Contax D SLR. The first 35mm SLR with an Integral Eyelevel Pentaprism Viewing.

The first M42 mount camera…well not. The second maybe since this is the second model of the Contax SLR. This is the Contax D, and the first was the Contax S. Both are virtually similar models with the exception of the placement of the flash synch and other details. The S was from 1949. This one is 1950 or 1951.

The Contax SLR was made by Carl Zeiss Jena, and was the first SLR which incorporated (fixed on the body) the pentaprism for eyelevel viewing. 35mm SLRs have been around, starting with the Exakta, for about 15 years when the Contax was introduced, but it was only at this time that the eyelevel finder became an integral part. The eylevel viewfinder made SLRs even more popular, and this Contax put the 35mm SLR one step closer to domination. The Contax SLR used the M42 screw mount first devised by KW. Contax then became Pentacon (Pentaprism Contax) after a trademark dispute with  Carl Zeiss West. This camera can still be used today with any M42 lens with manual, preset or manual-switch diaphragm lenses.

The M42 screw mount was considered at one time as the ‘universal lens mount”- many camera makers used this mount fro their cameras and their lenses. The only drawback which this system used is its limited abilities to lend itself to more automation.

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