Carl Zeiss Contarex + Carl Zeiss 50mm 2.0 Planar

Description:

Zeiss Ikon's last serious attempt to build a competitive 35mm SLR system in West Germany, the Contarex was unveiled at Photokina in 1958 with no expense spared — roughly 1,100 parts went into the body alone. It earned the nickname "Bullseye," or "Cyclops," for the round selenium meter window mounted on the front, ahead of the pentaprism. A modified Contarex Special, paired with a 50mm f/2 lens, even flew on NASA's Gemini 4 mission in 1965, used by Ed White to take the first photographs by a human in outer space during America's first spacewalk.

This example pairs the camera with its standard Planar 50mm f/2, sold here as a set. The Contarex has an eye-level pentaprism viewfinder with an interchangeable focusing screen, and its selenium meter is coupled — via cords, not through the lens — to a thumb-wheel on the body that also sets the aperture; the Contarex lenses, including this Planar, have no aperture ring of their own, part of what made the system so mechanically complex. Body and lens mount via the dedicated Contarex bayonet.

The Planar itself, six elements in four groups behind a 49mm filter thread, focuses down to an unusually close 30cm for a standard lens of its era. We appreciate how evenly it resolves across the frame — the corners hold up remarkably close to the center even wide open, which is not something most 50mm lenses of this generation manage. Its single-coated glass flares more readily under strong backlight than later lenses, a trait of its early-1960s design rather than a flaw, and part of why collectors still seek out its particular rendering.

This isn't a camera you buy for convenience. It's precision engineering from a company that, for a while, tried to build cameras without compromise — heavy, over-engineered, and still capable of genuinely excellent images on film today.

Condition:

• Cosmetic: Mint

• ·Optical: Very Good

  • There is a tiny spot (1 mm) with a tempering defect.

• Mechanical: Excellent