FS Various Contax CY Equipment

[gunteach]

Hello all!

I have the following items I would like to find a good home for. Prices listed below are my bottom line and do not include shipping. If you buy any two items, take $25.00 USD off the total of the two. I'm looking for a quick, hassle-free sale of these items before I go overseas on an extended trip in a few weeks.

U.S. shipping on any single item will be $10.00 USD, international $25.00 USD. I'll combine shipping on multiple items. Payment via Paypal for all items, other payment arrangements may be possible. E-mail me at gunteach2000@yahoo.com

C/Y Bodies:

Contax 139 Quartz, looks brand new, recent CLA and new light seals. I'm a bit rough on my cameras and this one is just too pretty for me to use and looks like it should be in someone's collection! Price is $125.00 USD to forum members. Tested with film, works fine.

Contax 167 MT, looks brand new, with original box and unused Contax leather strap. Still has original protective film on LCD and baseplate. Does not have original manual, but I can send a reprint along. Once again, this one is just too pretty for me. Price is $150.00 USD to forum members. Tested with film, works fine.

CZ Lenses:

Carl Zeiss 50mm f/1.7 Planar MM lens w/front and rear caps. Very nice shape, clear glass, no problems. $125 USD to forum members.

Carl Zeiss 28-85mm Vario-Sonnar f/3.4 Zoom, very clean, comes with Contax UV 82mm UV filter, Contax metal hood, and Contax metal lens cap. $425.00 USD to forum members.

Carl Zeiss 35-70mm Vario Sonnar f/3.4 Zoom, very clean, comes with Contax front and rear caps. $325.00 USD to forum members.

All items subject to prior sale.

Cheers!

 

[gunteach]

Sorry for posting this in the N system area, was not paying attention when I clicked!

 

[gunteach]

The Contax 167MT body has been sold to a forum member!

 

[nickser]

I'm not suprised Tom, youe're giving them away!

 

[gunteach]

Paul,

These seem to be the current U.S. auction site averages for the items, less a small discount for forum members. All of the prices represent what I paid for them, or slightly more, and all are things I have extras of.

I'm just trying to pass them along to someone here who will appreciate them and put them to use, and would rather see fellow members get them than the Philistines on Evil-bay! Besides, the upcoming arrival of our new baby demands all sorts of expenditures, so some of my toys have to go.

So, which of the items can I put you down for? I'll gladly allow you to pay more if it would make you feel better....Haha!

Take care,

Tom

 

[nickser]

Ho Ho Tom,

Unfortunately (for you!), I have my nice 139 and 50 which I think is a great camera/lens combo. Small and neat and perfectly formed. I do miss my 137 though.
I am at the other end of the 'kiddie scale' expense line, the university end, and have bought an N1 to go with the RX/AX/139/FX3 outfits. I think it's worth giving a whirl. I might even find an N Digital to go with it, scruffy or not for a sensible price, cosmetics are not important.

I'll keep an eye out for your future postings.

All the best for the future nights.

Paul

 

[gunteach]

Paul,

I just remembered that I have a few 137 bodies laying around here...two of them are 137 MA's with data backs and the other is a 137 MD that works fine, but is "cosmetically challenged" but I have a new leatherette kit on the way for it. Want one? LOL, they are really solid feeling cameras, aren't they?

My spare RX and RTS II bodies sold in minutes of them being posted, as did my spare 167MT and now, the more I look at that really cute 139, I'm inclined to keep it, but will leave it on offer for a bit longer and see what happens. I have another semi-scruffy 139 that works great, with a 45mm pancake on it that allows me to drop it in my vest pocket which I frequently do, so who needs two of them?

I find also that I have about 8 or 9 of the FX-3 bodies that I rehabilitated with all kinds of exotic leatherette kits when I was bored last winter. I was going to use them for work for my investigators, but they all seemed to want digital and got them at their own expense. What to do, what to do? Maybe I will change out the light seals when I am bored this time, even though I doubt after the baby arrives there will be that much free time.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[nickser]

Wow Tom,

You're a crazy guy! All those FX-3's. Didn't you know that film is dead? Long live Film!

There will be plenty of time during those sleepless nights to fix them up. Or you could be blessed with a silent night time baby last our 16 year girl, that in itself is worrying.

Paul

 

[gunteach]

The 139 Quartz body, the 50mm f/1.7 Planar, and the 35-70mm Vario-Sonnar have all been sold, to the same person no less! This gentleman said he got out of film, went digital, and didn't care for it and now wants to go back to film. He also switched from Nikon to Contax.

I told him he should join us here where his particular brand of insanity would find a home!

Okay, now to move this 28-85 zoom, or maybe not, lol.

 

[edwardkaraa]

Hehehe, the same thing happened to me. I moved from Contax to Canon digital, and then to Canon film, and now back to Contax.

 

[gunteach]

Edward,

I had lunch with my older brother on Monday, who initially got me into photography when I was a teen. We hadn't seen each other in years, and of course the talk turned to cameras and photos. He had been my "hero" in a way, always trying out different cameras, going to medium and then large format, the Ansel Adams seminars, etc. He sold me my first Contax cameras, which got this whole thing started for me.

Now at a very active 69 years old, he surprised me by pulling a Canon digital Rebel out of his bag, and telling me he had sold all of his other gear, and shot with this exclusively, along with a few lenses. He urged me to dump all of my film gear, get a DSLR and Photoshop since it was "the only way to go". I never thought I would hear that from him. He showed me a bunch of pictures that honestly, while properly exposed, were pretty mundane and nothing like I used to see from him in his prime. There were a pretty high number of "Photoshop Fakes" as well, pictures that had been merged, etc. I can remember watching this guy spend two hours on one shot, looking for just the right light..apparently no more. Just lots of glossy finished crap, albeit technically excellent crap.

I'm wondering something here, and maybe you can answer it for me from your experience. Is the DSLR really that much better, or just more convenient, or what is it, especially with reference to people who abandon a half-century of film and darkroom experience for a little plastic camera and a computer? If you can, tell me why you decided to come back to film? What was missing, if anything? I'm not trying to start a film vs. digital debate here, just asking someone who has been there and decided to come back.

 

[edwardkaraa]

Tom,

This is a very complicated and subjective matter.

I can tell you from my own experience that first of all, I noticed, as you did with your brother, that the standard of my photos went down with digital, not because of any fault with digital itself, but because of me. As you said, your brother used to wait 2 hours for the perfect light, but with digital you always tend to think you can add whatever effect needed in Photoshop later on. You also spend too much time looking at the LCD (chimping) while you should be looking in the viewfinder or at the scene you're photographing. Believing that digital is free makes you shoot a lot more but with less concentration on each individual shot. In 4 years of digital, I've rarely used a tripod, because it's so easy to boost the ISO with the click of a few buttons, while in my previous film experience, the tripod was essential for almost every shot. Now that I'm back to film, I still need to let go of this bad habit of not using a tripod.

From the technical side, and I've owned and used the 300D, 1Ds and 5D cameras, it was very difficult (for me) to get color and contrast effects similar to my favourite film, Fujichrome Velvia. When I boosted the contrast and color saturation to get a similar effect, the legendary smoothness of digital photos disappeared and you could see a lot of grain at 100%, much more than I get with scanning film at 4000DPI.

Also I was never happy with the feel of AF lenses. You have to keep on pushing buttons all the time and this experience was not satisfactory to me. I have always missed the silky smooth operation of my Zeiss manual focus lenses.

This is my personal experience, and I'm sure many people will disagree, and I don't think there is a universal truth, just whatever suits you better. I advise to borrow your brother's camera and try it for yourself and see if it suits your shooting style.

And if you decide to go digital, don't forget to post your Contax equipment here

Cheers, Edward

 

[fotografz]

I gotta kick in here and add my 2 cents.

Edward is right, it is a very subjective matter and there is no universal truth. It is also one where new skill sets need to be mastered that are different than the traditional ones.

Some people like it, and others don't. Some are naturally talented at computer post work, and others have talents that lie elsewhere. Some become bitten by the "digital bug" and seem to lose all the taste and skill they spent years accumulating (common)... and others move right into digital without losing anything (rarer).

Where I disagree with Edward, is the notion to sell your film gear if you go digital. DON"T do that. Keep your options open, remain elastic and keep focused on your photography first ... not the gear.

Photographers make the gear, gear doesn't make the photographer.

I also think it depends on what subjects you like to shoot, how many different areas of photography you are interested in, and how much time (and money) you spend making photographs.

I personally love both mediums (okay, maybe deep down I love little Freddy Film better than Danny Digital, but I don't play favorites with my children : -).

They are different from one another, not better than one another. IMO it is a terrific time to be doing photographic work, if you remain open to all that photography has to offer these days.

I guess that was more than 2 cents. But hey, this is digital communication, and we all know that's free ; -)

 

[gunteach]

Thanks for the 2 cents worth guys.

I don't think I'm in any danger of selling off all of my film gear and going digital. I do see where for some things having a DSLR could be convenient, but in handling my brother's camera this week, it just wasn't the same as the feel of a solid machine in my hands, turning the focusing ring on a well-crafted lens. That's not the fault of the digital medium because I know you can get that if you are willing to spend the money.

As I watched my brother take pictures in the parking lot, he did seem to be tied to his LCD a lot. He must have taken 20 or so pictures just of me at my car. When he got home, he e-mailed me some photos that he took of me and in looking at them, I noticed something strange. In the photos, I had hair in places on my head where it had not been in years. Closer inspection revealed that it had been digitally "added" since I had commented to him after looking at a shot on the LCD that the "old forehead was getting kind of high". I e-mailed him about it and he seemed quite proud of his ability to add things to photos or alter them with his computer.

Perhaps he now gets his enjoyment from that instead of crafting the picture in the camera as he is taking the shot. I think that whatever he finds to be fun, he should do, but it was just odd to see the change.

Marc, I'm still smiling here about your two "kids". What a great way to think of it.

Edward, I know you were only joking about me posting all of my gear here, but if the day comes that I ever do, you'll get first crack at it.

Cheers!

 

[dwa]

>Thanks Guys for the detailed insight It seems to confirm what I suspected all along With many non-full-time-pros, it was always about the gear.

It's just that with manual cameras thought was requred to avoid bad photos, so some excellent shots were made.

Now, no thought, no excellence.

Unfortunately, I've taken a bit too much advantage of these new digital wizz kids and have purchased a bit too much previously owned Contax gear. Yes, most was rarely used, then sold to buy digital (And no, I don't own a digital camera)

Will sell: RTS III 80-200 MM, 45 2.8 MM, 50 1.7 AE, 180 2.8 MM Also NX with 28-80

May sell: Aria, 35 2.8 MM also my spare N1 Body and 50 1.4 N

Keep S2 and N1 with select lenses

Comments?

Interest in buying: davidaustin@verizon.net

I'm in New Jersey, USA

 

[jsmisc]

Hi David,
How much do you want for the 45 pancake? Is it MM and what sort of condition is it in? Oh and do you post abroad - to UK?
Cheers,
John

 

[dwa]

>Hi John

It is like new minus or close to it. I have the leather case, both caps and probably the original box. I has sent to Europe before, so why not again?

It makes a great combo with the Aria or S2

I'm looking for $225 all included

Cheers

Dave

 

[jsmisc]

Hi David,

Thanks for that. I have to say that I am quite interested as I have always fancied the little pancake 45. I would attach it to my Aria or my FX3 Super to make a carry every where package. Could you confirm that is it the MM version?

The only problem is that UK customs may pick it up and I could get landed for VAT and Customs duties as has happened to me before when buying from America.

Cheers,
John

 

[dwa]

> Yes, it is MM Why not contact me directly at davidaustin@verizon.net so we can spare the others needless details

 

[jsmisc]

OK.
I will contact you off forum about the needed details