This is roughly equivalent to $3478.00 in today's dollars. The Zeiss Ikon Price List of lists the retail price of a Contax IIa Black Dial with the f1.5 50mm Sonnar lens to be $318.00. A completely overhauled 50 year old camera is a reliable camera and a partially repaired one is an unreliable camera. There's no point in taking a camera on an expensive vacation when it is ready to present another problem at any time. The only good cameras is a reliable camera. It is more economical to just solve them all at one time and save you shipping and wait time. Once one problem crops up you can anticipate that more will follow. It is not economical to solve problems piecemeal with a 50 year old camera. You will note that I do not offer partial repair services. Inside they were dirty, corroded, and with parts coated with sticky deteriorated 50 year old lubricant. I have overhauled a number of cameras which were supposedly 'CLA'd' or 'Serviced' by large shops and have discovered when these cameras were opened that nothing had been done inside them to change their status.

To put it simply, these people have been robbed. Then they send it back, only to receive it again after a wait of some months, only to find it doesn't act any differently again.

Many people shop for repairs by price only to find out that when the camera is returned, sometimes after a wait of two to three months, it doesn't act any differently. People find out these old cameras, while being exceedingly beautiful, are practically unreliable due to their age, and look for a source of repairs. Contax IIa and IIIa cameras have become very popular in recent years. There are some things in life where it just doesn't pay to shop by price.

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