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The Contarex by Zeiss Ikon: ....the lenses for the Zeiss Ikon Contarex systemZeiss Ikon engaged Carl Zeiss Oberkochen to develop the best lensesavailable for a 35mm camera system.The result was the complete line ofthe Contarex lenses as shown below. Carl Zeiss did not develop acompletely new line of optics from scratch but used instead designelements from the Contax line especially for the medium to long telelenses.Because of the very special lens mount and diaphragm transfer mechanismthe Contarex lenses are incompatible to any other camera system! The quality of the lenses was probably one of the main reasons for manycustomers to buy a Contarex camera. The 50mm f2 Planar for example, isprobably one of the best standardlens ever made! Distagon 15mm f3.5Introduced in 1972, only a fewexperimental pieces with Contarex mount. The lens was instead producedfor the Rolleiflex SL35 and later for Contax RTS starting in 1974.Retrofocal design, 13 lenses in 13 groups, some filters whereintegrated. This lens was also constructed under license with LeicaReflex mount, named Super Elmar R. top of page F-Distagon 16mm f2.8A typical Fisheye (F) lens, 8 lenses in7 groups, weighs around one pound, some filters where integrated. Wasavailable later in Rollei and Contax mount. top of page Distagon 18mm f4Introduced in 1967. 10 lenses in 9groups, weighs approx. 350 gramms, closes down to f22 with nearestfocus of 50cm. Produced in chrome and black with chrome focus ring.Uses 67mm thread instead of B56 Contarex bayonet. A second thread isprovided for mounting an adapter for filters with 96mm bayonet (thesame used for the Vario Sonnar lenses). With this adapter a specialgrade filter used for compensation of vignetting in the corners can bemounted. Because of the high costs of this lens less than 1650 pcs.have been manufactured. top of page Biogon 21mm f4.5Introduced in 1958. 8 lenses in 5groups, closes down to f22, nearest focus 1m, B56 filter bayonet,produced in chrome. Production stopped in 1962. Same optical formula asthe one for Contax. No automatic transfer of diaphragm preselection. Tomount this lens, the mirror of the Contarex body must be locked in theupper position. The reflex viewfinder is therefore not useable anymore.Because of this, a separate viewfinder (which had to be mounted on theflash shoe) was delivered together with this lens. The manualpreselection of the diaphragm does not interfere with the light meterof the Contarex Bullseye camera (which is located above the lens) butthis lens can not be mounted on cameras with TTL measurement like theContarex Super or Super Electronic. Approx. 4000 pcs. of this lens havebeen manufactured. top of page Distagon 25mm f2.8Introduced in 1963 as successor of theBiogon 21mm. 8 lenses in 7 groups, closes down to f22, nearest focus of17cm and B56 filter bayonet. Produced in chrome and black with chromefocus ring. More than 6000 pcs. of this lens have been manufactured. top of page Distagon 35mm f2.0Introduced in 1965 as an alternative tothe Distagon 35mm f4. 9 lenses in 8 groups, nearest focus of 22cm andB56 filter bayonet. Produced in black only with chrome focus ring.Approx. 3000 pcs. of this lens have been manufactured. top of page Distagon 35mm f4.0Introduced in 1958 together with theContarex Bullseye. 7 lenses in 4 groups, closes down to f22, nearestfocus of 19cm and B56 filter bayonet. Produced in chrome and black withchrome focus ring. Despite of the introduction of the Distagon 35mmf2.0, this lens was produced till 1973. Approx. 12000 pcs. of this lenshave been manufactured. Has also been produced in a flash correctedversion called Blitz-Distagon. top of page Blitz-Distagon 35mm f4.0With ''Flash Automatic''. The guidenumber of the flash could be set and by changeing the focal distance,the appropriate diaphragm was automatically adjusted. The downside ofthis lens is the closest possible focal distance of approx. 38cm (19cmwith the 35mm f4 Distagon). top of page PA-CurtagonShiftable (horizontal and vertical)lens for architectural photography. The only Contarex lens that was notconstructed by Zeiss, this is a lens from Schneider Kreuznach and wasavailable until 1967, also with mounts for other cameras. top of page Planar 50mm f2.0Introduced in 1958 together with - andas THE standard lens for the Contarex Bullseye. 6 lenses in 4 groups,closes down to f22, nearest focus of 30cm and B56 filter bayonet aswell as an 49mm thread. Produced in chrome and later, with theintroduction of the Contarex Professional in black (as all lensespreviously manufactured in chrome only) with chrome focus ring. In 1965a second version the Blitz-Planar has been added. The most common lensfor Contarex, approx. 38000 pcs. have been manufactured. top of page Tessar 50mm f2.8Introduced in 1960 together with theContarex Spezial as a economical alternative to the Planar 50mm, butalso as a re-edition of the classical Tessar lens which represented THEtop design of Carl Zeiss for several decades! 4 lenses in 3 groups,closes down to f22, nearest focus of 35cm and B56 filter bayonet.Produced in chrome and later, after production stop of the ContarexSpezial in black with chrome focus ring. In 1969 the production of thislens stopped. Approx. 6000 pcs. have been manufactured. top of page S-Planar f4Manufactured between 1963 and 1966. ''S''stands for ''Sonder'' (special). The lens is especially corrected forvery short distances used for reproduction. The scale shows thereproduction factors rangeing from 1:13 to 1:2.8. The lens can bemounted directly onto the camera body or, for larger scales, to thebellow. Only 400 pcs. of this lens have been manufactured, they whereavailable in black and chrome. The lens was removed from sales becauseit was commercially not successfull! top of page Planar 55mm f1.4Introduced in 1961 and designed tosatisfy the demand of faster lenses. 7 lenses in 5 groups, closes downto f16 and B56 filter bayonet. Produced in chrome and black with chromefocus ring. There are also some very rare pieces completely in blackfor delivery with black Contarex Super and Super Electronic bodies.Approx. 8000 pcs. have been manufactured. top of page Sonnar 85mm f1.4This lens was introduced after theproduction stop of the Contarex camera line. 6 lenses in 5 groups, only400 pcs. Became part of the lensline for the Rolleiflex 35SL andContax. top of page Sonnar 85mm f2Introduced in 1958, Contax design. 7 lenses in 3 groups, closes down tof22 and B56 filter bayonet. Produced in chrome and black with chromefocus ring. Approx. 7000 pcs. have been manufactured. top of page Tessar 115mm f3.5Introduced in 1962, Contax design. Forclose-up and macro photography with bellow. Cannot be mounted directlyon a camera body, bellow or extension tubes must be used. No automaticdiaphragm transfer (double cable release), B56 filter bayonet. Producedin black with chrome focus ring. Approx. 1500 pcs. have beenmanufactured between 1962 and 1972. top of page Sonnar 135mm f2.8Introduced in 1964 as a faster versionof the Sonnar 135mm f4.0. Nearest focus 120cm, B56 filter bayonet, 4lenses but different design compared to the older one. Produced inblack with chrome focus ring. Approx. 8000 pcs. have been manufacturedbetween 1962 and 1972. top of page Sonnar 135mm f4.0Introduced in 1958 together with the Contarex Bullseye. The classicalmedium sized tele lens with its design roots in the Contax camp.Nearest focus 120cm, B56 filter bayonet, 4 lenses in 3 groups, closesdown to f22. Produced in chrome and in black with chrome focus ring.Because this lens was very popular, it remained in production for 15years. Approx. 15000 pcs. have been manufactured. top of page Sonnar 180mm f2.8Introduced in 1966 with, for this time,exceptional speed. Nearest focus 180cm, weighs around 1kg, 67mm filterthread, 4 lenses, but different design from the Contax one. Produced inblack. Special version Olympia Sonnar comes with separate grip and anlateral wheel for faster focussing. Less than 1000 pcs. have beenmanufactured. top of page Sonnar 250mm f4.0Introduced together with the ContarexSystem. Nearest focus 200cm, 4 lenses with the same scheme as the 300mmlens for Contax. Produced in black. No automatic diaphragm transfer. In1963, after approx. 2000 pcs. have been produced, the outfit of thislens, but not the optical design, have been changed. The lens wasrenamed to Olympia Sonnar was equipped with a fast focussing mechanismand approx. 2500 pcs. of this version have been manufactured. top of page Tele Tessar 400mm f5.6Introduced in 1970. Nearest focus400cm, 4 lenses with 77mm filter thread. Produced in black. The lenswas equipped with the same fast focussing mechanism used on the OlympiaSonnar. Approx. 400 pcs. of this lens have been manufactured. |
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