C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Zeiss Ikon Contessa is a folding 35mm camera introduced by Zeiss Ikon in West Germany in 1948, one of the first folding 35mm designs to incorporate a built-in exposure meter as standard equipment. The camera uses a Zeiss Tessar 45mm f/2.8 lens in a Synchro-Compur leaf shutter and a self-erecting bellows construction; folding the camera closes it to jacket-pocket size. The selenium meter reads via a window on the front face and operates without a battery.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Kodak UltraMax 400 is a versatile consumer-grade ISO 400 daylight-balanced color negative film with T-grain emulsion, delivering warm Kodak colors, fine-for-speed grain (PGI 46), and wide exposure latitude. Currently in production and available globally as a single-roll and multi-pack.
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About this camera
A postwar German folding 35mm camera with Tessar 45/2.8 and built-in selenium meter -- compact engineering from 1948.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm (24x36mm) |
| Lens | Zeiss Tessar 45mm f/2.8 (fixed) |
| Shutter | Synchro-Compur leaf: 1s - 1/500s + B |
| Meter | Selenium (no battery required) |
| Battery | None |
| Viewfinder | Optical direct with frame lines |
| Focus | Scale focus |
| Flash sync | PC socket |
| Years | ~1948 - mid-1950s |
The Contessa name has a long history in German camera manufacturing. The original Contessa-Nettel company was one of the five manufacturers merged by Carl Zeiss and AGFA in 1926 to form Zeiss Ikon AG. After the war, Zeiss Ikon resumed production in West Germany (Stuttgart), and the Contessa designation was applied to a new line of postwar folding 35mm cameras beginning in 1948.
The 1948 Contessa -- sometimes distinguished by the absence of a suffix letter, or referred to by collectors as the Contessa 35 -- was followed by revised variants in subsequent years. The Contessa LK and Contessa LKE are later variants with detail differences; the suffix letters refer to shutter and synchronisation specifications under German DIN conventions of the period.
The postwar period saw intense competition among West German manufacturers for the international camera market, particularly in North America. The Zeiss Ikon brand carried significant prestige, and the Contessa sold well in export markets on the strength of that reputation combined with the Tessar lens.
Production of the original Contessa line was eventually superseded as Zeiss Ikon rationalised its camera range. The Contessa name continued in other camera lines but the folding 35mm with selenium meter represents a specific and historically bounded product.
The Contessa is significant as an early example of a production camera designed from the outset with an integrated exposure meter -- at a time when most photographers still relied on separate handheld meters or experience-based exposure judgment. The selenium meter is passive (no battery), making it reliable for shooters today who appreciate a functional meter without battery dependency, provided the selenium cell has not degraded.
The Tessar 45/2.8 on the Contessa is a respected lens: sharp from f/4, with the characteristic Tessar contrast and rendering that Zeiss Ikon glass achieved consistently across its postwar folder range. The 45mm focal length on 35mm film is marginally wider than the standard 50mm, giving a slight wide-angle perspective useful for documentary and travel photography.
The camera represents the aesthetic and engineering approach of the immediate postwar West German camera industry: maximum precision within a compact, economical folding body. It is distinct from the SLR and rangefinder cameras that would dominate the subsequent decade.
C41
Kodak ColorPlus 200 is an affordable, consumer-oriented daylight-balanced color negative film at ISO 200. Known for warm, slightly muted color rendition, fine grain, and wide exposure latitude, it is currently in production and widely available in Asia and select global markets.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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