[rollei_list] Re: Leica and Contax
- From: Marc James Small <msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 03 Apr 2005 22:32:44 -0400
At 06:01 PM 4/3/05 -0700, Jerry Lehrer wrote:
>Prestige item? The boat anchor called Contarex was
>Zeiss's attempt at a prestige item.
Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. We can try to raise you to a level of decent
urbanization but you continue to hold to your La Jolla rural ways.
The Contarex actually was the ultimate mechanical camera: very few Cyclops
ever break down, and the Contarex lens line will probably remain as the
ultimate in miniature-format film photography. The cameras were
disgustingly expensive to build and Zeiss invented the motto that so many
of us who used to work camera shows used to prate: "I lose money on every
deal, but I make up for it in volume". Zeiss Ikon lost incredible sums of
money on the Contarex just to maintain the senior end of the professional
market that they rapidly overcame the relatively good incomes they were
making on the Contaflex, Contessa, and, later, on the Icarex lines.
I own a Cyclops and a Super Black, and love them both, as they are most
worthy cameras. However, short of winning the lottery, I am forced to use
only a small collection of lenses, albeit I do have a Contarex T-adapter
which allows me to use my cameras on my Questar and APO-Televid for some
nifty telephoto shots. The basic price of most Contarex lenses exceeds the
freight borne by, say, that ultimate Porsche, the '68 912. <he grins>
Marc\
msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx=20
Cha robh b=E0s fir gun ghr=E0s fir!
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