Contaflex SLR

The Contaflex series is a family of 35mm leaf-shuttered SLR cameras, produced by Zeiss Ikon in the 1950s and 1960s. The name was first used in 1935 on a 35mm Twin-lens reflex camera, the Contaflex TLR also by Zeiss Ikon, the -flex part in the name referring to integral mirror for the viewfinder. The first models, the Contaflex I and II have fixed lenses, while the later models have interchangeable lenses, and eventually the Contaflexes became a camera system with a wide variety of accessories.

History

The first Contaflex SLR was introduced in 1953 as one of the earliest 35mm SLR cameras equipped with a leaf shutter, but with a fixed lens. The Mecaflex was presented at photokina in 1951 and launched two years later with a leaf shutter behind the removable lens, while the Hasselblad 500C of 1957 has a leaf shutter in its interchangeable lens. This design, using a leaf shutter in an SLR, involves a complex sequence of events when the shutter is released, more looked upon as a challenge than a drawback at Zeiss Ikon, but no Contaflex model ever got a rapid return mirror. The advantages are low manufacturing costs, compactness and flash synchronization at all shutter speeds. However, only a very limited range of interchangeable lenses became available. For the models I and II, having a fixed lens, only three add-on converters were offered using a slide-on adapter, but from models III and IV onwards interchangeable lenses from 35mm to 115mm focal length were provided; at the time regarded as quite sufficient, as most would only be used with the standard lens anyway.