bought a contax ii on ebay

[pauld111]

I bought a Contax ii from Ebay, (a German seller). In his advert he said that it did work. When I received it, it seemed to work well except sometimes the shutter stopped midway. Then I put a film in it. This was when the trouble started. I took a whole roll of film as a test. When I got the roll out it had not reversed properly into the canister. But I thought nothing of it because it could have been my error and was a test roll anyway. But then when I tried to advance the shutter (with no film in it), it is basically stuck now. It wont release or if it does it is a soft release with no sound. I also cannot change the speeds. Should I able able to remedy this situation or do I now have an expensive paper weight. I don't know exactly where the problem arose, it's very frustrating. Any advise would be great. Thanks

 

[Robert Lai]

The shutter ribbons have snapped.
If the camera looks mint and is collectible, then contact Henry Scherer and wait in line for 7 years. Otherwise send it to Oleg in Russia. It will get Kiev parts but it will be fully functional in less than 1 month.

 

[xayraa33]

I bought a Contax ii from Ebay, (a German seller). In his advert he said that it did work. When I received it, it seemed to work well except sometimes the shutter stopped midway. Then I put a film in it. This was when the trouble started. I took a whole roll of film as a test. When I got the roll out it had not reversed properly into the canister. But I thought nothing of it because it could have been my error and was a test roll anyway. But then when I tried to advance the shutter (with no film in it), it is basically stuck now. It wont release or if it does it is a soft release with no sound. I also cannot change the speeds. Should I able able to remedy this situation or do I now have an expensive paper weight. I don't know exactly where the problem arose, it's very frustrating. Any advise would be great. Thanks

Do not force anything, contact the seller and see if you can return it for a refund.

In the worse situation you can always get it repaired, Oleg of OK vintage cameras would not be averse to fixing a Contax II, they are practically a Kiev II 😀 and his repair prices appear be be very reasonable.

A Contax II is a fine old camera that deserves another lease on life.

 

[Robert Lai]

The shutter not completely traveling smoothly was your clue that the ribbons are frayed and rubbing against the shutter crate.

Too bad that Carl Zeiss in the 1930s used silk for the ribbons and they only lasted 80 years.

 

[pauld111]

I was bidding for it 'as is' and no returns. Although he did specify was working. Anyway I took a risk. I will try find someone in the UK to look at it. I paid approx £170 for camera body and lens and case.

 

[Robert Lai]

Kievs were imported into the UK for many years.
You should be able to find a repair center with parts and experience.

 

[xayraa33]

I was bidding for it 'as is' and no returns. Although he did specify was working. Anyway I took a risk. I will try find someone in the UK to look at it. I paid approx £170 for camera body and lens and case.

BTW, which lens did the Contax come with ?

 

[pauld111]

Sonnar 50mm f2 collapsible

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

They never work. Well not for very long anyway, unless the ribbons have been replaced. This is not news. There’s abundant information about the subject at this site. Unless the camera is very rough it’s worth getting fixed. The lenses are superb and they use the finest quality rangefinder ever fitted to a 35mm camera.

 

[xayraa33]

Sonnar 50mm f2 collapsible

Nice usable optic and a very collectable lens.

Even with an Oleg repair added to the price, at 170 pounds sterling you did not do too bad if body and lens are clean.

 

[pauld111]

Yes, it is a pity.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I would check with eBay. Obviously seller even if German 🙂 did not checked camera, at the best fired shutter once. But then he decided to sit on two chairs. One is claiming camera as working another as is.
I do sell working cameras and no returns. But they are working and tested with film cameras.

And good luck with Oleg.

 

[Veggies]

You can return anything on eBay regardless of what the seller has in their listing.

 

[Robert Lai]

True
If you open a complaint on eBay they usually rule in favor of the buyer and authorize a return.

 

[pauld111]

I did a lot of research before I placed my bid and am pretty sure the body is at least genuine (ticks all the boxes). I sent an email to Ed at euro photo services based in Leicester. I will see if he is able to help me. I took a gamble when bidding on the camera. Sort of feel like keeping it and getting it serviced or if not possible keep it for the lens and find another camera body. I feel like giving the seller bad feedback or no feedback.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

This is a gray area IMHO. You said it seemed to work when you first tried it. I had a Contax with similar sequence. Seemed to work, then shutter didn't quite close. I think I made a mistake to exercise it further (often exercise helps with cameras) and shutter stuck completely.

Good part is they are fixable. CameraQuest, our bartender here, will fix it. I'm sure you can find people in the UK. And, once fixed, like my 2nd Contax, it's smooth as silk.

 

[Robert Lai]

I don't see a basis for giving negative feedback. It did work when you received it. Technically, you were the one that broke it.

 

[Jerevan]

While it was not the "deal of the century", with a bit of repairs you probably are going to come out good in the end, I think.

And concerning buying another, well, the second might end up being trouble in some other way. Don't ask me how I know... 😉

 

[Highway 61]

100% of the Contax II cameras still having their original shutter ribbons will fail after a few shutter actuations once they have arrived at the buyer's house. This must be known and can't be ignored. The seller didn't screw the buyer here.

There are reliable people who can replace the ribbons on an original Contax shutter without using Kiev parts and without taking seven years to do this.
Now the difficulty is to find those people out. Most of them are amateur repairers with very little time free. I'm one of them and I have successfully serviced several Contax II cameras for friends (and my own toy made in 1938, which I still have) in the early 2000s, when the hype for this camera was much stronger. Now I can't tackle any because it's quite time consuming if you want to perform a serious job so that the camera will get very clean and working for many years with no further trouble. Quite often there is more to do than just replacing the ribbons. Remember - those things were made eighty years ago.

Looks like there are now fewer and fewer pro repairmen interested at working on this beautiful camera - it's a pity but it's like this.

This is why buying a Contax II in 2018 without being able to perform the shutter ribbons replacement oneself as well as a deep cleaning of the camera innards (including solving some unexpected problems like RF parts having got uncemented or general shutter malfunction besides the dead ribbons issue) isn't a very good idea.

Caveat emptor.

 

[Dralowid]

Ed Trotska (spelling?) is great and very knowledgable. He will be able to sort it, he certainly knows his way around the Contax II.

(Indeed he knows enough about the Contax I to decline the opportunity of working on them!)