Damadged Contax II - worth ofd buying ?

bolas

bolas

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Hello everyone,

Could anyone help me with opinion ? I have oportunity to buy pre-war Contax II with Sonnar 1:2 f=5cm Carl Zeiss Jena. It is damadged - seller says that shutter is blocked and the lens are in bad condition (a bit dull). He is selling it as a camera for collectors ...

Price is not quuite expensive - about 110-130 USD. Is it worth to buying ? I mean is it possible to fix it cheap ?

I mean this shutter ... it shouldn't be a problem ... I have a man who is great with Kievs - so maybe he could handle Contax as well ? What about those dulled lens ? Is it possible to fix it somehow ? I am interested in renovation of this camera and further normal usage. Curently i am using Kiev IV, but i am still dreaming of original Contax ...

Here is a photo of this camera:
32900610bq8.jpg
 
The glass may be etched, if that's the case the lens is useless. Even if its not a CLA will be a pricey.

Depends on what kind of Kiev's your man has knowledge of. In USA fixing a Contax is no small thing due to parts and skilled techs being hard to find.

Ray
 
Thanks for help 🙂

Well guys, im not in the USA ... far away from US ... closer to Jena of Carl Zeiss, and not so far from Kiev - somewhere in the middle between them. In Germany prices of pre-war lenses are insane. Same with Contax cameras.

Fixing shutter should not be a problem, cause it's mechanical malfunction, but those lenses looks bad ...
 
In my opinion:
It is expensive too much.
I wouldn´t pay more than $50-
The lens us totally useless, if the seller want to keep it, he or she could.

Ernesto
 
and if the lens is fungus free, it could be only haze which can be cleaned up.
if you have an experienced Contax repair tech that is not too expensive, it might be worth the gamble for a 110 USD.
and if you love using it once it is repaired, it would have been more than worth it.
 
Prices on good pre-war Contaxes are high everywhere -jammed shutters are the rule rather than a exception. But thanks to that, broken ones aren't expensive - for that price, you should be able to find one with only one rather than two major flaws.
 
The lens might clean up. It might not. I would assume the worst.

That means about $110-$130 for the body. It looks to be in reasonable condition. I think I would consider purchasing it.
 
Non-working shutter on the Contax II means broken shutter ribbons Easy fix for a repairman. If the lens is hazy with no signs of fungus I'd offer $75-80 then have it repaired by the Kiev tech you mention..
 
I payed USD 48 for a good collapsible Tessar 2.8/50 and a worn Contax II body with a fixed shutter speed (just B). it was only a broken spring under the hood, so I was lucky, and I had it working within hours of purchase.
IMHO, I´ll offer not more than USD 75, starting at USD 50...

Good luck!!

Ernesto (JL)
 
OK, thanks for help 🙂
I think i will wait for another one ... complete and full operating 🙂

Another think ... what about ebay prices ? You're mentioning about level of 100-150$ for working Contax II and i just checked ebay and there is no chance for such price ...
http://photography.shop.ebay.com/it...lnZ1QQ_sacatZ15230QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em282

... it seems that for 100$ it is hard to buy just a body ...
 
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you won't get a "working" contax for $100-150 on ebay... especially not with a "working" lens. Trust me on this. I looked for long long time in my contax-obsessed period🙂
Finally i bought one postwar version locally for 150 euro. It's well used, engraved, and shutter speeds were unreliable but i managed to get it to a good working state; the lens is quite fine aside of some tiny scratches on the front - i guess that's what they call "cleaning marks"...
I considered myself lucky for getting it at that price.
 
A coup of years ago, I bought a pre-war Contax for $100 knowing that it would need repair. After paying for the repair, I have a nice camera for less than if I had bought a working camera.
 
According to my experience, buying in any web auction site is like playing russian roulete in regard of seller´s statements about the camera´s / lens working condition.
So, the recipe is: reserve same amount as you have payed for the camera for a decent repair job.
In my case, as I do the repair / CLA by myself, the camera´s final price is allways less than a really working camera if such a thing exists.

Cheers

Ernesto
 
quite expensive for a contax II with the standard sonnar (and in bad shape) even if the uncoated sonnar could be probably cleaned...
may be the serial number could be interesting (the one of the body) ?

i would put more than 80€ (because the body looks nice)./...
 
bolas said:
By the way ... another "occasion" - is this a real pre-war Contax II holster/cover ? How much can i pay for it ... is it worth 20$ ?

90769846dq6.jpg
Click to expand...

that looks to be a post war Contax IIa IIIa ever- ready case.
twenty dollars is sort of OK if this case is really solid , clean and does not smell of mildew.
PS,
make sure it fits the pre war Contax body you plan to buy, as this post war Contax IIa/IIIa camera case is made for these post war smaller bodies and might not fit a pre war Contax II.
 
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