Tag Archives: Contax

a lens for all reasons

Toronto. When Leitz first marketed the Leica in the mid 1920s, it was an innovative success. By 1933 other makers had competing cameras out. The mighty Carl Zeiss organization not only marketed cameras, but their Tessar lens was a excellent … Continue reading

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boys will be boys

Toronto. Most of us have heard of the rivalry between Leica (Leitz, Wetzlar) and Contax (Zeiss, Jena) last century. On page 455 of the October 1935 issue of American Cinematographer,  Leitz, New York placed this ad to extol the virtues … Continue reading

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the good, the bad, and the ugly – again

Toronto. The last time I used this title. it was for a Leica accessory . This time it is camera design at and after the mid 1930s and the minicam revolution. Good camera design encompasses many considerations. Ergonomically designed, utilitarian, light, … Continue reading

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introducing a photographer to minicams in 1938

Toronto. When Leitz announced the Leica mid 1920s, most photographers used larger cameras and rarely needed to enlarge their negatives. In 1926, the German government arranged for Zeiss to form the mighty Zeiss-Ikon conglomerate in Dresden to rationalize the German … Continue reading

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vive la France!

Toronto. The title of this post is a French patriotic expression. When Charlie De Gaulle visited Quebec in 1967, He used a similar expression on the Montreal City Hall balcony (the slogan of the Quebec independence movement) irritating the hell … Continue reading

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doing it better (sometimes)

Toronto. On page 31 of the March 1950 edition of Popular Photography, an advertisement touts the Zeiss-Ikon Contax-S camera at whopping price of $475USD with the coated Zeiss Biotar lens. The model S was briefly sold while later models were … Continue reading

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eye of the storm

Toronto. It was ‘the best of times and the worst of times‘ between the world wars. After the first war, pent-up demand blossomed into unprecedented wealth in the first decade, followed by the worst depression ever in the next (world … Continue reading

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a Leotax ad from 1957

Toronto. To gain traction on the world markets after the war ended, camera industries  began to imitate the more famous German brands. One of the Japanese brands that was almost identical to the Leica screw mount camera it imitated, was … Continue reading

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Slip, slidin’, away

Toronto. Paul Simon wrote this song in 1975 and released it a few years later. It showed up as a Simon and Garfunkel song (I have it on a CD). The song captures the spirit of film and film cameras … Continue reading

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The Minicam Boom in the mid 1930s

Toronto. In 1963 as part of my English assignment at university, I was to research and write a paper. One spring evening, I strolled down to the Montreal Bibliotheque on Sherbrooke Street East. I was unsuccessful  investigating the topic I chose, … Continue reading

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