Autumn in New York with Contax IIa

Some street photos in New York from Autumn 2019. As I didn't do so much filming it is mainly a showcase of the pics taken.

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Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa from around 1956 with Carl Zeiss Jena 1,5/ 5cm Sonnar, 2/85mm Zeiss Opton Sonnar and Carl Zeiss 2.8/35mm Biogon (all Postwar). Shot at the ending with Contameter.

To me, the Contax system is my main rangefinder to-got-to, which I have been using for the past twenty years. I really like the quality of both the camera body and the Zeiss lenses of that period and I believe, these are fast cameras for street photography and very underrated in the market right now. Many people complain a squinty viewfinder, which personally I don't find limiting - though devinitely not as big and bright as a Leica M. The rangefinder itself is very usable and the camera and lenses are quite small compared to the Leica M stuff. Well adjusted, the shutter is very quiet; however, often the outside adjustable spring is over tensioned (instead of the slow gear mechanism being cleaned), which results in a noisier air gun like sound.

The Postwar Contaxes IIa and IIIa were both designed by Hubert Nerwin, who also designed the prewar Contaxes II and III, lenses designed by Ludwig Bertele. As a competitor to the M3/ M2, Nikon and Canon rangefinders they were only initially successful with sales dropping after the introduction of the M3, total production should be around 135.000 cameras (IIa and IIIa, according to H.J.Kuc) between 1949 and 1962.

Films used: Kodak T-Max, Kodak Ektar 100, Fujifilm Superia 200 (expired).

Music by Billie Holiday: "Autumn in New York"