I have a T2 that I carried with me before digital. On September 11, 2001 I worked in the building that is now the Google NYC Headquarters, my office windows looked out on with the World Trade Center. I had several rolls of color negative with me and shot them all as the buildings burned and collapsed. Seven months later I had the camera with me in the delivery room as my wife gave birth to our twins. From witnessing the worst tragedy to the best moments of my life that Contax was there. True story.
I feel like at this point the pool picture is just an inside joke for this channel. I laughed so hard when you climbed that fence for like the BILLIONTH time.
Jason: putting some HP5 in his camera Also Jason: getting up at 5:30 AM to see the colorful sunrise and shoot it in black and white Joke aside, great new video!
Concerning the T2's inability to directly select its 2.8 aperture in aperture preferred metering mode: As noted in the video, apertures of 4.0 or smaller can be directly selected with the camera then selecting the shutter speed. If you select the 2.8 aperture, the camera switches to program mode and then selects both aperture and speed per its auto-exposure program. First, the program mode selects 2.8 until the light is so bright that its fastest shutter speed would still over-expose, then it starts reducing aperture to maintain exposure, so you usually getting 2.8 until it is no longer workable. Additionally, you can lock the aperture at 2.8 by selecting a flash mode. In daylight, the flash output is so whimpy that it will usually have no effect on overall exposure, and the metering will still select a good shutter speed, in effect trying to "fill flash" a daylight exposure balance.
Some other excellent alternatives to this camera (same or lower price) are: Minolta TC-1, Olympus mju-II, Obviously the Yashica (t4/t5/super), Rollei 35s, Contax TVS, Fuji Klasse, Leica C1, and the Rollei AFM35
@@amitdavidov9142 Sadly I can not recommend the Ricoh series. They are extremely prone to fail and have LCD problems, and there’s virtually no shop in the world that can work on them anymore since their specific spare parts are very, very hard to find. All the cameras mentioned above will have similar issues, but after much research I found you can repair most of them and all of those models have much better and solid builds than the Ricoh.
Leica Minilux is also pretty darn great, but obviously I am biased since I own one. The ability to use the 40mm f 2.4 actually in f 2.4 in aperture priority is pretty great advantage over the contax t2. And the lens is actually pretty sharp and has super nice circular bokeh.
I’m a sucker for the T2 but I can’t justify spending 600-700 for a point and shoot when I can just buy a medium format camera, I went with it’s cheaper sibling the contax TVS it looks amazing
@@fakename287 I bought mine in the late 1990s, when I decided that I should buy a point-n-shoot camera for trips. (I had bought a Oly XA, which is a piece of trash, both mechanically and optically.) I was undecided between a Nikon 35Ti and the Contax T2, so I bought one of each (about $400 each in mint condition). I tested the lenses on real film exposures with lens test charts, and I used them a bit to get used to them. I keep the T2 and sold the Nikon for a slight profit. In terms of lens resolution, the Nikon 35Ti actually can give the best results at its optimum lens setting, but overall, the Sonnar in the T2 gives sharper images at more apertures, IMO more important for a P-n-S camera. Ergonomically, the T2 is simpler and far easier to use than the 35Ti, which has many bells and whistles not on the T2, but of the sort you'll never actually use. Its basic controls just suck. (And I am a confirmed Nikon system user since 1962, and in went in assuming I'd keep the 35Ti.)
The Contax TVS is a great alternative and very underrated. I got both and while I prefer the T2 because of the extra stop of light and its sexynes, the TVS is worth every dime
Why doesn't anyone ever mention the original Olympus XA as a great point and shoot option? It's super compact, shoots in aperture priority, has ISO selection, manual focus, +1.5 exposure compensation (though you can always change the ISO mid-role to compensate to whatever you want), and a super sharp f2.8 35mm lens. Oh, and it's like $80. Seriously underrated camera.
Another alternative that no one ever talks about, but has also become equally as pricey is the Klasse W. It has a super sharp f2.8 28mm (!) lens, manual iso selection (& DX), 1/1000th shutter speed & great ergonomics.
Great camera. Bought one for $200 off Craigslist a few years ago, but eventually sold it to get funds for a rangefinder. If anyone's on the fence about getting one, look up the original Contax T (same lens, no autofocus, weird door hinge contraption on the front).
At last after all this years (just 1 year). Now you have a review at last of this luxurios camera just like the Nikon F6. And also to those who comments Baxter is the main character ( i dont know if this dog have a certain charateristics , we don't know if one day his an alien disguised as a dog and annihilates us). I agree.
Happiest. Car. Ever. You better hang onto it, because NA's seem to be going to same way as these film point & shoots. Sadly, I won't be following my own advice much longer :(
The Yashica T5 is a great little camera, I had one back in the 90s. If you don't need/want autofocus, the Olympus XA is hard to beat. Super compact and very well-designed little rangefinder camera. Make sure you get one where the film transport works, though. But last I checked, those were a lot less overhyped and overpriced than the T2.
By most of the measures being considered, a superior purchase would be a Konica Hxar AF. Better lens, better user controls, but a bit larger too. Unhappily, it costs a lot more these days than in the past but still about 35% less than the T2. If you want to go maximum imaging with full user control, find a really nice Rollei 35SE for about 40% the cost of the T2. In the mean time, I'll hold on to my T2.
Everyone says that these are so expensive, but unless you want a 99% minty one you can find one at a reasonable price. I love mine, I've carried it every day for a year (unless it's a downpour) and I paid under 4,000 rmb (under 600 usd). Just gotta keep looking. 👍
My t2 felt like a liability/ expensive brick that was always on the verge of breaking. Nice pictures but better to sell it before expensive brick turned into a brick brick.
I've had one of these since it came out. I had a G1 and a T2. I sold the G1 and don't regret that, but kept the T2. There is something 'right' about the design.
Prob could have bought a Leica M10 or M11 with all the rolls that went through that T2 lol. It's always depressing when I realize how much money film leaches away...at least I process and scan/enlarge for prints...but then there was the cost of building a darkroom when I built my workshop...well at least it's a business expense in the eyes of the IRS. The great thing about film is that it really just comes down to having a solid lens and a solid roll of film (or not if you want that look). Everything in between isn't really that important as long as it doesn't leak light and the shutter works. The compacts of the film days could rival a Leica if the glass was good enough, which it wasn't, that defeats the point of a cheap compact, but the idea is there and is pretty close with the more serious compacts.
don't get me wrong its an amazing camera and when I finally got mine I was over the moon got it for a steal at £400 but honestly I much prefer the contax G series I feel the images are a lot better personally and I never would consider buying the T2 for £800+ like im seeing right now
I can hardly notice the difference between a shot on my Contax vs my YashicaT2... but the feeling of shooting on the contax makes all the difference IMHO.
All that electronics and the price scares me too. I'll just stay with my Olympus XA. I do throw it into my pocket and camera bag. Not too worried cause it's only $220.
I bought my t2 for 200 euros 4 years ago. It has been broken for almost two years. Last week I sent it to the UK for servicing and they just sent me an email with the estimate: 580£. I’ll have to pass.
@@john_murch Thought about it but decided not to do it. I'll probably sell it for parts and get a much cheaper Yashica T4. The lens on it is also very good, I don't need the aperture priority mode since most of the times I left it on auto on the Contax and the main reason being I want a p&s camera to carry around mostly everyday and I don't want to be too concerned about the small fortune I'd lose if it breaks. My contax fell from my backpack (while the backpack was laying on the ground) and the on/off dial got stiff. I kept using it until eventually when turning it on it got loose and the camera never turned on again. I thought it was just the dial that snapped but they told me they would have to replace the main PCB. It was a small (15cm high) drop, I think the camera overreacted. Specially when is constantly praised for it's built quality. That being said, it was one of my favourite cameras to carry around and shoot with.
@@louford1952 what was the issue with yours? Also if you don’t mind telling, how much was it? Can you provide a contact so I can reach out to them? Thanks
@@oluismoreira Hi Luis, shutter was broken on the G2 and the on/off button was broken on the tvs (i think a cable had ripped. You should get in touch with them about price. I think I paid around €400 for fixing and shipping ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xMLZm7RCZvw.html
