By designing an overwhelmingly complex camera (though many features might be considered ahead of its time) and by adopting unusual form factors that differed dramatically from the products of every other manufacturer, the Contarex was the Edsel of cameras in many ways, significantly larger, heavier and more expensive than its german and japanese competitors and quirky to the point of eccentricity. While a technical masterpiece in many respects, the Contarex was a commercial failure, contributing to the collapse of one of the world's most storied manufacturers of cameras. the Leica M3 with Summicron 50mm f/2 (1080 DM), Kodak Retina Reflex III with Schneider Xenon 50mm f/1.9 (730 DM) or Exakta Varex IIa with Exakta Pancolar 50mm f/2 (691 DM). For example in Germany around 1962-1963 the Contarex I was advertised at 1450 DM including the Zeiss Planar 50mm f/2, while the german competitors were both significantly lighter and cheaper, e.g. Partly this reflects the large price premium of the Contarex, even before considering the later japanese competitors. įrom 1960 to 1967 Zeiss Ikon sold 32 000 Contarex I cameras, compared to e.g. Extra care went into the lens mounts, with the helical barrel ground by hand, something which would be "inconceivable and prohibitively expensive" today.
A special quality control system was developed by Zeiss Ikon for the Contarex, delaying the introduction of the camera, but ensuring that faulty copies were "practically impossible". The camera consists of more that 1200 separate parts, and required almost 4000 different operations to assemble. Still, gear damage is likely due to insufficient axle support. The mechanism involved in film rewinding has two gear trains and three axles so as to avoid the internal meter movement. Even the removal of the top cover is a major task involving removal of several complex assemblies. It weighs almost net 1.2kg, and is so complicated that it requires a skilled person even for the simplest repair.
The american journalist Bob Schwalberg expressed ironically about the size that "This is the smallest SLR camera in the 6圆 format I have ever seen".
Heinz Küppenbender, after taking control of Voigtländer in 1956. However, to save the home grown Contarex and Contaflex, the development of a more modern styled Voigtländer TTL SLR camera was canceled by Zeiss Ikon head Dr. It is extremely heavy, and some consider the design to be "overloaded, angular and baroque" compared to camera development at Voigtländer at the time. Preparations for the lens system began in 1954, when the internal name for the camera still was "Contax IV". The Contarex was inteded as Zeiss Ikon's contribution to the professional photographer, replacing the Contax IIa and IIIa and catering to any photographic task whatsoever.
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