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This chassis is also used, in heavily reworked form, as the basis for the recent Rollei 35RF, Zeiss Ikon and Cosina's own Voigtländer branded Bessa R series of 35 mm film rangefinder (RF) cameras as well as the unique Epson R-D1 digital rangefinder camera in magnesium alloy.
The first Biogon (2.8 / 3.5 cm, unbalanced) was created in 1935 by Ludwig Bertele, then referenced by designer Zeiss Ikon Dresden, the Contax created as a modification of the then Sonnar. It was developed by Carl Zeiss in approximately 1949 and manufactured in Jena, then a redesign in Oberkochen. In 1951 a new Biogon with a 90 ° angle (Super Wide Angle) was also designed by Ludwig Bertele for Carl Zeiss, which opened the way to extreme wide angle lenses.
The name "Pentax" was originally a registered trademark of the East German VEB Zeiss Ikon (from "Pentaprism" and "Contax") but, as all Germans patents were annulled with the country's defeat, the name "Pentax" was taken by the Asahi Optical company in 1957.