Contax TVS?

[szekiat]

Hi, i've seen a TVS listed locally and was wondering what people felt about it in terms of picture quality. I currently shoot most of my film work with a 28 ultron and 40 cron for most of my street work and would love to have a quality compact that can cover that range when i'm traveling. How does the TVS compare wide open in terms of sharpness and contrast and how much should i be offering for a camera of this vintage? I've looked at flickr but most of the examples have no aperture info.

Thanks in advance guys!

PS: Looking at a TVS and not the TVS II or TVS III.

 

[Monte920]

I don't think you need to worry about the optic quality of any of the Contax compacts. I have four Contax compacts: T2, T3, TVS, TVS III. Although I never did side-by-side comparisons, my general impressions are that the sharpness is all very excellent, including the zooms. Zoom compacts have the disadvantage of smaller apertures, so the bokeh may not be as impressive as the T2 or T3. But all other aspects including sharpness, color and distortion are really under great control. TVS II essential has the same lens as TVS, but with improved viewfinder. TVS III is a complete different design. Its lens is not as wide, and not as bright (smaller apertures), but it is the sharpest and most contrasty among three generations of TVS.
Following is one of the examples of TVS (at 56mm, set at P mode)

 

[Monte920]

BTW, TVS is quite a bargain nowadays. You should be able to pick up an excellent one on eBay for just a little bit over $200.