Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/12/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 05:23 PM 12/17/2008, Lluis Ripoll wrote: >Hi Marc, > >It is not a secret, the PENTACON is the model F, S/N 186012 the lens >is marked JENA S/N 5505038. Here you can see the camera: Thanks, Luis The camera was in production between 1956 and 1960 but I cannot find a more precise breakdown by serial number. The camera was also marketed in some parts of the world as the Contax F. The F cost 643DM in 1956 and this had fallen to 499DM as the model was phased out. But I am not certain WHICH DM this would be; it might be the DDR Mark or the BRD Mark, the former generally running about 70% of the value of the BRD Mark for most of the era. If this is in the "four to the dollar" BRD Mark, then these prices, adjusted for inflation, would be around $1200 in 1956 at today's values and $870 by 1966. If these values are in the East German Mark, then these values would be reduced by 30%. I own a Contax D, a Hexacon-rebadged ContaSol -- VEB Zeiss Ikon was not permitted to use Zeiss intellectual properties in the US at the time -- which I occasionally use. These cameras are remarkably complex as only a German industrial production can be, and, to add insult to injury, they were produced on machinery appallingly worn out by Wartime over-use. But it is a fun camera to use, despite Peter Dechert's warnings about it's reliability. The 2/58 CZJ Biotar is more interesting. The factory records show a gap between 5504092 and 5506001, and your lens indicates that at least some of the production in this 1900-lens void consisted of the 2/58 Biotar in M42. Industrial archaeology and reconstruction of lost records continues! The production date was possibly in the summer of 1958. Marc msmall@aya.yale.edu Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir!