Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/03/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 09:44 PM 3/24/97 -0400, Paul wrote: >>From what I've read, the reson for the Contax shutter's complex design >was that Leitz patents limited the available options that the Zeiss Ikon >designers had. No, this simply isn't true. The Leica patents dealt with the RF and not with the shutter assembly, which was not that unique a design -- many Zeiss Ikon cameras had quite similar FP shutters. What motivated Zeiss Ikon in the design of the Contax, as Jason Schneider smugly put it, "was pride. After all, how could the mighty firm of Zeiss Ikon, the largest and most respected camera producers in Germany, with an ancient and noble heritage, allow these upstart microscoep makers from Wetzlar to tell them, even by sucessful example, how to design a 35mm camera? They would do it themselves, the right way, from scratch!" This theory rings true. If Leica used a horizontal, cloth shutter, then by gum, Zeiss Ikon would use a vertical, metal shutter! Marc Marc James Small Cha Robh Bas Fir, Gun Ghras Fir! FAX: +540/343-7315