Contax Serial Numbers

There are 4 externally visible features you can examine to determine whether a Contax IIa or IIIa body is a black dial or a color dial. This guide will describe all 4 features so that you can distinguish between a black dial body and a color dial body. The definitive feature is the flash sync socket on the back of the camera. The color dial body has the standard pc sync with which we are all familiar.

In contrast, the black dial body has a mechanical plunger sync. This is the single most important difference as the others can be faked.

A Contax IIa Black Dial A Contax IIIa Color Dial w/Mechanical Sync w/Standard PC Sync 2. The dial one is supposed to look at to determine whether a Contax body is a black dial or a color dial is the shutter speed selector that surrounds the shutter winding knob. Numerical Methods For Mathematics John H Mathews Pdf Writer here. On the color dial body, the “50” shutter speed is yellow and the shutter speeds faster than “50” are red, whereas on the black dial body, all of the speeds are black.

Hence the respective color dial and black dial monikers. Shutter Speed Selector Shutter Speed Selector from a Contax IIa Black Dial from a Contax IIIa Color Dial 3. Look very, very closely at the 2 screws on the bottom of the front chrome faceplate. If they are such that they recede into the screw holes cut into the faceplate, then it is likely to be a black dial body. In contrast, if the screws do not recede into the screw holes, then it is more likely to be a color dial body. The screws on the black dial bodies are very small and are counter-sunk, while the screws on the color dial bodies are very slightly larger and are not counter-sunk.

Contax began as a camera model in the Zeiss Ikon line in 1932, and later became a brand name. To the serial number plate beneath the flash head. Early Contaxes have the serial number inside on the bottom of the body and inside the detachable camera back, later ones for easier access also in the accessory shoe. Both cameras - Contax II and III - were probably delivered to the military and some other countries like France, Latvia, Switzerland and Sweden until as far as April 1945 as some catalogues from Sweden suggest (O and M serial numbers).

Bottom Faceplate Screw Bottom Faceplate Screw from a Contax IIa Black Dial from a Contax IIIa Color Dial 4. The serial number. A comprehensive listing of each type of post-war Contax model with its corresponding serial number may be found on page 64 of Volume II of the English translation of Hans-Jurgen Kuc ’ s, On the Trail of the Contax.

This listing also notes the period of production for each group of serial numbers used under the same letter prefix. DO NOT MAKE THE FOLLOWING COMMON MISTAKES OR ASSUMPTIONS: 1. The indicator within the rewind knob of the Contax IIa has the word “COLOR” printed on it. Thus, it’s a color dial. NOT NECESSARILY. The numbers “ 1 ” through “60” on the IIIa light meter dial are red.

Thus, it’s a color dial. NOT NECESSARILY. While the indicator on the rewind knob has the word “ COLOR ” printed on it, that little piece of metal within the rewind knob is there simply to remind the user whether they loaded color or b&w film. However, that is not the dial that determines whether a Contax body is a black dial or a color dial. On the Contax IIIa models, all of which have a built in light meter, the numbers “ 1 ” through “ 60 ” on the light meter dial are often, if not always, red. The fact they are red signifies that they represent whole seconds. Conversely, the numbers on this dial that are black represent fractions of seconds.

Regardless, that dial is not the dial that determines whether a Contax body is a black dial or a color dial. The dial one is supposed to look at to determine whether a Contax body is a black dial or a color dial is the shutter speed selector that surrounds the shutter winding knob. On the color dial body, the “50” shutter speed is yellow and the shutter speeds faster than “50” are red, whereas on the black dial body, all of the speeds are black. Hence the respective color dial and black dial monikers. The instruction manual says it's a color dial. Thus, it’s a color dial.

NOT NECESSARILY. While the instruction book may say its a color dial, the instruction book may not even match that particular camera. Regardless, most of the information within the instruction book for a color dial body would have been useful to the owner of a black dial body.

The only difference that would have any impact on the operation of the camera would be the flash sync. Nuffield 4dm Serial Numbers Rpg Maker Xp Mode 7 Script Download Free. here. The black dial Contax is not as well made or as reliable as the color dial. While the Contax IIa and IIIa black dial rangefinders have less collector cachet than the color dial models, the black dial shutter mechanism is very well made and is far more reliable than that of the color dial. If you have found the information within this guide helpful, please give it a positive rating by clicking on the “Like” button at the TOP RIGHT of this guide immediately below the title banner. Every vote is counted and the guides that receive the most votes become easier and easier for others to find.