question about a price of a contaxII

[nzeeman]

i have a chance to buy a contax II for 100 euro. is that good price or too much. he says that it is in good condition and he gives 3 month guarantee. he is from my town so i can check it personally. if camera is good - should i buy it.
and one more question - do i need to wind shutter first and then change speed or should i change speed first. on some sites i read that changing speeds before winding can mess slow speeds (on kiev survival site) and on other site guy reccomend to change speed first because its better for shutter mechanism. (steve dash site http://www.sdash.plus.com/page5.htm)
what is truth?
thanks in advance
Srdjan

 

[varjag]

100 euro sounds like a good price for a sample in good condition.

Regarding the speeds, you can't break the shutter by cocking it "wrong way" on a Contax. If you change speeds over the 1/50 - 1/125 boundary while the shutter is not cocked, the escapement *might* catch a wrong speed and ruin you one exposure, but it would not repeat further or incur any damage to shutter.

 

[Pherdinand]

If steve dash recommends to change speed before cocking/winding, he does not know how the contaxII/III shutter works.
Slow speeds are changed by winding up more or less of the top curtain onto the top drum. You cannot do this correctly when the shutter is not cocked yet.
You won't break it, as Eugene said above, but you probably will have the wrong shutter speed set.

100e is definitely a good price for a good working body. If you want a lens with it, a jupiter-8 would be the cheap solution - although the construction is sloppier than an original sonnar, the optics is the same (if it's a good exemplar).

 

[Bill58]

Do you have a liscense to steal? That is one hell of a price. Jump on it!

 

[varjag]

Nono.. one hell of a price was $49 for my well brassed but functioning Contax II 🙂

 

[nzeeman]

this is not body only. its a body + sonnar 50/2 if im not wrong. he told me to come on friday and check camera. we will see...

 

[varjag]

For body in any condition and a lens it's a great price.

 

[Pherdinand]

No no. For body+50/2 sonnar, it's a hellof a price, Eugene😉
I bought my contax iia+sonnar 50/2 for 150 euro but the body needed service (which I have done myself). Works fine now except the 1/1250 speed...

 

[varjag]

No no. For body+50/2 sonnar, it's a hellof a price, Eugene😉
I bought my contax iia+sonnar 50/2 for 150 euro but the body needed service (which I have done myself). Works fine now except the 1/1250 speed...

Well, I concur 🙂 Srdjan, sounds like a great deal.

Pherdinand's IIa with a Sonnar for 150 also sounds great. BTW Pherdinand why is it driving you nuts? 🙂

Should find a nice 1.5 Sonnar myself: my Contax feels alone among all the Russian lenses, although makes a great companion to them. Missed a prewar 1.5/50 with BIN of $35 this week :bang: Maybe should really start saving for a pristine Opton..