This is a wonderful 35mm folding camera from the early 50s. In this video I troubleshoot and repair the light meter as well as clean up the viewfinder optics.
I just bought a ratty Contessa 35 today, for the equivalent of about $62. I didn't need one, it just came up, and I know they were really well made, if not that well-designed. Zeiss Ikons in general (I have two Contax IIa's and a Nettar) are ridiculously complex and delicate compared to Leicas, and not very user-friendly. The Contessa I got has no slow speeds, lens full of fungus, viewfinder dim, film transport sticky, etc., but I knew that. I bought it to repair, for fun. The meter is showing no response to light, of course. I was so glad to find this video to see that there is a possibility of reviving it. In particular, I really admire your light touch, and calm and methodical approach in solving the problems that came up. That's my main takeaway. Great video. I'm a fan.
The Contessa 35 was the first camera I ever owned, given to by my father when I was ~8 years old. It was lost in a move years ago and I've spent the past several years searching for one to replace it and add it to my camera collection. I had the original version ('50-'53 manufacture) which had the cable release at the 7:00 position and the film seed rated in DIN as opposed to ASA, which is what I had originally. A few weeks ago, I finally found one on ebay in near mint condition, with a working light meter for $100. I'm currently running my first roll of TriX 400 through it. Cant wait to develop it! The Contessa 35 was, like you said, over-engineered and an extremely well built camera. Thanks for making this video, I found it very interesting, but I'm glad that I don't have to do it to mine :).
I have a 1990 hi-speed 8 track cassette that been making a racket as of late. (Load racing motor ). So I'll think of what HACKAWEEK would do.. and I'll do that. thanks for what you do my friend~
These camera videos are pretty cool. My brother had a dark room back in the day and we dabbled with B/W on a enlarger. He had a Browning I think or whatever the duel lens box type cameras. I think it shot 120 maybe. Hard to remember what everything was back then. Iv always thought it would be fun to mess with that stuff again. Great video. Love your electronics videos to. Hope to see more.
Dear Sir, by following your video instructions, I brought the light meter of my Zeiss Ikon Contessa 35 camera back to life. Thank you very much for your sharing. But with the light meter lid closed, it is still basically no reaction in any light condition. The light meter will only work if the lid is open. To get the right results, I also need to lower the DIN/ASA setting by one stop and read the green value. According to the official manual, the lid needs to be closed for metering under strong light, and lid metering needs to be open only when the light is poor. I was wondering if there is a way to adjust the sensitivity of the light meter? Thanks!
