This is evidenced by its heavy weight, and because of its harsh corners and box-like shape, as well as the various revisions that indicate a frantic company trying to manage its reputation. Unfortunately, the Contax I lacked in fit-and-finish, and it suffered from many reliability problems. Together with close-up devices and more sophisticated tools for scientific use the Contax I can be called one of the first true system cameras in 35mm. As it was made of (heavy) brass it was less vulnerable to sun burn. Lenses ranged from 2,8cm wideangle to 50cm tele in 1934. Emanuel Goldberg, the chief designer before Küppenbender came. speed 1/500th in the beginning, soon after 1/1000th), based on a design by Prof. speed 1/500th), the Contax had a vertical travel articulated metal shutter (max. To go up against Leica's horizontal travel fabric shutter (max. It also had a removable back for loading film instead of Leica's blind hole film loading system. It had a bayonet lens mount (see Contax rangefinder lenses) instead of Leica's screw mount. It had a longer effective rangefinder triangulation base for better focusing. It had a large number of technological advantages as compared to the Leica. An examination of the Contax I points to a perhaps frantic company rushing a technically superior product to market. The Contax I was Zeiss' answer to Leica's offerings in the 35mm market, one Leica effectively controlled since it helped to create it in 1925.

The Contax I was a high end 35 mm rangefinder system camera made by Zeiss Ikon to compete with Leica models.

Nikon S2 Rangefinder Serial Numbers