Tenax II

1938

Zeiss-Ikon A. G.

Dresden

Germany

Lens:

f2.8, 4 cm Zeiss Tessar, iris diaphragm to f22. Removable bayonet mount lens. Serial no. 2384013 (1938).

Shutter:

Compur Rapid, speeds 1 - 1/400, B. Delayed action.

Construction:

Leather covered metal body.

Format:

50, 24 x 24 mm exposures on 35 mm cine film held in standard cassettes.

Focusing:

To 1 metre.

Attributes:

Coupled rotating wedge rangefinder.
Film advance and shutter tensioned by single lever action, shutter release linked to film advance.
Depth-of-field scale.

Serial Number:

H75793 (c. 1937) .

With:

f4, 7.5 cm Sonnar, iris diaphragm to f22. Helical focusing to 1.5 metre. Depth-of-field scale. Marked MF796 on rear of mount. Serial no. 2359322.
Filters, 37 mm push-on mount: Pale yellow, in case; Bernotar polarizing filter.
Lens cap. Lens hood. Ever-ready case.
Ikophot exposure meter, early model. In case.

The Tenax II was Zeiss-Ikon's entry into the field of rapid exposure cameras. It was preceded by the Robot of 1934, with a clock work motor for advancing the film. Leitz had introduced a rapid wind base to attach to existing Leica cameras in 1935 and added a motor drive attachment in 1938. Advertisements emphasised its use in action and sequence photography and claimed that rates of 1 exposure per second could be achieved. The standard lenses were an f2.8 4 cm Tessar and f2 4 cm Sonnar. An f4 7.5 cm Sonnar long-focus and f4.5 27 mm Orthometer were produced but sold in very few numbers.

The telephoto lens carries the Kriegsmarine number MF796.

Accessories

f4.5 27 mm Orthometer. Code ILUDS.
f4 7.5 cm Sonnar. Code ILTUC.
Mask finder. Code 580/7.
Wide-angle finder for 27 mm lens. Code 432/6, ILXEC.
Rigid Albada finder for 7.5 cm Sonnar. Code 433/17, ILWVF.
Prism waist-level finder for standard lens. Code 436/9, ILXAB.
Eye sight compensating lens. Code 580/44.
Contameter. Code 1339, ILXOF.
Lens Hood for standard lens. Code 1283/16, ILWOD.
Lens Hood for 7.5 cm Sonnar. Code 1281/8.
Ever-ready case. Code 1717/27, ILWIC.

Code Names:

ILTAX - camera with f2.8 lens. ILTUC - Sonnar. 351/2 - Yellow filter. 7116 - Bernotar.

References & Notes:

BJA 1939, p. 558. ZI Cat. "If only I had my Camera", p. 22. Contax Photography (1939) 4th ed., p. 32.

Early Photography