During WWII Hubert Nerwin thought about a new 35mm folder. The results of his thoughts were developed after the war to Zeiss Ikon's first completely new postwar product, made since 1948 as Ikonta 522/24. As Zeiss was unable to produce sufficient Tessar lenses (due to war damage to their production facilities), this is one of the few Zeiss models ever to feature a non-Zeiss (Schneider Xenar) lens. The model was continued in 1953 as Contina, as one of the first cameras of the new Contina series of 35mm viewfinder cameras (one was a rangefinder) made in Germany by Zeiss Ikon. The first models were folders, later models were rigid. Some had linked shutter/aperture rings, using the Light-value system. The folding models had knob wind, frame counter and rewind fitted to the bottom; the later ones had top-mounted 180° lever wind, knob rewind and frame counter around the shutter release.
Specifications[]
- Manufacturer: Zeiss Ikon
- Origin: Stuttgart, Germany
- Introduced: 1951 (folder); 1954 (rigid)
- Film: 35mm
- Shutters: Prontor-SVS, 1sec-1/250 or 1/300 with X & M sync & self-timer, Prontor-SLK or Synchro-Compur
Models[1][]
![]() |
Zeiss Ikon Contina Family Tree by Daniel Jiménez |
Name | Date(s) | Cat no. | Lens | Features | ||
Ikonta 522/24 | 1948-53 | 522/24 | Novar, Tessar, or Schneider Xenar 45mm/2.8 |
Folding | ||
Contina I | 1951-55 | 522/24 | Novar 45mm/3.5 or Tessar 45mm/2.8 |
Folding | ||
Contina II | 1952-53 | 524/24 | Opton-Tessar 45mm/2.8 or Novar f3.5 |
Folding, Rangefinder
| ||
Contina Ia | 1954-55 | 526/24 | Novar 45mm/3.5 | Rigid
| ||
Contina Ia | 1955-57 | 526/24 | Novicar 45mm/2.8 | Rigid | ||
Contina Ia | 1958 | 526/24 | Pantar 45mm/2.8 | Rigid | ||
Contina "1b" | c.1956 | 526/24 | Novicar 45mm/2.8 or Pantar |
not labelled as "Ib"
(See also the article Contina 1b) | ||
Contina Ic | 1958-60 | 10.0603 | Pantar 45mm/2.8 | name in script on front
| ||
Contina II | 1956-58 | 527/24 | Novar f3.5 or Novicar f2.8 |
Light meter | ||
Contina IIa | 1954-56 | 527/24 | Novar 45mm/3.5 or Novicar f2.8 |
dual-range Light meter
| ||
Contina III | 1955-58 | 529/24 | Pantar 45mm/2.8 | Light meter + convertible lens
| ||
Contina | 1962-65 | 10.0626 | Color Pantar 45/2.8 | updated, rounder styling; crank rewind, second viewfinder window for bright-line (See also the article Contina) | ||
Contina J | 1964-65 | 10.0604 | Color Pantar 45/2.8 | no self-timer | ||
Contina L | 1963-65? | coupled meter
| ||||
Contina LK | 1963-65 | 10.0615 | Color Pantar 45/2.8 | coupled meter
| ||
Contina-matic II | 1958-59 | 10.0613 | light meter | |||
Contina-matic III | 1959-60 | 10.0622 | Pantar 45/2.8 | meter |
Notes[]
Links[]
In English:
- Contina on UK Camera
- Contina IIa among classic cameras on Karen Nakamura's Photoethnography
- Contina II on The Camera Site by Reijo Lauro
- Contina III by deanw; shows lens converter and sample photos (most recent version stored at web.archive.org)
- Manual of the Contina III (529/24) in David Richert's website
- Contina and other Zeiss Ikon patents
In French:
- Pages on www.collection-appareils.com by Sylvain Halgand:
- Zeiss Ikon Contina
- Zeiss Ikon Contina I
- Zeiss Ikon Contina Ia
- Zeiss Ikon Contina IA (526/24)
- Zeiss Ikon Contina Ic
- Zeiss Ikon Contina II (524/24)
- Zeiss Ikon Contina II (527/24)
- Zeiss Ikon Contina IIa (527/24)
- Zeiss Ikon Contina IIa (527/24)
- Zeiss Ikon Contina J
- Zeiss Ikon Contina L
- Zeiss Ikon Contina LK
- Zeiss Ikon Contina-matic II (10.0613)
- Zeiss Ikon Contina-Matic III (10.0622)
In Spanish:
- Zeiss Ikon Contina Ia, by Daniel Jiménez, at Del infinito al plano focal