Size and less weight then a Leica M6!; lovely design, purely manual; very good "retro" feeling. 1/4000 shutter speed; spot metering (in S2)

no spot metering in S2b, no centre weighted metering in S2

Lovely camera, it is sad that it is discontinued. I used to have spot metering model. would have been better to have 2 different metering systems in one body. I was never bothered, with the fact that you can not see the aperture in the viewfinder. You can not do that with a Leica M6 neither and nobody is complaining there. Look for more infos at: www.contaxinfo.com. This is the ultimate source for every Contax user. For every Contax-system!

Similar Products Used:

almost all Contax cameras

No Battery Needed.
Sturdy and can withstand elements.
Compact.

LOUD Mirror Slap.
No Mirror Lock Up.
Expensive.

Not for everyone. Great for landscape photography where you need a tough durable camera that is light weight and can work without batteries.

Similar Products Used:

Contax AX
Contax RTS II
Contax 167 MT
Canon Elan
Minolta X-700

No battery requirement. Compact size. Take Carl Zeiss (the most important). PseudoMLU

Expensive, loud shutter, flimy touch, only spot metering

Very expensive camera. The size is great. Performance is ok, like any manual camera. The shutter is VERY loud. Be careful.

Customer Service

don't know.

Similar Products Used:

Contax AX, Contax RX, Contax ST, Contax Aria, Contax RTS III
Nikon F5, Nikon F100, Nikon N70, Nikon N90, Nikon FM2N,

all mechanical
well built
beautifully designed
Zeiss lenses
viewfinder has good magnification, clear and sharp
Sturdy and great in hand
SPOT meter is brilliant

LOUD!

This camera is now discontinued but readily available on the net and in Shutterbug for well under a grand. So the complaints of it being too expensive don't really matter any more. Buying a superbly made mechanical camera for six hundred is a good buy. But only get it if you love cameras. As a day to day tool it is limited. You really do have to work slowly - same as the Leica M cameras (though this does not have that camera's finesse) and it has a loud mirror slap. For me, it's a special camera. I bought it as a collector's piece. In that regard, I think it's fantastic and ow it should be judged. Contax builds superb machines - and this is one of their nicest. Simple, elegant and attractive. And you get the benefit of Zeiss. The grey titanium version has center wieghted light meter and no spot. But get the spot. You won't be shooting the local football game with it anyway. Bottom line - it's a nostalgia piece - but find it used and it's worth having.

Customer Service

Good and helpful but less so than they were about five years ago. You could actually talk to a human being back then.

Similar Products Used:

Lecia R7
Nikon F4
Nikon F3
Olympus OM1

rock solid body , light wiegth , like 1/250 flash synch , super brightness of viewfinder , user at all speed without battery

pricy , louder

this isa frist rate manual camera probably the best its built to lats forever...... i love it

Customer Service

no need

Similar Products Used:

canon ,f1,t70,f1n,a2,elan2e,eos1n,eos3, contax 139q 137,159,167,rts2,rts3,ax nikon fm,fe,fm2n,fe2,f90x,f100,f3,f4,f5,f70,f2,fa pentax z1p,lx,mx,645n leica r5,r7 minolta 7000i,9xi

A beautiful camera, that make me want to go for photography.

LOUD , crank sound. No TTL flash. EV 4 limit. Aperture information in viewfinder.

If the sound is nicer, quieter, I will love the camera a lot more.

Seal should be better (bottom)

Similar Products Used:

OM4T. ST. 167MT. EOS1. FM2n.

nice finder
clean design
light

flimsy feel
back door can pop open
loud and 'ringing' shutter
far too expensive

Just pick up the S2 camera body (w/o lense) and operate it. Now pick up a Leica R5 camera body (w/o lense) and operate it.
There is *no* comparison. Leica is head and shoulders better than
the Contax. Too bad, really, because I personally like the mechanics
of the Zeiss lenses better than the Leica lenses. In my opinion,
the S2 is not even as good as my FM2. You need to look at their
other bodies from the 137 on up to the RTSIII. I bought an RX
which is heavier, but has a much better fit, finish, and smooth
operation. I'll review it after having used it a while =)

Customer Service

good

Similar Products Used:

fm2

robust and strong. Zeiss lens...

shutter is not dead quiet. a little heavy

Lots of previous review forget the point of this camera, and spend too much time criticizing price. Durable and easy operation are the point to me for this camera. I use it in snow days or in a dessert and it never failed to work like other AF camera. The other one has similar quality is Nikon FM2 but S2 has that strong feel to my hands (although heavier too). However new FM2N's price is raised quite a bit and you can't call S2 expensive and FM2 low price anymore. I think FM2 survive the market (may be only mass production 1) and NIKON starts to take advantage of the only surviver by raising the price.

When you have a Zeiss lens on it and it is durable, that means a lot to some photographers. The complain about the noise make no much sense. How many people really care? Unless you are shooting a dinosaur(she might eat you). I used to have a minolta(x700?), not bad camera and very quiet. But compared to S2 on picture quality, you will be quiet on your quiet camera. Don't attack a camera just because it is expensive. Look at the pictures they take at good/bad weather condition! BTW, like the spot meter too.

If you already have one, don't treasure S2 like a baby bca it is expensive(I bet some people do). After you see its durability in tuff condition, then you know it deserves some $$. Not only it works, the bright viewer make it better to see at bad weather than FM2.

5 star for durable body and nice picture quality.
4 star for price and functionality(manual! so what you expect)

Similar Products Used:

Nikon FM2

accurate spot meter,Zeiss optics

no ttl flash

For demanding photographers it has all features.I have had a lot of success with this combination of FM2 body and Carl Zeiss lens

Customer Service

no need

Similar Products Used:

f100,f70,minox

Basic, solid, excellent build, very good spot meter, very accurate overall

none

Though on the expensive side, It's a very accurate, reliable, and solid camera for those who want total control of the image.

Customer Service

Very Good

Similar Products Used:

Various Nikon (previously owned F, F2, F3) also own Contax RX