Re: [Leica] Zeiss and Leica

[Edward Meyers <aghalide@panix.com>]

Erwin mentions that the real drive for making the Contax and Contarex
is not yet exposed. I suggest that the reason is the same with all
camera makers--TO SELL LENSES. It's like Gillette (the razor blade
company) selling razors at a reasonable price so that they could
make the profit selling the blades. I believe the markup on lenses
is quite high, compared to the markup on cameras. Could be the
reason why some Japanese companies are making lenses that fit on
Leica cameras.
My Contarex has features to help it make super-sharp images which
other camera manufacturers have passed over. Zeiss, like Leitz)
made systems that work together. One test made at E. Leitz, Wetzlar
in the 1960s, was film flatness. They found, I was told by one of
the former Leitz people, that both the Nikon F and Contarex had
the best film plane of the SLRs of that day. There is a space 
from the actual image plane to the film magazine which acts as
a stabilizer to get the film flat. This is evident in the Contarex
and Nikon F. That's one reason why these cameras are big.
Better shaprness results. Also, as most of you know, the mirror
of the Contarex is actually slowed down (etc.) before it covers
the focusing screen, during the exposure sequence. This prevents
mirror bounce and some shake during exposure, and adds to noise.
The camera is one part of the system. The lens alone cannot do the
job. 
I'm certain that many will disagree with what I have just reported.
Or, you might have other versions of it. 
I just wanted to share what I have been told. Ed