Contax IIa vs Leica IIIa as P&S for street.

Thanks for the replies folks. Not too worried about uncoated lenses especially with B&W. Have had a lot fun in the past shooting a Zeiss Ikon Nettar with B&W film with zero issues.
At the moment, tempted by the Contax as it appears in nicer condition and comes with a six month guarantee. Need to speak to the retailer about if first and then search to see if there's anyone in the UK who services them first though...

Archlich said:
A Canon P is much easier to use , much cheaper and still very nicely built.
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Funnily enough, a Canon P is also an option, with a Canon 50mm f1.8. It's about the same price as the Contax IIa and Leica IIIa though.
 
In one form or another the Leica/Contax debate has been going on since the 1930s. Warms the heart to see it revived.

From my perspective the Contax is a fabulous camera but the Leica seems to have the knobs and buttons in the right places.
 
No prewar rangefinder is better built and faster to use than a Leica III with a SBOOI (for 50mm) or SBLOO (for 35mm) mounted. The Leica III is the strongest, but also smoothest and best built camera there is and is a much more practical camera than a Contax. And as a bonus it is by far the cheapest Leica in black paint too.

Compared to a Leica III a Leica IIIc is a toy. It is as if you compare a Land Rover with a 2CV.

I have two of them: one I got for free and the other was EUR 165 if I remember well.

Erik.


40049588501_b2a1372e0f_c.jpg
 
Traditional RFF Digression...

Traditional RFF Digression...

Yes, there's a lot going for the 2CV; comfortable seats, fuel economy (56mpg), road holding even in snow and ice, cheap to run and practical. And you get a starting handle...

Regards, David
 
My choice, though I love my Leica M's is a SLR., usually no meter,
Most older are all mechanical (Except Canon A series but very reliable).
Purchased nice condition Pentax Spotmatics, KM, Nikkormat(mint),
Nikon F; Were all priced from $10~~$80 (Nikon-f with 50mm f2.0.
I love my Canon Ae-1p (free), the Av-1 and lenses were easy..50mm came with body and 28mm Canon purchased for $40.

The LTM Leica are a pain to load unless you really research..
A Business card helps in loading!
Using fall-off added viewfinders not my idea of fun!
The Contax and Kiev worry is servicing..

Street photography has NO rules!
The 50mm (my personal favorite) but love using longer or wider..
 
I have made a purchase !

The Contax was perhaps the romantic choice, but in the end practicality won out and I've purchased the Canon P. Looking forward to it arriving !

leicapixie said:
Street photography has NO rules!
The 50mm (my personal favorite) but love using longer or wider..
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Same, 50mm works well for me. Always end up having to crop 28mm photos as I'm not close enough ;)
 
The Canon P is a good choice - light compared to an M3 too. I was just looking through my black Leica II, sitting in my dim office. You can't find the rangefinder patch until you move the focus back and forth several times and spot it. then you have to move your eye to the tiny, pinhole viewer. Extremely slow and cumbersome. Sure, they used them for street and action shots in the 1930s, but they had lots of practice. The Canon P with it's huge viewfinder and lever wind will be better.
 
leicapixie said:
My choice, though I love my Leica M's is a SLR., usually no meter,
Most older are all mechanical (Except Canon A series but very reliable).
Purchased nice condition Pentax Spotmatics, KM, Nikkormat(mint),
Nikon F; Were all priced from $10~~$80 (Nikon-f with 50mm f2.0.
I love my Canon Ae-1p (free), the Av-1 and lenses were easy..50mm came with body and 28mm Canon purchased for $40.

The LTM Leica are a pain to load unless you really research..
A Business card helps in loading!
Using fall-off added viewfinders not my idea of fun!
The Contax and Kiev worry is servicing..

Street photography has NO rules!
The 50mm (my personal favorite) but love using longer or wider..
Click to expand...

Everything works for street, indeed. With my EOS 300 and 16-35 f2.8 lens I see zero reason in mechanical cameras. They are as fetish as Leica is :).
I purchased classic, original 50 1.8 EF to match it with EOS 300.
And all metal tele zoom lens to match Nikormat :).

As for loading, no card or else is need if Leica, Zorki was assembled properly after CLA and film is cut as it must. If both factors are present, then cassette, spool and film on them just slides in, without dancing with bells and whistles. And it advances film smooth and no issues by very first frame.

IMO. 50 mm is very limiting if you are open to catch everything which happens just in front of you. It is focal lengh for something in the distance and doesn't really moving. Maybe it worked in HCB time with much less population and life been slow, but to me GW has proved it. His earlier photography is with 50mm, but only.
I mean, I'm not too shy person on the street and with 50mm I just can't frame all I need in the frame and been close.
It took me years, but with 16-35 2.8 EF AF zoom I was able to get what they are saying about taking it as close as people thinking it is not picture of them been taken. IMO.

:)
 
Ko.Fe. said:
Everything works for street, indeed. With my EOS 300 and 16-35 f2.8 lens I see zero reason in mechanical cameras. They are as fetish as Leica is :).
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Yeah absolutely. I mostly shoot with Nikon F4 or F801, matrix meter, program mode, auto focus. Never misses a beat.

Sometimes though it's just nice to try something else ;)

Re 50mm vs 28/35mm. I've not really had any issues fitting everything into the frame - it's just how far you stand off from your subject
 
The IIa is the smoothest mechanical camera I've ever used. Its a pity that it is so hard to service but its a real jewel. Wish it had a larger vieefinder.
 
santino said:
The IIa is the smoothest mechanical camera I've ever used. Its a pity that it is so hard to service but its a real jewel. Wish it had a larger vieefinder.
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For street purposes zone focusing and either an optical viewfinder or sports finder should suffice.
 
The Canon P turned up today and fired a few frames off with it a lunch. Viewfinder is excellent, nice bright frame lines and patch works a treat.
Slow speeds are draggy, 1sec kind of just hangs until your move the shutter speed dial. Will probably need a service, but not too bothered about the slower speeds at the moment.

On the whole, quite impressed with the P. Also came with a Canon yellow filter as a bonus.

On a side note, shooting today is starting to confirm my opinion that Sunny 16 should be Sunny 11 (at least) in the UK. Heavy overcast today and I was metering 1600ISO at f5.6 1/500s
 
HCB used 50mm for earlier work..
Refer article by Ernst Haas, HCB used the 35mm as much as 50mm.
See HCB's Japan portfolio, many shots only possible with a 35mm..

I respect using electronic cameras, enjoying my Canon Ae-1, Ae-1P, Av-1.
The only possible problem is servicing.. my Canons and EOS are OK.
I have an almost for nothing cost EOS SLR that I will soon run a roll thru..
Battery costs C$40.00 so use before dead!

The use of early Leica is the different look of images.
A beautiful softness, low contrast that most pleasing to my eye..
A friend cut his leader with a "guide" and even so in a rainy "Santa Claus"
Parade, it took him 40mins to reload!
I would have kicked camera into street..anger non-management.

Truthfully any film camera can be used except really noisy units..
In the noise of modern cities, traffic, building, demolition and even rioting, even noisemakers like Bronica, Hasselblad and Mamiya RB67 can be safely used..
Load film, enjoy, shoot..
 
you might take a look at a IIIb..retains the tiny size of the IIIa and has the all in one finder of the later IIIc add a Summitar, (huge improvement on a Summar!) and you have one terrific street shooter!
 
I've always found focusing with a Barnak or any focusing camera a real slowing down of the process. So recently with a SLR I put on my 28mm @ f 8 and set to 10 feet. The DOF gauge said a little less than 5 ft to infinity. Pre-select a shutter speed, now just view and shoot. How much nicer it would be with a 28mm on my IIIf.
 
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