[rollei_list] Re: Leica and Contax
- From: TrueBadger@xxxxxxx
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 16:12:36 EDT
I find it curious that in this lengthy discussion of rangefinder cameras that
there was no commentary on the fact that the first Nikons were copies of the
contax, and that the first Canons were copies of the Leica III series. I
suppose this is too well known to merit comment.
I was stationed in Korea in 1954-55, and thousands of both nilons and canons
were sold to GI's thru the PX system, somewhat before either was that well
established with distribution in the US proper.
I bought a Contax IIIa in the post exchange ($187.50 as I recall, with case
and a 50 mm sonnar.) It was a great camera, but accessory lenses never showed
up in the Px, so I wound up selling it and coming back with two Canon IVs2's
with normal lenses and a wide angle and a 90mm. The PX price on the Canon with
a normal lens and case was $105.00.
I never got a lot of use out of the canons, because I sold them about two
years later so I could afford to get married. It was a case where my youthful
photographic aspirations had overshot my equally youthful financial reserves,
which were basically zero. After that I did not have a camera for about three
years, when someone sold me a pristine M3 double-stroke for $150.00, a camera I
still have.
I don't think Leica ever showed up in PX's, although there may have been a
few that got snapped up before I ever saw them.
G, King
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