The Contax S2 is a nearly perfect expression of the form. It has a titanium skin. It has a superb mechanical shutter. It’s fully manual with convenient light meter assistance. It works without batteries. And it’s able to mount a suite of excellent Carl Zeiss lenses (or alternatively affordable versions from Yashica).

I spent a couple of weeks shooting the Contax S2 earlier in the summer. By the end of my time with it I was convinced that the S2 belongs in the same conversations with those other, much better-known all-mechanical all-manual masterpieces. Though it’s not the sort of camera that I would personally want, I recognize it as the equal of the best mechanical manual SLRs that I’ve used and reviewed.

Specifications of the Contax S2

• Camera Type : 35mm Film, Single Lens Reflex
• Lens Mount : Contax/Yashica Mount
• Shutter : Manual mechanical focal plane shutter, vertically traveling, metal
• Shutter Speeds : 1/4000th second to 1 second; Bulb mode for long exposures
• Exposure Modes : Manual with light meter assistance
• Light Meter : Spot meter EV4 to EV20 (ISO 100 f/1.4) via Silicon photo diode cell
• Film Speed Range : ISO 12 to 6400
• Viewfinder : Fixed eye-level pentaprism, 0.82x magnification and 95% image area (with 50mm lens); Interchangeable focusing screens
• Viewfinder Information : LEDs for light meter reading, flash indicator, over- and under-exposure warning and shutter speed display
• Focusing : Manual focus only
• Film Transport : Manual film advance and rewind, automatic film frame counter
• Power Supply : 2x 1.5v LR44 battery
• Dimensions / Weight : 134 x 89 x 50mm / 560 grams
• Other Features : Self timer; Shutter release cable socket; Shutter release lock; VF diopter adjustment

What is the Contax S2

For those who detest spec sheets and would rather have the essence of the camera presented in a few easily digestible paragraphs, allow me.

The Contax S2 was designed to be a refined 35mm film SLR camera, presented in a premium package. It was manufactured by Kyocera in Japan (Kyocera had acquired Yashica in 1983, another Japanese camera company that had been licensing the Contax name from Zeiss since 1973). First sold in 1992, it offered photographers of its day a no-frills (yet high quality) all-mechanical, all-manual camera on which to mount Zeiss’ world-renowned manual focus lenses.

The S2 was a basic camera. A big, bright viewfinder, an obvious control layout, a robust and durable body with titanium top and bottom plates, and nothing unnecessary to the creation of exposed frames of film, it was a true photographers’ tool.

Its most interesting feature was its light meter, which was unusual in that it was a spot meter. Spot meters take their light readings from one specific point within the image area. This allows for very accurate metering (of a very specific area of the image), and in an experienced photographer’s hands, the spot meter is a precision tool. In an amateur’s hands, however, the spot meter can pose a problem.

In photos in which there are very dark and very light areas, say when shooting a subject with the sun positioned behind them, a spot meter might expose for the shadows on the subject and create a photo that is totally over-whelmed by the backlit sun and background. Or, the opposite might happen. If the spot meter registers the extreme light in the background, it might cause drastic under-exposure of the subject in the foreground.

Metering for the bright sky caused a total loss of detail in the shadows of the tree’s branches.

Had I metered for the dark shadows or the bright splotches of sunlight in this shot, the flowers in the center of the frame would’ve been either too light or too dark. Here the spot meter, centered on the flowers themselves, created a good reading.

The center-weighted meters or averaging meters that most camera manufacturers preferred to put into their cameras are more user-friendly and, on the whole, will make more accurate shots for the average photographer. This is because they take a broader sample of the light in a larger portion of the image area and average the reading so that most highlights and shadows will be properly exposed.

Many other 35mm SLRs offered spot meters as well, but most of them include the spot meter as a secondary system to complement their primary metering mode. Cameras like the Leica R6.2 and models within Olympus’ OM line do this beautifully. The Contax S2, on the other hand, offered a spot meter and nothing else.

Perhaps acknowledging the learning curve demanded by their chosen metering system, just two years after the S2 debuted Contax released an updated model, the Contax S2b. The S2b replaced the S2’s spot meter with the more familiar center-weighted meter. This is the version that I’d buy, were I making the decision between the two cameras (though it costs about $300 more than the original). The S2b was sold concurrently with the S2 until the year 2000, when both models were discontinued.

Practical Use

The Contax S2 is a deceptive camera. It’s fancy, with its titanium skin and its refined controls and its professional persona, but it’s also one of the most basic film cameras available today. Like a Minolta SRT or a Pentax K1000, it offers nothing more than is necessary to shoot a photo. It is the quintessential “light tight box” and very little more. Admittedly, this is an over-simplification – the Contax’s shutter, topping out at 1/4000th of a second, is more advanced than most basic cameras, and its light meter (as mentioned) is highly specialized.

But the camera’s overall simplicity means that people who know what they’re doing with a camera will pick up the S2 and instantly know what to do. We look at the manually adjustable ISO dial and understand that we need to set our ISO, and that we can also easily shoot with makeshift exposure compensation or shoot under- or over-exposed to push/pull process in development. We see the shutter speed dial, with its color coded denotation at 1/250th of a second, and understand that that’s our flash sync speed. We look through the viewfinder and see the split-image focusing patch with micro-prism surround and instantly know how to focus. We see the light meter readout LEDs and dial our exposures to suit. And we see the depth-of-field preview plunger and, uh, know that we’ll never touch it.

I used the Contax S2 during two day trips earlier in the summer. The first trip was a scenic drive to Maine’s rocky coast, the second a summer day in Boston’s North End. In both instances I loaded the camera with Rollei Retro 80s, a fine grained, low sensitivity panchromatic black and white film.

Slow films tend to be trickier to use than mid-speed films, and low ISO films tend to require more precise exposure, so I figured that this film would be a good test of the camera’s spot metering system. And it was. In numerous instances I recognized that the meter was being a bit too precious, and adjusted my shutter speed accordingly. In most cases, I got it right. In other shots I made mistakes (or the meter did) and the photos were under- or over-exposed. In these instances I know that a more advanced camera would have done the job – something like a Minolta a7, or a Canon EOS in any model.

Canon AE-1 - Camera Review

The Canon SLR that truly put the company in the spotlight, the Canon AE1 was the first "real" camera fora whole generation of film photographers. Here's how it stacks up today.

Still, the Contax S2 was fun to use. When I reviewed the Canon AE-1 way back in 2014 I called that camera “the quintessential ‘old camera'” and I say the same about the Contax S2. At least in ergonomics and style, it looks, feels, and behaves like an old camera. It fits well in the hands, balances nicely, and exudes that quality of old timey workmanship that we camera nerds love.

The metal body is cool to the touch, reminding us always that we’re holding something made out of titanium, the material with the highest strength-to-density ratio of any metallic element. The controls are finely finished, with deep knurling and large diameter knobs. The leather body covering is soft and supple, and while it’s a bit too cute for my taste (I prefer the more industrial and textured grip materials of other cameras), I can see some photographers loving the luxurious feel.

The lenses that I used during my time with the Contax S2 were two that I’ve previously used extensively; the Carl Zeiss 50mm F/1.4 Planar and the Carl Zeiss Tessar 45mm F/2.8 Pancake. Both of these lenses are amazing. They’re superbly built and create excellent and very characteristic images. The 50mm creates amazing bokeh. The 45mm combines with the camera to create a truly tiny 35mm SLR machine, perfect for travel and for day trips. But we won’t discuss the lenses further. Today’s article is about the camera, and since this camera is an interchangeable lens camera, the image quality that I got from these lenses is not very important for the purposes of today’s writing.

I will, at least, be sure to mention that any buyer who uses the S2 will be satisfied with the lenses that are available for the Contax/Yashica system cameras. Under the Zeiss umbrella we find prime lenses from 15mm to 1000mm focal lengths, and within the Yashica range (the more affordable lens lineup for this mount) we find a similar range of prime lenses, as well as a full suite of zoom lenses.

Strength as Weakness

The Contax S2 isn’t perfect. While its flaws are few and unlikely to chill the blood of photographers lusting for the S2, other would-be buyers might balk.

To start, it’s expensive. Over the past six month period, the average selling price for a used Contax S2 on eBay (at time of writing) was $447 (body only). Buyers looking for an unblemished example should expect to pay ten percent more. While this price isn’t unreasonable for a specialized and extremely fine film camera, some photographers would argue otherwise (and they’d have a strong argument).

Consider that the Contax S2, while desirable and fancy, is a fundamentally simple camera. By the specs, it doesn’t really offer much more than what a buyer would get for a $50 Minolta SRT. An Olympus OM1 body costs approximately $75.

Next, the light meter of the S2 could be a strike against it. The S2 has a spot meter, as opposed to the more forgiving center-weighted meters or average meters found in similar cameras. While a spot meter is desirable for some photographers, it’s more likely to shove a stick in the spokes of the average amateur photographer shooting film today. Even I, an extremely talented and nearly perfect photographer who never makes mistakes, was occasionally joked upon by the S2’s precise (stupid) meter.

And then there’s the lenses. While the Contax S2 can mount some truly amazing lenses, they don’t come cheap. The Zeiss range of Contax/Yashica Mount lenses often cost as much as the camera. Some speciality lenses for the S2 actually cost double what the camera does. While this is pretty typical in photography, and has been for decades, it’s less typical in the budget-friendly film camera space. We can opt for the less expensive Yashica lenses in C/Y Mount, but who wants to shoot a Contax and forego the luxurious Zeiss branding? That’s another conundrum that pales the glimmer of the S2 (just a bit).

Lastly, the Contax S2 is an all-mechanical all-manual camera. No aperture-priority, no shutter-priority, no auto mode, no auto-focus, no automatic film advance or rewind. It’s got nothing. And while much of this review has lauded the camera’s lack of frills as a benefit, it could easily be argued that it’s a liability. A fully-equipped SLR from the era of auto-everything costs $40 and will take as-good or better pictures (and here’s the important part) with a higher hit rate.

I’ve approached the Contax S2 through the prism of a photographer who likes manual cameras. I’ve suspended my personal preference to do so. I personally dislike shooting in manual mode. I find it to be pointless. I’d rather pick a camera that meters perfectly in aperture-priority mode, and then simply let the camera do the math of exposure while I concentrate on composition, depth-of-field, focus, and living the moment that I’m photographing. If you’re like me, you probably won’t prefer the $400 Contax S2 over a $100 Minolta X700.

We Should All Be Shooting Dorky AF SLRs and Here's Why

Save money, save time, and improve your photography shooting one of these unpopular, ugly and amazingly capable autofocus film SLR cameras.

While my wife and I were sitting in the grass on the Greenway, with my kids running through the splash pad area, this friendly golden retriever kept darting up to us in between fetch sessions. Here it’s testing the minimum focus distance of the Zeiss 45mm.

I’ve sub-headed this section of the review intentionally – Strengths as Weakness. The Contax has weaknesses, as do all cameras. But each of these flaws could be countered if we simply adopt the opposite view, and neither perspective would be wrong.

It’s an expensive camera. A bad thing when we buy. But it’s an expensive camera. A good thing when we sell!

Its light meter is too specialized. Bad when we’re not paying attention. But the same meter allows precision in the right hands. Good!

The lenses are pricey. Bad, again, when we buy. But good when we sell, and even better when we can further adapt them to our digital camera!

It lacks advanced shooting modes and electronics. Bad. But it won’t die in the field or complicate the day’s shooting, or overrule our own artistic vision, and it’ll be infinitely repairable. See? All of that is good.

Inevitably, the strength and weakness of the Contax S2 will be judged by the individual photo geek. Choose your side.

Final Thoughts

The Contax S2 is a great camera. It deserves to be among the legendary cameras that are frequently discussed whenever and wherever people gush about all-mechanical, all-manual, no frills classic cameras like the FM3a and the Leica R6. Solid, reliable, and focused, it’s a camera for people who want to make photographs as much with their mind as with their eyes.

While I personally would prefer a more automated machine, as I’ve mentioned in many of my articles covering these sorts of bare-bones classic cameras, I can totally understand why the Contax S2 (and cameras like it) are the be-all, end-all for a whole subset of film photographers today.

Browse for your own Contax S2 on eBay here

Search for a camera at F Stop Cameras here

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube

[Some of the links in this article will direct users to our affiliates at B&H Photo, Amazon, and eBay. By purchasing anything using these links, Casual Photophile may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps Casual Photophile produce the content we produce. Many thanks for your support.]

The post Contax S2 Review – A No Frills Titanium 35mm SLR appeared first on Casual Photophile.

The post Single Shot Stories No. 011 – Matthew Morse, This is Normal appeared first on Casual Photophile.

Our little boy is 16 months old and constantly on the move. He loves the outdoors, and we visit our city parks nearly every day to let him explore, stimulate his mind, and practice using his body. He came to us unexpectedly six weeks early in the scariest months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We worried about him so much then, and still do.

At the park he runs and climbs and tests out the new legs, which are a little wobbly from time to time. But with each passing day, they get stronger and allow him to play and investigate the desires of his new body. In this moment, his mother shows him a brand new ability, one he’s likely never considered before: to leave the earth, to lift, to propel one’s self up and away from solid ground and into all that’s above. Though you can only see his expression from the side, you can tell he’s in awe. She moves with the grace of a dancer, a ballerina, coloring this new experience with beauty and grace.

If you’re so lucky, one of the best parts of co-parenting is witnessing your partner become so important to someone else, that special person bound to you both through miraculous nature and unfathomable luck. It takes work to be a great parent, to be present and attentive and without a phone in hand, but we’re really trying and giving it our best. And I think that’s something to be proud of.

The post Single Shot Stories No. 010 – Justin Kingery, a Jump in the Park appeared first on Casual Photophile.

In 1983, I got my dream camera, a 1977 Nikon F2SB with a 55mm f/1.2 Nikkor [reviewed here]. This replaced a Nikon EL-2. I also had an Olympus OM-1 that I bought new in 1976, which I still own.

I loved that F2, and it is still my all-time favourite camera to use, but it was heavy! It got left at home all too often, and my Olympus XA came with me instead. Good as the XA is, its image quality is nowhere near a Nikon or Olympus SLR.

So, in 1987 I decided that the time had come for the F2 to go. I struck a deal with London Camera Exchange in Bath, where I was living at the time, to swap the F2 and 55mm for an Olympus OM-2n and 50mm Zuiko and 28mm Zuiko lenses. It was a straight swap; no money changed hands and I was happy. I used that OM-2 extensively before going digital in the 2000s, though I still use those lenses and OM cameras to this day.

On May 11, 1987, on my way to complete the swap, I still had some film in the F2, so as I walked through Bath I took a few frames more or less at random to finish the roll. Walking down Great King Street, I saw this beautiful ginger cat sitting on a window sill, perfectly framed by the window and with the shabby lace curtain behind. I took two pictures, and that was the film finished.

Bath Cat is the last photograph that I took with my F2, and it is one of my favourite pieces of work I have ever made. I love the balance of shape, tone and texture. I have made a lovely A2 digital print on Hahnemühle Barita in my studio, but it is best seen in a traditional selenium toned silver gelatin print. Sadly, I no longer have any of the darkroom prints I made – they are all sold. I must get back into the darkroom and make more.

In the ‘80s, Bath was still quite scruffy in places, although it was all just about to change, become gentrified and suffer from rocketing property prices. The cat looked immaculate, but the house it occupied still bore the black staining from a couple of centuries of domestic coal burning. These houses are now all clean, honey-coloured Bath stone.

The post Single Shot Stories No. 009 – Alistair Hamilton, Bath Cat appeared first on Casual Photophile.

There’s a song by Tracy Lawrence called Time Marches On. The chorus goes like this:

A star is born, a star burns out
The only thing that stays the same is
Everything changes, everything changes

Living outside of Washington, DC, this lyric is all too accurate. Things that seem to be staples of the community oftentimes seem to disappear overnight. You notice something interesting. You know that it has some historical significance. You make a mental note to photograph it. By the time you get to it though, it could very well be gone.

This happened with the Towne Motel. It had been in its spot since the 1950s. Close your eyes and imagine a ‘U’ shaped motel of that era and you have it. According to the people who had stayed there, it was very well run and affordable. Something you do not always get in this area. Problem is, everything changes and around it, older neighborhoods of brick duplexes were being torn down and replaced with massive, boring, town homes, each one selling for more than the one before. The starting “in the low $600s” signs everywhere made me laugh. “Low $600’s? Hell, I will write a check right now!”

Anyway, the point is that the land around the Towne Motel was appreciating quickly, so I knew I needed to get a photo or two of it before it was gone. But I was too late. Holiday Inn (despite there being a hotel directly across the street from it apparently bought the site and blew it apart faster than I can disassemble by daughter’s Frozen Lego castle.

Opportunity missed, but lesson learned.

Next door to the now missing motel is a small, out of place restaurant. It is currently Asian Wok Café but it has been a few other things since its construction in the 1940s, a fact which its design shows. It serves Asian cuisine but looks more like a bar that the Keebler Elves would use to drown their sorrows when their tree home bakery is torn down to make space for that new 7-11. Little known fact, there are about 15 Keebler Elves, but we never hear or see them. Probably hit the sauce too hard in this very building so they’ve been excommunicated. But I digress.

The Asian Wok sits on a plot of land right next to the hole that used to be the motel. I saw a motel melt away into dump trucks and I have a suspicion that Asian Wok will be next. It gets great reviews and the food is quite delicious, but I know that good reviews and good food will not save it. It is destined to become a set of town homes whose developers will undoubtedly keep the ‘spirit’ of the building alive in their new project. You know, maybe they will save a bright green shingle or two and integrate them into the roof line of whatever blandness comes next.

I realize that I am an old man yelling at clouds with this. I am concerned that in this rush for bigger and better things, we are needlessly discarding a heritage and history that can be saved, or at least  left alone. As an owner of property, I can see that the amount of money to be made from selling the land is massive. I just hope they resist for a little longer. I will miss seeing the eccentric little roadside restaurant every day.

Jarrod Hills is a high school teacher, father, and a fan of everything on wheels, being outside, and capturing family moments.

Jarrod has written some lovely guest articles for the site in the past, which can be seen here.

Many thanks to Jarrod for their contribution to Single Shot Stories!

Add Your Story to Single Shot Stories!

We’d love to feature you and your photography on the site and to share it with our many readers! Please pick your favorite photo with a story, and tell it to us. Everyone is welcome to submit a photo. Submissions are limited to one per photographer in a three-month period, and must meet the following criteria:

1. Along with the image sent to us via email, include in the same email the camera, lens and film (if applicable) which were used to take the photo, and location where the photo was made.
2. Include a story of no more than 500 words about the image. The content is completely open so long as it discusses the submitted photo.
3. The photo should be 2,000 pixels on the long end. 

To submit your Single Shot Story for publication here on CP, send all of the above information and the photo in an email to casualphotophilearticles@gmail.com

Get Inspired

For more stories behind the images and photography from the community check out the many series we’ve published over the years below!

Featured Photophile – we shine a spotlight on amateur photographers whose work we love.

Photographer Interviews – in-depth discussions with professional and established photogs doing great work.

Female Photographers to Follow – get inspired by a monthly series focused on the beautiful and unique perspectives of female photographers.

Five Favorite Photos – a hand-selected examination of the oeuvre of ur favorite famous photographers.

CASUAL PHOTOPHILE is on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube

[Some of the links in this article will direct users to our affiliates at B&H Photo, Amazon, and eBay. By purchasing anything using these links, Casual Photophile may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps Casual Photophile produce the content we produce. Many thanks for your support.]

The post Single Shot Stories No. 008 – Jarrod Hills, Asian Wok appeared first on Casual Photophile.

There’s a spot in DUMBO that’s become an iconic location to capture the Manhattan Bridge. I’ve lived in New York for the entirety of my adult life, and until just recently I’d never been there. If nothing else, I can now say that photography gets me out of the house to enjoy the occasional car fire.

I was meeting a photography friend, Ariel, and his wife Lia for the first time in DUMBO. They arrived just as golden hour was beginning, cameras in hand. Thirty or so other photographers, some with accompanying models, were there taking photos on this lovely summer evening. The street is mostly not passable to traffic due to pedestrian traffic, but there was an ice cream truck, and locals’ cars were parked along the street.

DUMBO has become a cool and expensive place to be in recent years, and those waterfront condos are all quite pricey. In front of one of these buildings on the blocks, as soon as Ariel and Lia arrive, a gray BMW M5 (E39) started smoking. At first it was a little, and then it was a lot.

This was shortly before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and as someone who grew up close enough to where it happened that kids at my school lost parents, I’m probably still traumatized. I assume the smoking M5 is about to explode. I basically shout at Ariel to run, as I turn tail and flee.

Anyway, it didn’t explode, it just burst into flames. Must have been some kind of electrical problem. The owner eventually showed up and was quite shocked- it was a nice older BMW until, you know, it spontaneously combusted. But right after the fire kicks into high gear, the hipsters and Instagram models had mostly scattered, and I’m there with some of the finest photographic tools available in my hand- a Leica SL2 with a Summilux-SL 50mm F/1.4, in beautiful light, free to capture the response unfold as I please.

I got some banger shots of the car burning, the terrified crowd, and firefighters responding, and the owner’s face. One of my great sadnesses is that there’s not a real venue for people to see photos like this- how much editing is really worth it to make these documentary photos of a singular event shine, then they’ll just be seen on a phone by a few hundred of my followers? It depends how much time I can find before the next singular event happens. New York is paradise for street photographers, because the chaos never ends.

But to encapsulate the surreality of the situation in my Single Shot Story, I chose this murky- you may say corrupted- version of the iconic view. You know something’s wrong right away, but you’re not sure what.

I’m glad that the owner cheaped out on his stereo install or whatever and lost his car on the altar of my creative journey. Nothing lasts and we must embrace the fluency of the ephemeral. Sorry about your car, bro, that sucks.

BONUS SHOTS!

[Chris Lonardo is a photographer in New York City. Many thanks to Chris for his contribution to Single Shot Stories! ]

Add Your Story to Single Shot Stories!

We’d love to feature you and your photography on the site and to share it with our many readers! Please pick your favorite photo with a story, and tell it to us. Everyone is welcome to submit a photo. Submissions are limited to one per photographer in a three-month period, and must meet the following criteria:

1. Along with the image sent to us via email, include in the same email the camera, lens and film (if applicable) which were used to take the photo, and location where the photo was made.
2. Include a story of no more than 500 words about the image. The content is completely open so long as it discusses the submitted photo.
3. The photo should be 2,000 pixels on the long end. 

To submit your Single Shot Story for publication here on CP, send all of the above information and the photo in an email to casualphotophilearticles@gmail.com

Get Inspired

For more stories behind the images and photography from the community check out the many series we’ve published over the years below!

Featured Photophile – we shine a spotlight on amateur photographers whose work we love.

Photographer Interviews – in-depth discussions with professional and established photogs doing great work.

Female Photographers to Follow – get inspired by a monthly series focused on the beautiful and unique perspectives of female photographers.

Five Favorite Photos – a hand-selected examination of the oeuvre of ur favorite famous photographers.

CASUAL PHOTOPHILE is on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube

[Some of the links in this article will direct users to our affiliates at B&H Photo, Amazon, and eBay. By purchasing anything using these links, Casual Photophile may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps Casual Photophile produce the content we produce. Many thanks for your support.]

The post Single Shot Stories No. 007 – Chris Lonardo, Car Fire in Dumbo appeared first on Casual Photophile.