This is further to Phil's post about the parallax problem he is experiencing with a Russian universal finder when using it on a 1957 KIEV III.
In the manual for the post-war Contameter, the close-up rangefinder is shown both on a Contax IIa and IIIa. From the text, it appears that parallax problems occur only with the taller meter housing of the Contax III. Here is the pertinent text from the manual (319/439; Stuttgart, August 1954):
“When the CONTAMETER is used with the former model of the CONTAX III camera, it has to be borne in mind, that the framing of the object inside the view-finder is about 1 cm (3/8 in) too high, that is, the upper part of the image will show 3/8 in too much of the object, whereas the lower part shows 3/8 in too little.â€
On the Russian KMZ (Krasnogorsk) universal finder I have, the drum with the finder lenses (2.8-3.5-5.0-13.5-8.5 cm) is on the rewind-knob side when mounted on the camera. There are two parallax correction setting for each of the shorter focal length lenses, and three correction settings for the 8.5cm and 13.5cm lenses. Above and below the field of view in the finder there are horizontal ruled lines, which, with some trial and error, could be used to provide additional parallax correction.
Kuc (On the Trail of the Contax, vol 2. Wittig Books, 2003) states that the KMZ finder is a copy of the pre-war Contax universal finder, but there is no illustration of the German version in his book. Croy (Das Contax Buch, Heering Verlag, 1956) does not even mention parallax.
In my opinion, the Russian finder is a well made and useful accessory, although it does not approach the quality of the post-war Zeiss 440 finder.
Tom