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Contax s2 serviceI need your input

roberto1

Well-Known Member
Hi all,
As my old faithful S2 has to be sent for a service I would really appreciate your input and experiences with the following two services I have found.
Last time it was serviced in Spain and quality was awful.

The camera itself is in tip top condition. The only thing needed is the mirror being adjusted as full-aperture shots come out of focus (and the same lens used in my Aria gives razor-sharp shots, even taken the same moment from the same location).

The selected services are
1.- Foto Huppert in Wuppertal (Germany). They seem really competent. I have never talked to them but have bought some item from their shop. They really ship fast and provid a great service.

2.- Alpha Digital Services Limited in Reading (UK). I called them today and told me they are a small business and seem good, honest people that make a good work.

If any of you have used some of these services, I would appreciate sincerely your input about repair quality, turnaround time, hour rates, price, shipment quality, as sending my beloved S2 by mail just makes me shiver.

Thank you in advance
Regards,
Robert
 
Hi Robert,
Michael HUPPERT is THE contax dealer in Germany, although I am not sure if they repair stuff themselves.

a third choice:
(a former Kyocera/ contax/yashica Germany employee)

Mr Werner MAHLER
Camera Service
Im Westerfeld 21
DE-21395 Tespe (near Hamburg)
Germany
phone: +49-4176-912127
fax: +49-4176-912129

He could repair the shutter blades of my 159MM (!!)
 
Besides, isn't a Contax S2 just a simple Yashica FX-3 Super 2000 body?

fourth choice (for Switzerland):

Contax/Yashica Reparaturservice in der Schweiz ist:
K.A. Jäger AG, Kamera-/ Video-Reparaturen
Oberebenestrasse 67,
CH-5620 Bremgarten/AG,
Switzerland
Tel. +41-(0)56 641 21 44

Hope that helps, rainer
 
"I used KEH in the USA last year to replace the foam d&ing material in the mirror box of an RTSII as well as to perform general servicing. They did an excellent job with a turn-around-time of 3 days. I believe that the charge was $165USD. Below is the contact information.

Mailing Address: KEH Camera Brokers 2310 Marietta Blvd., NW Atlanta, Ga 30318

Phone: (404) 892-5522 24 Hour Fax: (404) 892-1251 Email: service@KEH.com

Regards, Bill"
 
Hi all, Thank you very much for the good input. Living in Europe the USA-bound service as Tocad ore KEH are great (I ordered some parts from Tocad), but then customs screwed me up (and a camera is a big. bulky thing, and I would be billed again) I just phoned to Camera Service near Hamburg and told me they can't repair the S2, they only do electronic contaxes, as the 167, Aria, Rx, RTS, 159MM and so on. He told me to send my S2 to Foto Huppert (who don't repair, either) or go directly to Tritec GMBH. I just called them and were very helpful. Today I'll prepare the parcel and send it right tomorrow. Then, which camera to use in the meantime? My Aria? another of my backup S2? A Nikon FM·3a? Or a Leica R7? Difficult decision, though...

Regards and thanks again, Robert
 
Well, my S2 is being held at the repair shop waiting for some parts to arive. Quotation was 220 euro (not bad for a 13 year old camera).
Now I'm using a Nikon FM3a in its place. Works great but does not have the same feeling on my hands.I mean, maybe the shutter is smoother, but film transport isn't, and I miss the titanium covers and the leatherette feel. These light aluminum or bronze covers and pvc-like camera covers just don't feel right.

After seeing pictures taken with the FM3a I realize in which a bad shape the mirror mechanism in my S2 was. I mean, it was all right but needed adjustment, as pictures were not sharp and it was impossible to photograph at full aperture. Trying the same lens in two cameras and pointing at the same subject, the "bad" S2 gave an error of half a meter in 3 meters distance! At first I thought it was the lens (tamron 59A 28-70 zoom and Planar 50/1,4). The planar was overhauled at Zeiss headquarters, and the Tamron was fitted in the FM3a. Sharpest images in a long long time.

Hope my S2 is back very soon and hope to say that too.

Regards to all.
Robert
 
Well,
My beloved S2 arrived yesterday from Tritec Headquarters in Germany. Superb work! The mirror was finally in its right place and the lightmeter was minutely calibrated. I ckecked it against my Aria and my RXII. The test lens was a Yashica 50 1.4 (my planars 50 1.4 and 1.7) were in other place, and the distance scale in the lens was just the same in the 2 cameras when pointing at the same subject.Gone were the 0,5 metre differences and the unsharp pictures!

Cost was not cheap (about 220 euro), but it's the second repair I do in 13 years, not bad for a non-resting camera.
What I did not know is how prone are S2 to suffer from mirror misalignment. Even the picture appears sharp in the viewfinder, the image won't be.

Even the S2 is a superb camera to use, in my opinion, if the environment isn't to hostile and you have spare batteries or access to them, the travel camera is the Aria.

Thanks all for your valuable input!

Regards
Robert
 
Hi Robert,

Glad you got it back all sorted. it does sound nice. I once had an S2.

It must have been very frustrating for pictures to look as though they would be fine only to find that they were out of focus.

I like the Aria too. I think it is a very a handy camera. Surprisingly, I also really like my FX3 super which has the same sort of pleasurable "simplicity" as the S2.

Long may your S2 keep on going.

John
 
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