Zeiss Contessa LK (1963)

Mention the word Zeiss and both camera collectors and photography enthusiasts ears prick up! Continue by saying 50mm f2.8 Tessar and you’ll have un-divided attention. Both come together in this camera, the Contessa LK, that was made only for a relatively short period – 1963-1965. I came across one recently and of course- I didn’t say no!

There are quite few variations of “Contessa’s” – some are rangefinders and some are viewfinders, the LK is a viewfinder, there is an LKE that is a rangefinder. The addition of the E stands for “entfernungsmesser” the German word for rangefinder. Same with the Contessamatic and the Contessamatic E. My find is an earlier one, later editions had a hot shoe.

I’m only going to mention two things about the LK. First the viewfinder has optics aligned to show aperture and shutter speed as you look through. That’s rather nice, and makes it easy to check. Second, the rewind is on the base of the camera and remains locked in place until the rewind is depressed.

The reason for not doing my usual run-down on this camera is that Jim Grey has already done a better job than I would – you can read his review here.

You know the routine by now, I popped in a roll of Ilford Delta 100 and took it with me to the local garden centre, where I had breakfast. The film was developed in FX55

It’s one of those cameras that while seeming basic today, were in the early 60’s a decent product. Described at the time as being mid to high end. This was the era that things we now take for granted, such as wind-on being a single flick of a lever, or a hot shoe, were just stating to become standard. Of course the allure of a Zeiss Tessar 50mm f2.8 doesn’t hurt. I enjoyed my play with it. I was quite pleased with the results, but ultimately, I think it’s a camera I will pass on to another owner in due course.

You can read about my other Zeiss, the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 517/16 here.