Contax S2b

[Guest]

(can't I write a S2b review as another thread?
It's pity, that people who come to see review
only read the one that complains the noise...)

I love my Contax S2b, including its shutter sound.
I don't know if the sound I hear and Peter hears
as "Guillotin noise" are the same or not.
At least mine, though it was "shock" for ther first
time to hear all mechanical shutter sound of S2b,
it doesn't take so much attention while I'm taking
photo with it in real life.

BTW, I think Kyocera didn't discontinued Distagon
25mm yet. Maybe some (or all?) shops in US may not
have any stock of it, as far as I know,
Kyocera Japan didn't announce it was discontinued.

and I love this Distagon 25mm, too.

muchan

 

[Guest]

Denial is the first stage. Eventually acceptance.

Muchan I like Contax gear too but the numbers don't add up.

Money talks and I know us loyal users do too but no one will listen when the final decisions are made.

Like I said I see it as no accident that Contax is following the trends of it's competition.

A major mistake in the long run!!!

How popular would Contax be if they became, in the near future, the sole maker of a fully manual slr of S2 caliber?

The only supplier of a great camera. Instead of the maker of same type of camera i.e. the N1 which either Nikon or Canon's autofocus runs circles around. They can't beat Canon's lenses or Nikon's AFS AF speed and they tie on the optical quality with Canon's L lenses.

The MF SLR route sounds very profitable to me.

But wall street tunnel vision shirts don't look ahead. Stockholders scream profits NOW!

Muchan if the noise is not offensive to you, great.

It is to me. Yet, the merits of camera forced me to see if I could correct what I 'personally' don't like about it. I can via Contax's Repeair Dept.

Like I said I hope the dealers I spoke with are misinformed but the 25 is vanishing and so are available bodies at BH. Look at BH's website and see for yourself. It is as good a store as any to get a gauge on what is happening overall.

Prove me wrong. I'd like you too! I like these gems too.

Take care.

 

[Guest]

Wat are you talking, Peter?

Simply, this page is a "review of S2/S2b", nothing
with the Contax strategy or AF or these thing,
and as one of S2/S2b users who love this camera,
I just say _it's_a_pity_ that your comment, that
you personally didn't like the sound, is at the
first and dominant in the page, for future readers
who would love S2/S2b as we S2 gangs do.

muchan

 

[Guest]

Very solidly built titanium body, relatively heavy than it looks, almost unbreakable and nicknamed as "hockey pack" by some owners, Contax S2/S2b is one of the ultimate SLR camera ever designed.

S2 is "silver" color titanium body with built in TTL spot meter, and S2b is black finished titanium body with built in TTL center-weighted meter, and that is the only difference of the two models.

Electronics is used only to support the built-in meter, it has fully mechanical shutter (1 sec to 1/4000 sec, or B) that operates without electric supply. For that reason, most of owners get this model as the solid back-up camera of Contax system. But there are also people (called "S2 gangs") who consider it as the main SLR camera for their photography.

With modern cameras, there are many many ways of metering and setting the exposure, but ultimately, everything about exposure can be reduced to "choosing the right aperture and right shutter speed". S2/S2b is for that kind of "reductionists".

For the Manual mode shooter, S2/S2b is the most user-friendly SLR from contax

since at the most convenient place to operate with right hand fingers, unlike rest of "electric shutter" SLRs with exposure compensation dial to set the "relative exposure" to the meter's suggestion, S2/S2b has the shutter speed dial, that sets the "absolute exposure" to shoot.

Inside the viewfinder, beside the image on the finder screen, you see nothing else but a LED to show the shutter speeds that built-in light meter suggests. You don't see even the aperture setting, but shooting with S2/S2b. With S2/S2b the aperture the lens is currently set, should be obvious in the photographer's mind.

I personally prefer using it even without batteries, that only thing I see there, is the "image" to be taken on the film.

The most of work while taking photo with S2/S2b is done by photographer's eye. In my case, finding the scene to take shot, meter the light with handheld meter, choosing the lens, setting the aperture and shutter speed ("Manual mode" is the only choice with S2/S2b) only then I put the viewfinder to my eye, thinking now only about the right framing and focusing, nothing but the image to be taken, at the peak of my concentration I hear the dry sound of the mechanical shutter.

I love my Contax S2b, and I am a proud member of S2 gangs.

muchan

 

[Guest]

Just bought myself an S2 today.

I was after a solid, reliable, manual camera that I could take mountain walking and I had opted for a Rollei 35S due to it's Ziess lens and compact size. Bought one, received it, wasn't impressed with the condition (especially for the money I paid) so I sent it back.

I then decided that the S2 wasn't that much bigger or heavier than the Rollei, and I really did want an SLR, not a compact, so I'd buy an S2.

Had a hunt around, found 5 or 6 for sale from £425 to £600. The one at £600 at a Zeiss specialist was listed as mint, but I found out that he'd had it for 12 months and couldn't shift it. I told him that it was too expensive, and talked him down to £400, including a 12 month warranty.

It arrived this morning in the original box. The camera is mint except for a tiny bit of leather on the rear 'film flap' which has bubbled at the edge slightly (I was told about that before buying).

I'm extreemly impressed by the build quality, it is superb. It's not a heavy camera, but it feels so solid, like you could use it as a small lump hammer (don't worry, I won't!!).

My shutter makes the 'guilotine' noise, but I like it, it sounds like it should make that noise. It doesn't sound dissimilar to my dads Contax, Yashica and Zenith SLR's, so I don't have a problem with it. Maybe it'll startle a grizzly bear one day and I'll get eaten, but at least the camera is tough enough to survive

I got the box, but alas, no manual... not that one is needed, the camera is pretty simple to use, although the original manual would be nice to 'complete the set'. I've downloaded the pdf one off this site (thanks) to be going on with.

All I'm missing now is a lens... The first lens for me has to be the 50mm f1.4 Planar MM, there seem to be a few mint ones around for £180.

The second lens will be a little more tricky to choose, 21mm/f2.8, 25mm/f2.8 or 28mm/f2.8, decisions decisions.....

It's a shame some of these lenses cost as much as a small car!!

Best Regards,
Jon

 

[Guest]

If you don't need the faster lenses, I would also consider the Tessar 45mm 2.8. Very compact and I think by most accounts a wonderful lens. I would be interested in what others think of this lens.

 

[Guest]

What about mirror-vibration with S2/S2B-is it a Problem ????

I currently own Yashica FX-3 2000 Super which has unacceptable mirror shake ruining many pics shot handheld even at 1/125 sec.

Is S2 better in this cas ????

Reinhard

 

[Guest]

Can someone explain the batteries needed for the S2?

 

[Guest]

S2 needs 2 pieces 1,5V LR 44 or 2 pieces 1,55V SR 44 . Do not mix both types. Vini

 

[Guest]

Seems like I remember, some years back, when the Canon AE-1 shutter made a squeeking noise, and many of them did develop this noise, that there was problem with it. Are these shutters manufactured by Seiko or other shutter specific manufacturers?