Kiev III 1948 pre-series

extremely rare early Kiev in very good condition, no.B61584 engraved on the chassis, with Contax back (matching no.B61584 engraving), note also the interesting modified rewind crank, with matching Sonnar-Krasnogorsk 2/5cm T no.001110 (good lenses). While a first relocation of the Contax production line from Zeiss Ikon Dresden to Kiev in 1945 was a failure, two other production lines made by Carl Zeiss Jena were probably relocated to Kiev successfully in 1947. It seems that the 'Kiev', as it was called now, was a mixture of „Jena“ and „Dresden“ shaped parts from the start, as it can be seen in this example. Some parts of this camera are shaped just like Dresden parts, (for example the focusing scales and the frame counter), while other important parts are shaped like „Jena“ parts. In later 1948 and 1949 the „Jena“ parts were gradually omitted during production in favour of „Dresden“ shaped parts. All in all this camera is an interesting document of the Kiev history in beautiful condition. According to some sources only two of these cameras are known - an unique opportunity for Zeiss and Kiev collectors!