Contax IIa

Zeiss Ikon · Contax RF mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film, removable back · 1950

our own finding

Also known as: Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa · Contax 2a · コンタックスIIa

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
Black dial	Contax RF	1950–1954	P 97001–100000 — 11/1949 to 06/1950 S 20001–28000 — 07/1950 to 04/1951 T 5001–9000 — 03/1951 to 07/1951 T 28001–35000 — 08/1951 to 12/1951 U 1–5000 — 01/1952 to 05/1952 V 15001–20000 — 07/1952 to 08/1952 X 1–3000 — 09/1952 to 10/1952 Y 57001–62001 — 11/1952 to 03/1953 A 43001–46001 — 04/1953 to 10/1953	No figure published
Colour dial	Contax RF	1954–1961	A 46000–53000 — 11/1953 to 09/1954 B 90000–95000 — 10/1954 to 02/1955 F 20001–25000 — 03/1955 to 07/1956 Q 30001–33000 — 07/1956 to 09/1957 R 33001–34000 — 11/1956 to 04/1958 L 85001–87000 — 04/1958 to 02/1961	No figure published

The published block table starts before the model does. Its first IIa block, P 97001–100000, is dated 11/1949 to 06/1950, where this entry and camera-wiki date the camera's introduction to 1950; the cameras in that block were built before the launch.
Two datings of the dial change, and they do not quite agree. The block table puts the last mechanical-sync IIa at 10/1953 and the first PC-sync one at 11/1953, which matches the reported change "from around November 1953"; this entry dates the colour dial from 1954, and Henry Scherer, who repairs these cameras, puts it at "sometime in about 1953 or 1954" in one article and "sometime in 1954" in the next paragraph of the same page. Both are recorded here.
Blocks are allocations, not counts. The letter blocks were shared with every other Zeiss Ikon camera and not every number in one was issued, so the six colour-dial IIa blocks — which span about 23,000 numbers — cannot be read as cameras built. Scherer's estimate is that "perhaps no more than 3,000" colour-dial IIa bodies were made, and that roughly ten IIIa cameras left the factory for every IIa. Camerapedia gives 25,000 black-dial and 44,025 colour-dial cameras for 1951–53 and 1953–62, but those figures cover the IIa and the IIIa together.
Two transcriptions of the block table were consulted and they agree throughout bar one digit: the colour-dial B block reads 90,000–95,000 in one and 90,001–95,000 in the other.
An independent account of the camera was found and it corroborates the substance without touching the numbers. Pierpaolo Ghisetti, writing on marcocavina.com in 2015, has the IIa designed at Stuttgart from 1948 and presented in 1950; a body a centimetre lower than the Contax II with the overhanging front removed; a new vertical-travel shutter, more compact, smoother and more reliable than its predecessor; a rangefinder base cut back so that coupling reaches 135mm where the II reached 18cm; and the accessory shoe marked Zeiss Ikon Stuttgart. He also ties the black-numbered and coloured-numbered cameras to the arrival of flash synchronisation, which is the same account of the dial change given here from other sources. Most of the postwar patents, he notes, are again in Heinz Kuppenbender's name — the man who led the Contax II project at Dresden, and who after the split headed the Stuttgart group.
Two end dates, and the difference is real. This entry runs the camera to 1961 on the serial blocks, whose last colour-dial block is dated to 02/1961. Ghisetti says production stopped in 1958 and cameras were sold until 1960, and separately that the Contax camera line was officially closed in 1960 while lens supply continued to 1962 — the 1961/62 Zeiss Ikon catalogue still gives the system five pages and eight lenses. A block dated 1961 and a line closed in 1960 are not necessarily in conflict: a block is an allocation and cameras in it could be shipped after assembly stopped. Both are recorded.
Corroboration searched for and not found, on the one thing this page leans on hardest. The letter-and-block table with months attached — the finest dating available for the camera — still traces to a single list, transcribed twice. Ghisetti, who publishes batch numbers and dates for the Contax lenses, gives no serial blocks at all for the bodies; camera-wiki gives only the coarse letter-to-year table and cites the same list behind it. Until a second, independent transcription of Zeiss Ikon's Stuttgart body records appears, the month-level dates above should be read as one source's reading of the factory books.
Context from Ghisetti that the postwar figures need. Prewar Dresden built 59,500 Contax II and 38,000 Contax III to 1945, and about 800 more Contax II were assembled from leftover parts at Saalfeld near Jena in 1945–47 — the bodies that stand between the Contax II and the Kiev. He also records a Contax IV that never shipped: prototypes marked VK 21 and VK 27, with a wind lever, a three-frame finder and a built-in selenium meter, dropped when Zeiss Ikon concluded the rangefinder era was ending and moved its effort to the Contarex.
A compatibility trap worth knowing before buying: the aluminium shutter slats of the IIa and IIIa are thicker than the prewar brass ones, and the prewar Biogon 35mm f/2.8 will touch them. Mounting that lens on this camera damages the rear element.

How to tell them apart (expand)

About 20% smaller than a Contax II — 520 g against 610, and 135 × 77.8 × 49.9 mm
A 73mm rangefinder base, REDUCED from the prewar camera's 90mm
The rangefinder couples to 135mm; the Contax II coupled to 180mm — the same loss stated as a working limit
Body about 1 cm lower than the Contax II, and the front is flat where the II's overhangs
Accessory shoe engraved Zeiss Ikon Stuttgart, where the prewar camera's says Dresden
Shutter curtains connected by gears rather than cloth straps
Painted aluminium shutter slats in place of brass

Black dial:

Shutter speeds engraved in black
A proprietary flash socket needing an adapter for a standard PC cable

Colour dial:

Shutter speeds marked in different colours
A standard PC flash socket

Colour dial: The same black-versus-colour distinction the Leica IIIf has, arrived at independently and in the same years, and for the same reason: flash.

Serial-range notes

one letter and five digits: THE RULE. Zeiss Ikon kept its prewar camera numbering after the war — a letter followed by a five-digit number, a new letter every 99,999 — and the western half in Stuttgart ran a fresh letter sequence: P = 1949/50, S = 1950/51, T = 1951, U, V and X = 1952, Y = 1952/53, A and B = 1953/55, C = 1954/55, D = 1955/56, F = 1956, L = 1956/61, O = 1956/57, Q = 1960, R = 1961/62. Read the letter first; it is the year. Note that the letters repeat the prewar alphabet, so a IIa cannot be dated against the Dresden table — the same letter means a different decade.
P 97001–100000 through A 43001–46001: The black-dial IIa, block by block, with the months given: P 97001–100000 for 11/1949 to 06/1950; S 20001–28000 for 07/1950 to 04/1951; T 5001–9000 for 03/1951 to 07/1951; T 28001–35000 for 08/1951 to 12/1951; U 1–5000 for 01/1952 to 05/1952; V 15001–20000 for 07/1952 to 08/1952; X 1–3000 for 09/1952 to 10/1952; Y 57001–62001 for 11/1952 to 03/1953; A 43001–46001 for 04/1953 to 10/1953. This is the finest published dating for the camera — to the month rather than the year — and camera-wiki cites the same list behind its West German letter table.
A 46000–53000 through L 85001–87000: The colour-dial IIa, block by block: A 46000–53000 for 11/1953 to 09/1954; B 90000–95000 for 10/1954 to 02/1955; F 20001–25000 for 03/1955 to 07/1956; Q 30001–33000 for 07/1956 to 09/1957; R 33001–34000 for 11/1956 to 04/1958; L 85001–87000 for 04/1958 to 02/1961. The A block straddles the change: A 43001–46001 is black dial, A 46000 upward is colour dial, and the two published segments overlap by two numbers.
the block, read as a dial: The practical use of the table is that it separates the two variants without opening the camera. Everything from P to the low A block is mechanical flash sync and a black speed dial; everything from A 46000 upward is the internal PC-socket camera with the coloured dial. A body whose dial and block disagree has had a top plate changed, or is one of the home conversions Henry Scherer warns against — he reports black-dial cameras fitted with a PC socket, which ruins the shutter action and cannot be undone.
the IIIa's blocks, which are different: The IIa and the IIIa drew on the same letter sequence but different segments of it, so the two postwar models CAN be told apart by serial where the prewar II and III cannot. The IIa takes T 5001–9000 and T 28001–35000 where the IIIa takes T 35001–40000; V 15001–20000 against the IIIa's V 20001–25000; Y 57001–62001 against the IIIa's Y 52001–57000; A 43001–53000 against the IIIa's A 53001–63000.
the cold shoe, and inside the camera: Where to look. Camerapedia records the accessory shoe engraved "Zeiss Ikon, Stuttgart, Germany" with the serial number, and the number repeated inside the camera. A shoe number with no matching internal one is worth questioning on a camera whose top plates are interchangeable.
the number on the lens: A separate sequence. Carl Zeiss numbered lenses in one continuous run across every type, and after the war the run forked: Oberkochen in the West restarted at 10000 and reached 500000 by 1951, 1100000 by 1953, 2600000 by 1959 and 3000000 by 1961, while Carl Zeiss Jena in the East resumed above 3000000. A postwar Contax lens numbered in the hundreds of thousands is West German; one numbered in the millions with a red T and an alloy barrel is East German. Neither number has anything to do with the body's.

Specifications

Format: 24×36mm on 35mm film, removable back
Finder: Combined viewfinder and coupled rangefinder, 1mm larger than the Contax II's
Base length: 73 mm
Shutter: vertical-travel aluminium slat, gear-connected · T, B, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1250
Weight: 520 g
Dimensions: 135 × 77.8 × 49.9 mm
Country: Germany

Figures we worked out rather than found: 73mm against 90mm is a 19% reduction in rangefinder base — the postwar Contax focuses less precisely than the prewar one · 520 g against 610 g, in a body 20% smaller by eye

Where sources disagree

Whether the IIa is an improvement on the II

Yes: smaller, lighter, a more reliable shutter, flash sync, a bigger finder image
No: the rangefinder base drops from 90mm to 73mm, which is a loss of focusing precision

Better supported: Both, and the base length is the one thing that got worse

Every other change is a gain. The 90mm base was the Contax's central advantage over the Leica, and the postwar camera gives up nearly a fifth of it. Ghisetti states the same loss as a working limit rather than a measurement: the Contax II's rangefinder coupled to lenses up to 18cm, the IIa's only to 135mm.

How many IIa bodies were built, and how the IIa compares with the IIIa

Henry Scherer: perhaps no more than 3,000 colour-dial IIa bodies, and roughly ten IIIa cameras left the factory for every IIa
Pierpaolo Ghisetti: 66,000 Contax IIa against 69,000 Contax IIIa — 135,000 postwar bodies in all
Camerapedia: 25,000 black-dial and 44,025 colour-dial cameras, for the IIa and IIIa together

These cannot all be true. Scherer, who repairs these cameras and sees what comes through the door, has the IIIa outnumbering the IIa ten to one; Ghisetti, reading production records, has them almost level and both far larger than Scherer's figure. Camerapedia's totals sit between the two but do not separate the models, so they cannot arbitrate. No source consulted shows its working. A repairer's sample is not a production record, and a production record is not a survival rate — both may be reporting honestly about different things. One arithmetic point is worth carrying while the question stays open: Camerapedia's two figures sum to 69,025 for the IIa and the IIIa together, which is within twenty-five of Ghisetti's figure for the IIIa alone. That may be coincidence, or it may mean one of the two counts both models. Nothing consulted decides which, and no reading of it would rescue Scherer's 3,000.

What reviewers say

Pierpaolo Ghisetti (Lo Scriptorium, marcocavina.com) (blog) — Rates the IIa the high point of German camera engineering between 1950 and the Leica M3 of 1954 — Zeiss Ikon advertised it in exactly those terms — but holds that after 1954 it was outclassed by the M3 and pressed in the United States by the Nikon S2, both of which had a wind lever it lacked, and argues that what kept it selling was the lens range and above all the 21mm Biogon rather than the body itself.

History

The IIa is the Contax rebuilt by the half of Zeiss Ikon that still existed in the West. The Dresden factory, its tooling and much of its personnel had gone to Kyiv as reparations; Stuttgart started again, and in 1950 produced a camera about a fifth smaller than the Contax II, 90 grams lighter, with the shutter curtains connected by gears instead of cloth straps and painted aluminium slats in place of brass.

Almost every change is an improvement. The shutter is more reliable and can now change speeds when it is partly wound, which the prewar camera could not. Flash synchronisation arrives at 1/25. The finder image is a millimetre larger. The film counter moves somewhere sensible.

One change is a loss, and it is the one that mattered most about a Contax. The rangefinder base drops from 90mm to 73mm — a fifth of the camera’s central advantage over the Leica, given away. A IIa focuses a fast lens less precisely than a II does.

Two practical notes. From 1954 the shutter speeds are marked in colours rather than black, and the proprietary flash socket becomes a standard PC one, so a colour-dial camera is easier to live with — the same distinction, in the same years, that separates a black-dial Leica IIIf from a red-dial one. And the thicker aluminium slats mean the prewar Biogon 35mm f/2.8 must not be mounted on this camera: its rear element touches the shutter and is damaged by it.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Photographs

Contax IIa, black dial — s58y, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $400 across 35 fixed-price listings on 2026-10-19 (middle half $250–$450). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 10 days: up 21% from $330.

By day

Date	Median	Middle half	Listings
2026-10-19	$400	$250–$450	35
2026-10-18	$400	$250–$450	35
2026-10-17	$400	$250–$450	35
2026-10-16	$400	$250–$450	35
2026-10-15	$400	$250–$450	36
2026-09-21	$390	$300–$430	37
2026-09-18	$380	$250–$400	41
2026-09-11	$350	$220–$450	61
2026-09-08	$350	$220–$450	61
2026-09-06	$330	$220–$430	63

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Rangefinder Film Camera. Shutter Service Needed — £120.30 · eBay NEW
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa 35mm Film Camera 2a Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 From JAPAN #Y61855 — $157.28 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Rangefinder 35mm Film Camera Body Only Contax Mount Japan — $171.93 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa analoge Kleinbildkamera 2a Sonnar 50 mm f/1,5 aus JAPAN... — €166.81 · eBay
Contax IIa Rangefinder 35mm Film Camera Body Only — $189.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa analoge Sucherkamera Carl Zeiss Sonnar F2 5cm 50mm Objektiv — £149.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Color Dial rangefinder film camera Nikkor-H.C 5cm f2 Lens — $199.99 · eBay · likely color-dial
Carl Zeiss Jena Universal Viewfinder Contax IIa 25/35/50/85/135 mm 2328/128 — €195.00 · eBay
[EXC] Zeiss Ikon CONTAX IIa Rangefinder Film Camera Body Only From JAPAN — $220.00 · eBay
VINTAGE Zeiss Ikon CONTAX IIa 35mm Film Camera w C.ZEISS SONNAR 50/2 Lens. — $225.00 · eBay
Carl Zeiss Jena Contax IIa Range Finder Torpedo finder 85mm 135mm — £178.51 · eBay
Contax IIa Rangefinder Camera w/ Zeiss Sonnar f1.5 5cm Lens — $245.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa, Oct 1954 - Feb 1955, STUTTGART — $249.00 · eBay NEW
VINTAGE Zeiss Ikon CONTAX IIa 35mm Film Camera w C.ZEISS SONNAR 50/2 Lens. — $249.95 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Camera RF Contax IIa W/ Case Jupiter 8 2/5CM — $250.00 · eBay
Zeiss Contax IIA Rangefinder Camera with 50mm f/2 Sonnar Lens and Case — £199.00 · eBay
Contax IIa Color Dial 35mm Rangefinder w/ Carl Zeiss 50mm F2 Sonnar Lens — £199.99 · eBay · likely color-dial
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa 35mm film camera and Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 lens - colour dial — A$400.00 · eBay · likely color-dial
Contax IIa Rangefinder Film Camera Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 50mm F2 Lens #0755 — £211.42 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Blac Film Camera Plus Sonner 50mm F/1.5 Accessories READ! — $300.00 · eBay

Show 50 more listings

Contax IIA 543/24 Tessar 3.5/50mm NOTTESTED — €279.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa 35mm Rangefinder Camera w/ Helios 53mm F1.8 Lens and Case — $325.00 · eBay
Contax IIa Zeiss Ikon Kamera Carl Zeiss Sonnar 1:1,5 50mm Q30201 Vintage — €299.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Rangefinder 35mm Film Camera 50mm f/2 Lens — $350.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIA Film Camera with 50mm & 135mm Lenses — £279.00 · eBay
1954 Zeiss Contax IIa ( Colour Shutter Dials ) 35mm Rangefinder / SERVICED — £286.70 · eBay NEW
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Rangefinder 35mm Film Camera 50mm f/2 Lens — $375.00 · eBay
Contax IIA BD #U562, c.1952, Opton Sonnar T 50/2, flash synch Cable, cap, case, Ex++ — $375.00 · Igor Camera Exchange
Vintage Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Rangefinder Camera Body Only Black Dial U4257 EUC — $389.95 · eBay · likely black-dial
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Color Dial Film Camera Opton Sonnar 50mm F/1.5 — $399.00 · eBay · likely color-dial
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa No.T29052 With Zeiss Opton Sonnar 1.5/50mm — $399.00 · eBay
USED Contax IIa Zeiss Ikon W/ 50mm F1.5 Color Dial 35mm Film Camera [READ] — $399.00 · eBay · likely color-dial
▶️【MINT】 Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Film Camera + Sonnar 5cm 50mm f2 Lens from JAPAN — $399.90 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIA with Zeiss Sonnar 50MM F1.5 — $399.99 · eBay
Nikkor H.C Lens [ Near Mint ] ZEISS IKON Contax IIa Sonnar 50mm f/2 From JAPAN — $399.99 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa 35mm Rangefinder Camera w/ Zeiss-Opton Sonnar 50mm f2 Lens — $399.99 · eBay
[Exc+++++] Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Color Dial Film Camera Opton Sonnar 50mm F/1.5 — $408.49 · eBay · likely color-dial
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Black Dial Film Camera Sonner 50mm And Accessories — $425.00 · eBay · likely black-dial
Zeiss Ikon Stuttgart Contax IIa Filmkamera SHP 312133 — €389.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Rangefinder Kamera mit Carl Zeiss Sonnar 1,5/50 T (red) — €389.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa w. Zeiss Sonnar 1,5/50mm shutter defect — €399.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Panflex 5522/23 Spiegelkasten Reflex Housing for Contax IIa West Ger — €399.00 · eBay
Contax IIa Zeiss-Opton 1:1.5 f=50mm — €400.00 · eBay
[ N MINT ] Zeiss Contax IIa Rangefinder Film Camera Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 From JAPAN — £341.87 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Color Dial Film Camera Sonnar 5cm F1.2 Lense Carry Case — $449.99 · eBay · likely color-dial
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa + Sonnar 50mm f1.5 — $450.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa w Zeiss Sonnar 1.5/50mm red T P98517 — $450.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa 35mm Camera Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 T Lens Tested Working — $460.00 · eBay NEW
[Top MINT w/Case] ZEISS IKON Contax IIa Camera + Sonnar 50mm f/2 From JAPAN — $468.00 · eBay
Contax IIA CD #L85696, c.1957, Opton Sonnar 50/1.5 #1126266, Ex — $475.00 · Igor Camera Exchange
[Apps Mint READ] Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Color Dial & Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 Lens JAPAN — $479.99 · eBay · likely color-dial
Color Dial [N MINT] Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Camera Sonnar 50mm f1.5 From JAPAN — $499.99 · eBay · likely color-dial
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Film Camera + Sonnar 50mm 5cm F1.5 Lens — $499.99 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa mit Zeiss-Opton Biogon 35mm 1:2.8 Kamera #1132088-27 — €459.00 · eBay
[Apps neuwertig LESEN] Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Farbzifferblatt & Sonnar 50 mm f... — €471.42 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa mit Zeiss-Opton Sonnar 50mm 1:1.5 Sucherkamera #V22120-21 — €499.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Panflex 5522/23 Reflex Housing for Contax IIa West Germany Productio — €499.00 · eBay
RARE contax iia set with Zeiss sonnar 50mm and sonnar 135 + viewfinder+luxmeter — €500.00 · eBay
ZEISS IKON Contax IIa Rangefinder Camera Sonnar 50mm f/2 Lens Germany Manuals — $599.99 · eBay
Contax IIa with Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 - Excellent — €589.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa (1955/56) + Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 + Zähler STUTTGART + Etui — €630.69 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Rangefinder 35mm Film Camera 50mm f/2 Lens — HK$5,950.00 · Panda Camera
Sammler-Konvolut: Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa + Sonnar 50mm & 85mm + Leitz Zubehör — €1,050.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Stuttgart | Biogon 35mm f2.8 |Revolversucher | Contameter — €1,150.00 · eBay
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Serial T30.000 Super Kit 4 Objektivkappen Zubehör Case — €2,449.00 · eBay
Contax IIa — SN T34404 — HK$25,800.00 · Fotopia Gallery & Camera Equipment
[As-Is] Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa Rangefinder Camera Body For Parts Vintage JAPAN — $80.75 · eBay junk / for parts
ZEISS IKON CONTAX Ⅱa／ツアイスコンタックスカメラ(ジャンク品) — from ¥19,800 · Yahoo! Auctions Japan · auction 2026-10-23 junk / for parts
★1260027 Contax Ⅱa 2a コンタックス Ⅱa 2a 　レンジファインダーカメラ　フィルムカメラ★ — from ¥3,200 · Yahoo! Auctions Japan · auction 2026-10-25
コンタックス CONTAX IIa フィルムカメラ【Y211825016】中古 — from ¥39,800 · Yahoo! Auctions Japan · auction 2026-10-26

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