Used Contax III for Sale — From £35

£34.99 Low price

£732.00 High price

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Premium pre-war Zeiss Ikon rangefinder from 1939 with built-in meter and vertical metal shutter, a serious collector's camera.

The Contax III is a premium 35mm rangefinder camera introduced in 1939 by Zeiss Ikon, featuring a built-in uncoupled selenium exposure meter that was revolutionary for its time. The Contax system was the primary competitor to Leica's rangefinder cameras and in many respects offered technically superior specifications, including a vertically-travelling metal focal-plane shutter.

The camera uses the Contax rangefinder mount (later known as Contax/Kiev mount) which accepts Carl Zeiss Jena and later Carl Zeiss lenses of extraordinary optical quality. The vertical metal shutter provides speeds from 1/2 to 1/1250 second — a remarkable achievement for 1939 — and the coupled rangefinder provides precise manual focusing through a bright viewfinder window.

Build quality is superlative, with precision German engineering throughout the metal body. The camera feels dense and solid in the hand, with controls machined to exacting tolerances. The integrated selenium meter on the top plate was a significant convenience feature, though it reads ambient light rather than through-the-lens measurements.

The Contax III is a highly collectible camera with genuine historical significance as one of the finest pre-war precision instruments. Examples in good condition command substantial prices, particularly those with matching serial-numbered Carl Zeiss Sonnar lenses. Post-war examples were also produced, and Soviet Kiev cameras were derived from this design.