This is probably one of my favourite cameras on a purely personal note.
The camera is a Contax II and they where in production from 1936 - 1942. This particular example dates to late 1937.
The Contax was very advanced for its day, it was one of the first rangefinder cameras to offer a "quick" bayonet lens mount (the camera actually had two lens mounts, 50mm lenses mounted on the inner mount, all other fixed on the outer mount).
It had one of the longest rangefinder bases available, this meant focussing was more accurate, the camera was one of the first to incorporate a combined rangefinder, viewfinder window which again meant easier and faster operation in the field.
These modern features that we would still recognise today where previously unseen when the camera was launched, prompting Zeiss to say "Superlatives are too frequently abused. We will content ourselves by saying that Contax II represents the most advanced miniature camera design and construction of the present day" in its 1936 company catalogue. And both as a user and a fan, I would have to agree.
Above and to the left we see the camera set up in my personally preferred configuration, fitted with an original Zeiss Multi Finder and the incredible 85mm f2 Sonnar.
Not only is this an incredible portrait lens, but thanks to the way it renders light and the amazing tonality and colours it produces with both black and white and colour prints, this is also one of my all time favourite lenses.
Also in the picture you can see the original 5cm f2 Sonnar in its extended position and the 135mm f4 Sonnar. This picture also shows the difference between the outer mount on the long lenses, and the inner bayonet on the 5cm lens.
Also in this image we see a lovely little Sekonic shoe mount Selenium meter which I generally use on this camera, either hung via its lanyard around my neck, or mounted directly onto the cameras accessory shoe when I'm not using an additional finder.
The images to the right show the camera with the 5cm Sonnar attached in both its extended and compacted configuration.
Such a space saver when carrying the camera, and an idea that pretty much died out totally until the modern compact cameras of the 90's brought the idea back to life.
Sharp eyed viewers amongst you will notice the little foot protruding from from the base of the camera, this was another fantastic Zeiss innovation, the story has it that the original designer thought that the camera looked "undignified" when you put it down and it tipped forward to rest on the lens, so they installed this folding foot around the tripod socket that provided a stable base to the camera when unfolded. Yet another example of the fabulous attention to detail Zeiss where famous for.
This is a great kit for replicating photos from around the war years, not only was the camera around during this time, but was a popular alternative to the Leica system with a lot of journalists who found the larger rangefinder base, fast lens choice, bayonet mount and many other things a great advantage to use in the field.
Perhaps from day one though, the Contax's biggest enemy was its price... originally costing more than a Leica camera, it did have many more advanced features, but you where paying for these, as such they always tended to sell in smaller numbers than the Leica equivalent, But that was the Zeiss story all over really, amazingly engineered products, often ahead of their time, but never as popular as they could be due to the huge costs involved.
You can learn more about the Contax II by checking out this great Contax page on camera quest.