Serial Number: Cam0167
Type:
35mm Range Finder Camera
Manufacturer:
Zeiss Ikon
Country of Origin:
Stuttgart, Germany
Production Period:
1948 - 1955
Approximate Price:
USD 160.00
Reference:
Camerapedia
Status: Display
Description:
During WWII Hubert Nerwin of Zeiss Ikon began planning for a new 35mm folder. His concepts were developed after the war to become Zeiss s first completely new postwar product. This series soon carried the name Contina.
The first model introduced in 1948 had the Zeiss designation Ikonta 522 24. As Zeiss was unable to produce sufficient Tessar lenses (due to war damage to their production facilities), this is one of the few Zeiss models ever to feature a non-Zeiss (Schneider Xenar) lens. The model was continued in 1953 as Contina, as one of the first cameras of the new Contina series of 35mm viewfinder cameras (one was a rangefinder). After the initial series of folders, later models were rigid-bodied. Some had linked shutter aperture rings, using the Light-value system. The folding models had knob wind, frame counter and rewind fitted to the bottom the later ones had top-mounted 180° lever wind, knob rewind and frame counter around the shutter release.
