Contax II and III film loading tips.

The Contax II has some quirks but it’s pretty easy to load film into it. Certainly easier than the original instructions lead you to believe.*

Here’s how I load mine :

Start with the camera laying face down, with the back removed and the shutter not cocked.
Slip the film leader through the narrow slot in the film spool, give it a twist so that there’s a bit of film wound on it.
Slide the film and the spool together in one movement into their respective compartments.
Make sure that the sprocket holes line with the sprocket teeth. (You can twist the film spool a bit if needed to adjust.)
Slide the back on and lock it in place.
Use the rewind knob to snug up the film just a bit.
Turn the film advance knob and fire off two blank exposures. (The rewind knob will turn when advancing.)
Set the manual film counter to zero.

All done and ready to shoot.

*You can ignore the nonsense about the red dot on the shutter release button. It’s practical use is to lock the shutter open in conjunction with “B” for long exposures.

BTW, when changing shutter speeds, it’s best to do so with a cocked shutter. Doing this will give you a better engagement and a much better idea of which speed you’re actually selecting. (That’s because of the unique Contax design which is completely unlike any modern shutter. Not only does the wind knob turns, but the selector ring below it turns as well, making shutter speed engagement in the uncocked state rather vague unless you’re very familiar with it.) I’ve written and posted some articles about the Contax which you can find on our website. Here’s a link to one that mentions the shutter specifically:

https://www.petrakla.com/pages/the-pre-war-contax-ii-review-1

Here’s a free online instruction manual. It’s not our site but it has some very useful information.

https://www.cameramanuals.org/zeiss_ikon/zeiss_ikon_contax_ii.pdf

I hope this helps

Greetings

Peter