Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/02/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Sun, 9 Feb 1997 gmrobinson@mmm.com wrote: > When I was growing up during the 50's, the two top 35 mm cameras were Leica > and Contax with Retina somewhat behind them. During the early 60's Carl > Zeiss gave up the race against Leitz and was soon followed by Kodak. I > have used a Leica M3 most of my photography life and consider this camera > close to perfection. I have never used the other two cameras, except for > examining them, and would appreciate opinions about their features and how > their bodies and lens compare with the Leica M cameras > > Different. According the the late Bob Schwalberg, who used them all, Contax Zeiss rangefinder lenses were higher in contrast than Leica lenses. The Retina, he felt, was under-rated. He especially noted the inside belows which trapped extraneous light and helped the Schneider (and some Kodak Ektar) lenses improve their contrast and apparant sharpness. He particularly liked the Retina IIc, which has a superb 50mm f/2.8 Schneider Xenon (as opposed to the 50mm f/2.8 Schneider Xenar). I recently bought one one these Retinas in superb shape. It's a wonderful image maker. Ed Meyers