If you want something a little fancier there’s the Nikon FM2/T which is the Titanium version. It’s also a mechanical camera with a max shutter speed of 1/4000 as well and cost about half the price of the Contax. The best alternative to the S2 would probably be the Nikon FM2.
The S2b is only available with the dark charcoal finish.
The first and obvious is the S2B with its center weighted light meter but like I mentioned it’s rare and a lot more expensive, but that there’s price to pay to have the one with the “normal” light meter. Here are some samples images of the only two rolls I shot on the S2:īecause the S2 is almost perfect but not quite yet, here are a few alternatives that I think offer a better shooting experience. Shot On Contax S2 & Zeiss Planar f/1.7 50mm This is so distracting that I can’t concentrate on my shot and when I want to shoot on an SLR, I still prefer my 139Q over the S2. I just wish they had come up with an option to lock the exposure or use a secondary button to activate the light meter like on the Contax 139Q which is by the way my favorite Contax SLR so far and reviewed it a few weeks ago.Įven there are more pros than cons, I didn’t get the thing for the S2 because is this annoying constant LED light meter flashing inside the viewfinder. So far, so good but once you have the correct exposure, the shutter speed that was still starts flashing!! I’ve never seen anything so confusing ??? The shutter speed you have selected flashes inside the viewfinder, while the correct shutter speed stays still. Because the spot metering is so precise, the exposure changes with every little movements and that’s really distracting. It’s already confusing to have a spot meter but on top of that you have annoying LEDs constantly flashing. My major complain is the metering system. I bought the S2 because I wanted a camera that could go above the 1/1000 max shutter speed of my Contax 139Q and smaller than my Contax ST which goes up to 1/6000 of a sec but is damn heavy! With a max shutter speed of 1/4000 and really light weight the S2 was the perfect answer to all my problems except for one thing that killed all my dreams :/ My Biggest Problem With The Contax S2
The only things these 2 cameras have in common are the manual focus and the C/Y mount. The same year Contax released the Contax ST which was a fully electronic camera with a max shutter speed of 1/6000, X-synch 1/200, center weighted or spot metering.