Huss
Veteran
Sticky back is fixed by wiping with isopropyl alcohol available at any drugstore.
Fixed my N75, F80 and F100 with that.
Yes, with lint-free wipes. No paper towels! 
Huss
Veteran
My 45 GN is not low contrast at all. Perhaps yours has haze?
45GN w/ Nikon F and Fuji C200:
I no longer have it, it wasn't hazy but besides the low contrast, I wasn't a fan of the rendering or the lack of reasonably close focus.
redimp
Member
Looks like I'm gonna be getting myself an eos 300x with a 40mm pancake. I'm somewhat hesitant only because it's a really ugly camera. Coming from a contax camp it's a tough choice. I know it does not matter, and like someone said above – no hipster points, but much more of a camera than the T2. Will probably hold onto T2 to do some comparative shooting before selling it.
Have a friend in Japan too, will ask him to see if local shops around him have a Klasse S by any chance or a T3 for a decent price, maybe with some cosmetic issues.
This thread made me really crave for a contax s2b tho. I own a set or R Summicrons (35, 50, 90) and a 135 2.8, that I could potentially sell to get an s2b and some zeiss glass. Need to think about it a tad more.
Meanwhile taking a bunch of film to the lab today, all of it from a t2 and g1, maybe seeing some of those results will somehow influence my decision.
Have a friend in Japan too, will ask him to see if local shops around him have a Klasse S by any chance or a T3 for a decent price, maybe with some cosmetic issues.
This thread made me really crave for a contax s2b tho. I own a set or R Summicrons (35, 50, 90) and a 135 2.8, that I could potentially sell to get an s2b and some zeiss glass. Need to think about it a tad more.
Meanwhile taking a bunch of film to the lab today, all of it from a t2 and g1, maybe seeing some of those results will somehow influence my decision.
This thread made me crave a Pentax MX!
Huss
Veteran
Dood. Get a Leica R6 or 6.2. You already have the lenses.
Much better than an S2b. I've seen a bunch of film transport failures in those.
There aren't really any pancakes for R bodies.
S2b + 45/2.8
S2b + 45/2.8
The MX is positively tiny. Here is one next to the Contax 159, which looks huge in comparison, but it's actually a small SLR...
valdas
Veteran
Define “better”. More reliable? Then maybe, I did not have experience with Leica R. But. S2 has 1/4000 speed vs R6 1/1000 (or 1/2000 6.2). Flash sync 1/250 (R has 1/100). Contax is lighter. S2 viewfinder coverage is 95% vs Leica 92%. So - not sure what is better in Leica R... And Contax does not need batteries except for the meter (and this part can fail - I agree).
lxmike
M2 fan.
Olympus Xa
redimp
Member
So a bunch of film came back and most of the stuff from T2 looks great. I had 3 canisters from T2 with portra 400, 800 and kodak gold. The shots where it was struggling with max shutter speed on portra 800 turned out to be great, they've gotten a bit overexposed and colors came out juicy.
A lot of shots are out of focus. Some that I shot through the windows/glass surfaces, which I could understand, but some are just daylight shots (I was shooting a car in bright sunlight) which is beyond my understanding. It was a bright day and it was 1/500th of a sec, so definitely not camera shake, seems like focus is simply super close, while subject is around 20m away and there is nothing in between the camera and subject.
All of this I could live with, but I have maybe 5 of shots on all rolls that have camera shake. I always exhale and freeze before releasing shutter, just a habit, but what I think happens is that I move the camera too soon due to shutter lag/uncertain shutter release time.
A bunch of stuff that has wrong exposure, for example a shot of sunrise sky that is terribly dark.
Overall around 15 wasted shots from 3 canisters. Not great, not terrible.
I will process scans and post samples here.
Meanwhile I was looking at 300x and found one for sale locally for 30 bucks. The combo with 40/2.8 excites me because it could be a cheap portable setup with reliable autofocus. I could also use the leicas on it if I decide to shoot manual focus. I wonder how good manual focusing is on that camera. I am slightly put off by the fact that on-off switch is a part of a program wheel, and that to get to aperture priority you need to turn it three times, but it's a 30 dollar camera so no complaining.
At the same time I am really excited about the Contax S2 as well. Some of the film I got back was from the Fujica AX5 with fujinon 50/1.2. For a 50/1.2 it's actually a very portable setup as well, but a ton of my exposures are terrible. I was shooting it manual and I have realized I suck at judging exposure, which made me really want to lear to do it properly.
So getting an s2 could be great to just have no auto-exposure mode at all and learn to properly measure and expose.
A lot of shots are out of focus. Some that I shot through the windows/glass surfaces, which I could understand, but some are just daylight shots (I was shooting a car in bright sunlight) which is beyond my understanding. It was a bright day and it was 1/500th of a sec, so definitely not camera shake, seems like focus is simply super close, while subject is around 20m away and there is nothing in between the camera and subject.
All of this I could live with, but I have maybe 5 of shots on all rolls that have camera shake. I always exhale and freeze before releasing shutter, just a habit, but what I think happens is that I move the camera too soon due to shutter lag/uncertain shutter release time.
A bunch of stuff that has wrong exposure, for example a shot of sunrise sky that is terribly dark.
Overall around 15 wasted shots from 3 canisters. Not great, not terrible.
I will process scans and post samples here.
Meanwhile I was looking at 300x and found one for sale locally for 30 bucks. The combo with 40/2.8 excites me because it could be a cheap portable setup with reliable autofocus. I could also use the leicas on it if I decide to shoot manual focus. I wonder how good manual focusing is on that camera. I am slightly put off by the fact that on-off switch is a part of a program wheel, and that to get to aperture priority you need to turn it three times, but it's a 30 dollar camera so no complaining.
At the same time I am really excited about the Contax S2 as well. Some of the film I got back was from the Fujica AX5 with fujinon 50/1.2. For a 50/1.2 it's actually a very portable setup as well, but a ton of my exposures are terrible. I was shooting it manual and I have realized I suck at judging exposure, which made me really want to lear to do it properly.
So getting an s2 could be great to just have no auto-exposure mode at all and learn to properly measure and expose.
Huss
Veteran
R6/6.2 does not need batteries. Only for the light meter.
R6/6.2 has three metering patterns - spot, avg and center weighted.
R6/6.2 more reliable from what I have seen.
Huss
Veteran
It's why I got rid of my Contax TVS III, too many out of focus shots. All my much cheaper P&S cameras nail focus.
valdas
Veteran
So, it depends on what is more important for the shooter - availability of metering modes or shutter speed. And when shooting without batteries there is no metering anyway...
Huss
Veteran
If the OP has a hankering for a Contax, that is what he should get.
k__43
Registered Film User
selling my T2 was the worst mistake I ever made.. and I also sold a Mamiya 7
Now my live-in-the-bag camera is a Mju1
Now my live-in-the-bag camera is a Mju1
littleearth
Well-known
My mint Contax T2 missed focus all the time, the TVSIII never missed a shot.
I bought them when they were super cheap though.
These P&S are just not that reliable and too expensive now for what they are.
The Contax S2 and an Aria or 139Q as second body sounds like good plan.
I've had a Contax 139Q from Peter Robinson in the past and it worked great.
I bought them when they were super cheap though.
These P&S are just not that reliable and too expensive now for what they are.
The Contax S2 and an Aria or 139Q as second body sounds like good plan.
I've had a Contax 139Q from Peter Robinson in the past and it worked great.
Back in the 90s when these were new, I used the T2 and the Leica Minilux... the T2 always missed focus too much and the Minilux did not... I preferred the T2, but I used the Minilux more. Of course, the Minilux had the error come up every so often... I think between my brother and I we had the Minilux repaired 3 times. I wouldn't touch these cameras now at the prices they go for...
