Zeiss Historica Fall 2002
The Fall 2002 issue of Zeiss Historica could be my favorite issue as it has detailed info about two prototypes of two of the best Zeiss-Ikon cameras, the Contarex and Contax IV. It puts a few more pieces together of the confusing events of post war East Germany before the Russians took over, and a happy 100th birthday to the Tessar!
Pg 2. Zeiss Ikon’s history with the Contax rangefinder ended with the III, but plans were in motion for a Contax IV which existed as several prototypes, but sadly, were never completed. Peter Hennig and Milos Paul Mladek share what they know about what could have been.
Pg 7. Part 2 in a series about Contarex prototypes, Bernd K. Otto examines various black finished models, and some lenses for stereoscopic imaging.
Pg 11. Americans and Russians at Jena. During the last decade, more light has been shed on the confusing events around 1946 and 1946 as first the Americans and then the Russians swept into Jena and proceeded to gut the Zeiss works of it’s people and equipment.
Pg 17. Happy Birthday, Tessar! The centennial of the award of the Tessar lens design to Carl Zeiss, gives us an opportunity to review the origins of this famous lens and the major effect it has had on lens design since.
Pg 22. Changing times, new styles for Zeiss-Ikon advertising.
Pg 24. Examining a strange Nazi Contax, that’s unlike other Nazi Contaxes. Is it real or not?