unusually , I had the terrible black paint on the body removed and the bare metal polished .
The broken self timer was removed because it actually makes the camera better to hold .
It has a Kiev back 'cos the other was wrecked .
Textured tan leather echoes the one off Ivory and tan Contax II made in Jenna .
At £150 ,they were a little more expensive than a Kiev II , but are fully serviced , and have a little bit of history from 1935 / through 1947 to the 1980 Jupiter 8 lens I use with my many Kievs plus that link with the guys who built the Kiev cameras .
dee
Early Kievs up to 1959 were virtually identical to the Contax and most parts are interchangeable - and inexpensive . My contact in Ukraine made restoring a Kiev , and latterly , a Contax possible .
Ex-scrap Contax rebuilt by ex-Arsenal / Kiev technicians with Kiev back , original shutter .
It was sold as spares so was cheap enough for me to create my own dream Kiev/Contax hybrid - Kontax .
This is the second kontax II , the other being rebuilt from a box of parts with Kiev shutter
Most unusually , I had the terrible black paint on the body removed and the bare metal polished .
The broken self timer was removed because it actually makes the camera better to hold .
It has a Kiev back 'cos the other was wrecked .
Textured tan leather echoes the one off Ivory and tan Contax II made in Jenna .
At £150 ,they were a little more expensive than a Kiev II , but are fully serviced , and have a little bit of history from 1935 / through 1947 to the 1980 Jupiter 8 lens I use with my many Kievs plus that link with the guys who built the Kiev cameras .
dee
