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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Old German Camera: Best in the World (1958 version)


This is the Contarex. It's been in our family
since 1964. I've owned it since 1985.
Nicknames: Snoopy (the case resembles
his nose)
Other nickname: Monstro the Camera
(when fully loaded, it weighs over six pounds)
It's a gorgeous work of art, not just a
photographic device. All three lenses and
all the filters are hand ground.
They literally don't make them like this
any more. They didn't make them like that THEN.
But it is, as mentioned earlier, VERY heavy.

2 comments:

mark pudleiner said...

Hi Nancy

what is the quality like regarding prints ?

I'm just wondering how it compares to cameras now-a-days ?

-Mark

Nancy said...

The Contarex has, and had, the finest lenses ever made.

It will outshoot the Lumix easily. It will outshoot any other camera.

Its three drawbacks are:
It weighs more than my cat (the cat weighs eight pounds)

There are no longer any parts available for repairs *but since it is built like a tank, and weighs about as much as one, this is not a problem

And it's getting harder and harder to get good film and good film processing.

I'll post some pics from the Contarex when I receive them next week.