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Zeiss Ikon built the Contarex from 1959 until it stopped making cameras in 1972, a system of formidable complexity whose lenses are still spoken of as among the best made for 35mm, with flat fields and finely graded tone. The Distagon 18mm f/4 is the extreme wide-angle of that range, an inverted telephoto by necessity so that it clears the reflex mirror. The Contarex was expensive and short-lived, and the wide-angle lenses of the system are among those seen least often today.