Zeiss Ikon Contina family

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Zeiss Ikon Contina family model list

Zeiss Ikon of Germany was the equivalent of the American Kodak, where both companies had amalgamated several manufacturers under one roof. Zeiss Ikon was born out of the merger of Carl Zeiss, ICA, Contessa-Nettel, Ernemann and Goerz. The combined company kept using the original models’ names under the combined brand, which may confuse today’s collectors. Further, mutations of the original name, such as the Icarette / Icarex names, were carried forward.

Zeiss aimed to cover the market spectrum, from entry-level to high-end models. The pre-war mid-market camera was the Ikonta / Super Ikonta line, using the #120 format. To cater to the growing post-war market, Zeiss introduced the 35mm format Contina line, probably a pet name after Ikonta, to build on the Ikonta’s fame. Note that other than the Contina line, Zeiss offered other models aimed at the same market segment. Although the Contina line was meant to be inexpensive, by no means was it of poor quality. It carried the years better than other German models of this class. I have six Continas on my bench; all click and buzz as if made last year, not sixty years ago.

The Contina was a mix of klapp and monoblock models, viewfinders and rangefinders, with or without meters. For good measure, a Continette was thrown in as well.

The Contina line lasted from 1951 till the last model of 1964. At about that time, Zeiss changed their naming convention from model number/film format to a decimal. For example, the Contina Ia 526/24 had become 10.0603. As such, you may find the exact model under a different catalogue number. I tried to clear it in the table below. More on the naming convention on the Ikonta page.

The first Contina was a viewfinder klapp, also sold as the Ikonta 35.
The Contina Ia, Ib and Ic were monoblock versions, similar to each other, but differed by lens and breastplate. Note that Zeiss referred to all of them as Contina Ia.
The Contina II of 1952 was a klapp style rangefinder, positioned as a step down to the Contessa. A second Contina II, a monoblock with a meter, followed in 1955.
Trying to keep costs down, the Contina IIa was a viewfinder with a similar lens board, a monoblock body, and a light meter.
A slightly cosmetically different model, with a pronounced eyebrow, is the Contina IIc, which I firmly believe is the Contina II Monoblock, but there are no supporting documents. I’m not sure if there is an IIb.
The monoblock models, Contina II Monoblock, IIa and IIc, are similar and can be confusing.
Contina III of 1958 was the last of the classic models. It had interchangeable lenses that were compatible with other Zeiss models.
In the early 1960s, Zeiss was about to throw the towel on the low market end and stay only with the high end. In 1962 came the Contina and Contina J, similar rangefinders. The Contina L and LK added coupled light meters.
The last Contina models were the Contina Matic models with coupled meters. The Matic III had interchangeable lenses. Aimed to compete with the budding but aggressive Japanese models and smaller German makers. I guess it couldn’t, so the line came to an end.
The Continette of 1960 belongs to this group, a simple, inexpensive viewfinder that saw one model only.
Zeiss provided a plethora of accessories for the Contina line, such as a microscope adapter, a stereo attachment and add-on lenses. Some show up for sale on eBay or specialized auctions.

Model		Cat #	Type	Lens		Speeds	meter

Contina I (Ikonta 35)	1951	522/24 10.0601	Viewfinder	Tessar Novar	2.8/45 3.5/45	1-500	No
Contina Ia	1956	526/24 10.0603	Viewfinder	Novicar Pantar	2.8/45	1-300	No
Contina Ib	1956	528/24	Viewfinder	Novicar Pantar	2.8/45	1-300	No
Contina Ic	1958	10.0603	Viewfinder	Pantar	2.8/45	1-300	No
Contina II Klapp	1952	524/24	Rangefinder	Tessar Novar	2.8/45 3.5/45	1-500	No
Contina II Monoblock	1955	524/24	Viewfinder	Tessar Novar	2.8/45 3.5/45	1-300	No
Contina IIc	1956	527/24	Viewfinder	Pentar	2.8/45	1-300	Covered
Contina IIa	1955	527/24	Viewfinder	Tessar Novar	2.8/45 3.5/45	1-300	Covered
Contina III	1958	529/24	Viewfinder	Pentar	2.8/45	1-300	Covered
Contina J	1964	10.0604	Rangefinder	Pentar	2.8/45	1-250	No
Contina L	1964	10.0605	Viewfinder	Pentar	2.8/45	1-250	No
Contina LK	1963	10.0637	Viewfinder	Pentar	2.8/45	1-300	No
Contina-matic II	1958	10.0613	Viewfinder	Pantar	2.8/45	1-300	Open
Contina-matic III	1959	10.0622	Viewfinder	Pantar	2.8/45	1-300	Open
Continette	1960	10.0625	Viewfinder	Lucinar	2.8/45	30-250	No
Contina III Microscope	1958		Niche