[Leica] Contessa vs. Leica IIIf

[Mike Johnston <michaeljohnston@ameritech.net>]

My cousin's father just gave her her mother's old Zeiss Contessa
(manufacturered 1950-1955, I believe). She passed it along to me. My
Aunt has been gone these past 12 years, and the last time anybody can
remember her using this camera was in the early '70s. So the camera is
nearly 50 years old and most probably has not been used in nearly 30
years.

So guess what? All functions seemed to work fine, even the selenium-cell
light meter! I loaded a roll of Tri-X into it, shot it around town
according to the light meter, and last night got a nicely-exposed roll
of pictures.

Now THAT'S engineering.

Overall the camera is considerably easier to use than my IIIf, and the
Zeiss 45mm f/2.8 Tessar lens is noticeably better than the 50mm f/3.5
Elmar. The camera doesn't handle as well as the old Leica, but that
seems more than made up for by the FAR easier film loading and the
presence of the meter.

Does anybody know of a crack Zeiss camera repairperson in the U.S.? I
may like to have this fine old object CLA'd every 50 years or so,
whether it needs it or not.

- --Mike