Ikonta 35 & Contina
522/24 - (1949-53)

At first I was a little confused about what was an Ikonta 35 and what was a Contina. The fact is,
that Zeiss at some point simply renamed the Ikonta 35 to Contina. Below you can se the 4 folding Continas that I own, and 2 of them are actually marked Ikonta 35. During the II World War, Zeiss almost entirely manufactured products for the war effort, but in his spare and private time Hubert Nerwin quietly designed the Ikonta 35. He knew that the war would eventually end, and that Zeiss once again should enter the scene as a leading camera and lens manufacturer, and that Zeiss would have to be ready for this new era. Maybe his personal thoughts and also dreams for the future were easily channeled from his mind, through his hand and pen and onto the paper, because Hubert Nerwins Ikonta 35 are in my opinion an exceptionally beautiful design. It was launched after the war, and was the first new camera that came out of the Zeiss factory. Still using his "trademark"; the octogonal lines and shapes, he turned almost evrything
upside down, and placed both the advance knob, the framecounter and the rewind knob on the bottom baseplate. The top cover are very sleek, and the first version had no accessory shoe, but only the Zeiss engraving and the film type indicator. Every detail is very well designed and thought through, such as the big release button which are placed exactly where it should be, the wide strap lugs, and the triangular pressure plates that releases the scissor type folding mecanism which by the way are designed so that the bellows are not at all exposed, but hidden
at all times behind the lens and shutter baseplate.

The Ikonta 35 came with a variety of lenses, but the most commonly found are the 3,5 / 45mm Novar-Anastigmat, but due the very limited production capabilities after the war, also Schneider Xenars were used, and later on of course Tessars too.

There were however one thing that puzzeled me quite a bit. I just couldn't figure out what the  purpose were of those 2 drilled holes in the advance knob on the later models. Did Zeiss make some kind of add-on advance lever that I have never heard about or seen ?. The answer came from a visitor on my website, Greg, who had just received an Ikonta 35 incl. everready case, and he kindly told me that the holes are (of course Simon !!) the couplings for a similar knob which is fitted in the everready case allowing you to advance the film when the camera is in its case. Geez, now it seems so logical and evident...

I couldn't resist in uploading 3 photographs of this early Ikonta 35. I think it is one of the most beautiful 35mm folders ever designed. It's stylish, compact and aesthetic in its design. I consider the Ikonta 35 as one of the rare design icons which combines an appealing and stylish exterior with good functionality. It was never designed to be an expensive camera, or not even a mid-range camera, but Hubert Nerwin actually suceeded in designing a very compact folder that is also very useable and capable even today, and looks beautiful too. This early Ikonta 35 shares the same basic mecanics as the later versions, but had no accessory shoe. Shutter, aperture and focusing are placed on the shutter/lens housing, and as on other versions of the Ikonta 35 / folding Continas, both advance knob, frame counter and rewind knob are at the bottom of the camera. The viewfinder is rather poor, but still; if its clear its quite useable.  The front cover can be closed when pressing the triangular and neatly designed pressureplates on either side of the lens, which releases the front cover lock. And oooh look at those strap lugs !!.

Ikonta 35 - 522/24 (1949-53) VF
Serial no.: R 64610
Format:  24 x 36 on 35 mm film
Optics:  Zeiss-Opton Tessar 1.2,8  45mm
Shutter: Compur Rapid   B + 1 sec.  => 1/500 sec.
Misc.: Double exposure prevention

This particular Ikonta 35 with a Zeiss-Opton Tessar was lying in a big pile of worthless plastic junk cameras in a antique shop in my neigborhood. The owner needed a hand emptying his van, and gave me the camera in return. 10 minuts of work, and that was it. There is nothing at all wrong with it, and it works like the day it left the factory.

Still benefitting from the superb Nerwin design of the basic camera body (Nerwin left Zeiss Ikon in 1948), the Contina II from 1953 boasts with one important improvement: the rangefinder. In order to make room for the uncoupled rangefinder, the top cover are totally different from the earlier versions shown above. The knob on the left (seen from the back) are simply the film type indicator dial, and the knob on the right are the focusing knob. Because the rangefinder are uncoupled, you'll have to measure the distance first, read out the distance on the focusing knob scale, and manually transfer the distance to the lens. Both the rangefinder and the viewfinder windows are very useable, and the Contina II feels very comfortable indeed, and together with the earliest Ikonta 35 this is my favourite of the shooters shown on this page. Allthough the old style strap lugs have been redesigned, the new type will do as well. This Contina can be highly recommended as a shooter for street photography, or just as the camera that'll fit in your coat pocket on hikes and strolls through the city. You should really get one you know...  This is very good value for money !