Any Classic German SLR's useable?

msbarnes

msbarnes

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I know a lot about classic Contax/Kodak/Voigtlander RF's but their SLR's seem unreliable and unpopular (as users). All I know is of the Leicaflex. What about the Dresden-built Contax cameras, Exacta, etc.? I'm more curious. I mean, to me, "the" SLR is probably the Nikon F but I like playing around with quirky cameras, sometimes.
 
If you like quirky, go find an Exakta (I love those things). Watch for the curtains, they are often pinholed. Superb and enormous range of optics and accessories. The late 1960s plastic viewfinder screen are good with split image and microprism, they fit early 1950 prisms.

http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/exakta/index.html

The Contax D to Pentacon FM series (M42) are also nice, but same remark about the curtains (in fact all east German gear from the 50es has often bad curtains, it seems).
 
hi ms

for years ive had a lot of fun with the retina reflex series of german manufatured cameras. while many are rangefinders, the reflex iii and iv are slr's with synchro-compur shutters, split image focusing screen and gossen meters. the lenses were made by schneider kruezach and rodenstock. the film advance is on the bottom of the camera, and exposure is set using a wheel under the lens housing. very cool setup and a lot of fun to play with. they feel very sturdy in the hand, very well balanced imo. and ive always enjoyed shooting with a quality camera that says KODAK on the front! they are pretty complicated litte fellows though, and theyre pretty hard to get serviced.
tony
 
It is not exactly given away for free, but for me the nicest german SLR camera is Leica R4S2 - I got one recently from the bay for 120 eur, and before for 150. Not as nice a VF as Leicaflex, and you have to limit yourself to 1/1000th, but on the other hand they are small and light, you get AE if you want, and you can buy easily motor winders for them.
There are some Leica lenses in the R line, which are still reasonably priced, and this kind of body lets you use them without fiddling with adapters that only preserve limited functionality. The 90 Summicron costs less than a half of the M version, and is much more useful on a SLR. Another mythical status lens at reasonable price ideally suited to an SLR is the 60/2.8 Macro Elmarit, while you can find for less than 300 EUR the 1st version of the Summicron 50, instead of paying 1000 EUR for a comparable M version.
 
Exakta invented the small format SLR, and quirkiness aside, it was the most reliable and versatile pro SLR up to the late fifties, and built like a tank. Users beware, throughout the middle part of their history they used a curtain fabric that eventually proved to become brittle - if you get one from a different period or have the curtain replaced, they are excellent, if a little left-handed, cameras.
 
Contarex usable but heavy mugger beware the non Bullseye and even the Bullseye Contarex are superbly build and usable only drawback their price and they are somewhat quirky. The Bullseye is the most impressive (visually) 35mm SLR in existence.

Love the Exakta as has been said watch out for pinholes I own a few of them and love their ergonomics.
 
I have a couple of Praktica PLC3's that I really like. They take the standard M42 lenses, Also, if you can find the electric lenses which were made for them, you can use open aperture metering.
 
sevo said:
Exakta invented the small format SLR, and quirkiness aside, it was the most reliable and versatile pro SLR up to the late fifties, and built like a tank. Users beware, throughout the middle part of their history they used a curtain fabric that eventually proved to become brittle - if you get one from a different period or have the curtain replaced, they are excellent, if a little left-handed, cameras.
Click to expand...
Very true. Ask any tank commander or (better still) tank general about the long-term reliability of tanks. Most, think, would back the Exakta.

Cheers,

R.
 
The Leicaflex SL is not too pricey, despite the name, values remain low but quality and usability is the tops...look elsewhere for praise of the v/f. Nothing more need be said about the lenses apart from earlier 2 cam versions being cheaper.

Just look through one and you will be converted.
 
I guess it depends on what you mean by "classic" but the Rolleiflex SLRs looks quite nice. My only experience of Leica SLR is the R8, which looks beautiful, but did not rate how it worked one little bit. The Bessaflex is not German, but Cosina built, and is sort of cool, but nothing like the build of a real German classic.
 
Hmm... First real camera was a Praktina. Fell apart in my hands. We moved on to Nikon shortly thereafter. eBay seller cupog in E. Europe can put a Praktina into working shape for you, but how long will it last? CZ Jena Biotar is a great lens, Praktina is an interesting camera but not competitive with the Japanese SLRs.
 
I have been playing around with an Edixa Prismaflex for a bit over a year now:

Edixa Prismaflex by berangberang, on Flickr

I think it could justifiably be called the most "useable" of the old German SLRs... but useable and "good" are two different things. It takes M42 lenses and it works, and that's about all I can praise it for. I've taken one entirely apart to reglue a detached shutter curtain and it was by far the simplest (focal plane shutter) SLR I have ever disassembled, although I admit I still do not fully comprehend the instant mirror return system (which had to be designed to skirt around Pentax patents presumably).


exa by berangberang, on Flickr

The Exa is probably the only bomb proof SLR. No shutter curtains to wrinkle, tear, or hole. In fact it barely has a mechanism in it at all. Later models are a bit less well made, but will take M42 lenses and adopted a lever wind which makes them a bit less fussy to handle. The only downside is the top shutter speed of 1/150. The Exa series remained the cheapest SLR one could buy for years - maybe even decades.

The Exaktas are fine cameras -up until the 1960s. The 1950s Exaktas cost as much as Leicas at the time, and the fit and finish is comparable. In the 1960s Exakta became entangled in all sorts of trademark litigation and the company seemed to focus more on driving down costs instead of building the best SLR possible. The very worst of the Exaktas, quality wise in my experience are the last ones - the VX 1000 and VX 500. My VX 1000 was basically sub-Praktica quality. The one good thing about the VX 500/1000 is the short throw advance lever, which was adopted way too late in Exakta history. The earlier exaktas have an almost ludicrous lever throw to advance the film.

The VX IIa is probably the Exakta to watch for. It was made before quality went down the drain, has modern PC flash sockets, and looks gorgeous. Perhaps the most beautiful SLR ever made. The Schneider Xenon and CZJ Pancolar are two great lenses for these old cameras.

Here's my crappy VX1000:

Exakta TL VX1000 by berangberang, on Flickr

The RTL 1000 that followed is not a bad camera despite its reputation. I would say it is probably a better camera the VX 1000.

In the west there was also the Zeiss/Voigtlander Icarex, I have not used one but they look nice enough. In any event it's probably more reliable than its leaf shuttered brethren, and it can take real lenses. ;)
 
FWIW there was a write up about the Zeiss Contarex.
The writer is a service technician specializing in these cameras.
Not exactly what i thought!
I knew lack of parts, but seeing the poor quality design and weird construction, that he could not warranty repairs, for any length of time.
i was in the service industry. That is a warning not to buy! If you do, don't cry or blame the one "trying" to repair bad equipment.
The cameras were made for a pro. Meant replacing in 5 years after writing off, in taxes..
I was once offered such a system, from Zeiss, with Contarex SE, bodies, backs and lenses. I worried about service as Zeiss was leaving my country. No one was willing to do their service. I saw it as dead in the water.
 
If you are talking about who I think you're talking about, they're referring to the Contarex Electronic, which they will only give a limited month long warranty on. They exclude any electronics from their warranty, which is understandable considering the age of them. A lot of the rest of the page seems to be written primarily to drum up business for themselves. I won't say it is wrong, just that is hyperbolic.
 
Wow. I have a Contarex Bullseye, and it is certainly the heavy, impressive looking, chrome monster it has been described to be but I definitely didn't know it was unreliable. Mine has been steadily humming right along taking impeccable images. I certainly won't let it read this thread or it might develop a complex. The meter even works though I rarely use it, relying instead on a handy little Sekonic hand held.

Besides, you don't use a Contarex for the camera, that unique experience is actually only incidental to being allowed to use some of the most stunning lenses ever made by any manufacturer at any price.

I would be careful! It might take a bit of searching to find one that is still working. It is a very old camera after all, and it was intended to be used hard by professionals. Once you find a good one it will also be surprisingly expensive, even 50 years later. But it is probably the finest professional German 35mm SLR cameras ever built, maybe one of the finest anyone has built.

Enjoy and keep on shooting.
 
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