Contarex First Test
It is as I had feared. When I shot the first test roll and heard and felt the grinding of the mechanisms inside the camera body, which gave me the distinct impression of wanting to be left alone to die in peace, I thought "Oy vey. This is not a good thing."
And when I saw the scans of the processed film and saw that the film transport apparently doesn't work reliably after the 24th shot or so, I shook my head in dismay and thought: "This is definitely not a good thing."
But then I took a good look at those shots that had come out well, I sat down heavily, in amazement and I thought: "Cor. This is a good thing."
Sharpness, contrast, colour rendering, creamy bokeh, it's all there.
So, now what? I think I can work around that film transport problem by just using 24 exposure rolls, if I can confirm that the problem will turn up only if the wound up roll is too thick.
By the way, a Contarex Special with a Planar 1:2 50mm lens was what astronaut Ed White used during his EVA on the Gemini IV flight in June 1965.
Camera: Zeiss Ikon Contarex Spezial (built between 1960 and 1963)
Lens: Carl Zeiss Planar 1:2 50mm Contarex Mount
Ilford FP4 125 Black&White film
Developed and scanned by www.meinfilmlab.de
Contarex First Test
It is as I had feared. When I shot the first test roll and heard and felt the grinding of the mechanisms inside the camera body, which gave me the distinct impression of wanting to be left alone to die in peace, I thought "Oy vey. This is not a good thing."
And when I saw the scans of the processed film and saw that the film transport apparently doesn't work reliably after the 24th shot or so, I shook my head in dismay and thought: "This is definitely not a good thing."
But then I took a good look at those shots that had come out well, I sat down heavily, in amazement and I thought: "Cor. This is a good thing."
Sharpness, contrast, colour rendering, creamy bokeh, it's all there.
So, now what? I think I can work around that film transport problem by just using 24 exposure rolls, if I can confirm that the problem will turn up only if the wound up roll is too thick.
By the way, a Contarex Special with a Planar 1:2 50mm lens was what astronaut Ed White used during his EVA on the Gemini IV flight in June 1965.
Camera: Zeiss Ikon Contarex Spezial (built between 1960 and 1963)
Lens: Carl Zeiss Planar 1:2 50mm Contarex Mount
Ilford FP4 125 Black&White film
Developed and scanned by www.meinfilmlab.de