Zeiss Ikon Contaflex value?

[BrianL]

Peter, the lack of an instant return mirror just takes some getting used to. My Bronica does not have instant return and I've been using it for several decades. The Contaflex sort of got me used to it.

[pgomena]

Yeah, my Hasselblad blacks out, but I use it on a tripod and usually lock the mirror up before exposing film, so it's not a big deal. It was disturbing to be looking through the Contaflex viewfinder and have the scene disappear. I think it's one of the reasons the Japanese SLRs became so popular so quickly and muscled the Contaflexes into the dustbins of photographic history. (Besides the Japanese cameras being much cheaper.)

To answer the OP's question, I think my brother eventually sold Dad's Contaflex with both 50 and 115 lenses for under $100. This was a decade ago. I think he got more than it really was worth.

Peter Gomena

[puderse]

Thirty years ago I came upon a Contaflex alpha that needed a take up spool for just a few bucks. I sent it off to an advertiser in a well known (at the time) photo-newspaper and got it back with a spool and a CLA. This was of course before the internet.

Over the years I've accumulated a Contina III, takes the same interchangable lenses, 30mm and 75mm, bubbles, finder, cases, etc. all at resonable cost compared to other "collectable cameras".

These are inexpensive. No one will pay much so neither do you! Collecting is not about the monetary value, it's about the collecting!