Contax II

[gjames52]

Lynn:

Sorry about that, but they did not even respond to my inquiry to repair my Lunasix or refer me to someone that can.

I do have a Seconic L508 that works very well, although it is about the size of my Contaflex I.

Greetings

Gilbert

 

[superwide]

You can find a great deal of information about the Contax III and IIIa lightmeters at my website: http://www.Zeisscamera.com. The problem with meter accuracy of the Contax III and the IIIa (post war model) cameras is usually due to deterioration of the original selenium photocell. The only effective repair is to replace the cell. The reason for this is that oxidation of the selenium layer causes an irreversible loss of output voltage from the cell in response to light. After a while the voltage is so low the meter cannot be mechanically adjusted to compensate. The maxiumum output of a new cell is 0.41 Volts and I find that most old cells I remove from Contax IIIa cameras have a maximum output of 0.18 Volts, which is far too little for the meter even to respond properly. The company in England that is currently manufacturing these cells is the last company in the world to make them, and it has anounced it is going to cease production of all selenium cells at the end of this month (3/2004). Soon they will be in very short supply. I also find that there are always other problems with these older meters such as oxidation of electrical contacts and oil intrusion from deteriorated camera lubriation grease. So restoration of a Contax III or IIIa meter to accurate reliable operation is never merely a matter of changing out the cell. Cleaning a meter's internals is very delicate work requiring watchmaker's skills and so its definitely not for everyone. In about half the cameras Zeiss made they soldered the cell electrically using a special low temperature solder. If one tries to solder in a cell using regular electrical solder the cell will be destroyed by overheating. It requires special equipment, materials and skills to do this work. I repair the light meter on the Contax III and IIIa cameras. I have brand new selenium photocells in stock for both of these camera models. I can perform all the cell replacement and other repairs necessary to completely restore the Contax III and IIIa meters to reliable accurate service. As far as I have been able to determine I am the only person offering this service.