Contax

Contax was a Germany-based camera brand well-revered for its unique, and sometimes unusual, technical innovation and its range of high optical quality Zeiss lenses. It was initially established by Zeiss Ikon of Dresden with Dr. Ing. Heinz Kuppenbender as its first chief designer. The first Contax cameras, known as the Contax I, were produced between 1932 and 1936. They used a die-cast alloy body that housed a vertical-travelling metal focal-plane shutter, which was made out of interlocking slats like a tambour. Zeiss hired young lens designer Ludwig Bertele to create high quality lenses for the Contax I series of cameras. In 1936, the Contax II and Contax III series of cameras were launched, which combined eyepiece for both viewfinder and rangefinder, and also placed the shutter speed and film wind knob on the top plate. After the Second World War, Contax production was transferred to Kiev in Ukraine, and the company came to be known as VEB Zeiss Ikon, though a few were produced in Dresden and some were assembled at the Carl Zeiss optical works at Jena. The post-war design chief was Wilhelm Winzenberg, who introduced the Contax S (Spielgelreflex) single-lens reflex camera in 1949. Contax S was followed by the D, E, F, FB, FM, FB, and FBM models. Under pressure from the Zeiss Ikon AG in the US zone, VEB Zeiss Ikon relinquished the original Zeiss Ikon and Contax names and trademarks. Under the leadership of design chief Hubert Nerwin, the three main Zeiss concerns in USA (Carl Zeiss Stiftung (Carl Zeiss Foundation), Carl Zeiss, and Zeiss Ikon) together launched heavily revised Contax models (Contax IIa and IIIa), which were produced at Zeiss Ikon’s Stuttgart plant until 1962.

The advent of the Japanese camera industry saw Zeiss establish tie-ups, first with Asahi and then with Yashica. Kyocera took over Yashica in 1983, and continued production of the Contax brand till 2005.

The Contax T3 compact camera and the Contax N Digital camera were two of the company’s more popular models.