Good morning you awesome camera geeks! A couple of years ago I posted a video on YouTube called “Benefits Of A Cheap Camera.”
Now in that light hearted and cringe worthy video, which was filmed very badly on an old iPad, I went on to jokingly point out why using a cheap camera could be beneficial.
Before YouTube began hiding dislikes, I recalled that video get quite a fair number of dislikes although there were, fortunately, more likes than dislikes.
I chalked it up to people not “getting” my light hearted, comedic style of camera reviews. I truly think some of my best ad lib camera jokes are on that video! 😍😂
This video was one of the reasons why, for a long time, I viewed the audience on YouTube as “stiffs.” Meaning, I felt they couldn’t take a joke, they couldn’t read between the lines because if they did, they would see that I was actually offering some solid advice!
Seriously, in that review, I mentioned that the Vivitar V3800n (which was the featured camera), was a very affordable, all manual film camera that uses the very popular and iconic Pentax K mount which opened the doors to an abundance of great and affordable lenses.
The Vivitar V3800n and 50mm f/1.7 which I got as a combo for $30. Today, this outfit can still easily found for under $100 dollars.
All this started because a friend had asked about getting into film photography and was asking if he should get a Leica, Contax, or Nikon? Which led me to the thought…why does a film beginner need to spend a lot of bucks?!
Now I’m not here to tell anyone how to spend their money but having been down this path before I felt it wouldn’t hurt to try and help someone save some money!
Another factor is the real likelihood of someone like my friend, who has been shooting digital exclusively, will end up giving up on film and be stuck with a bunch of expensive gear that he’d have to try to eventually sell. And guess who he’d come to, to help him sell it? 😂
THE CHEAP CAMERA CHALLENGE
I’ve seen a bunch of “cheap camera challenges” and although entertaining, I never thought of doing a video on it until now.
Part of the reason is that, as someone who has admittedly been spoiled by using Leica, Contax, Nikon, etc, it was very hard for me to contemplate “wasting” a roll of film on a cheap camera. Now I know that sounds elitist but honestly with the rising prices of film these days, I really only want to use this precious commodity on something I’m interested in.
So with that kind of thinking, I realized I had lost my roots. I started photography with a Minolta X-700 and a cheap Vivitar point and shoot in the 1980s. I have documented this fact many times here.
So considering that I had only used the Vivitar V3800n once or twice in all the years that I’ve had it, I figured this would be a good time to use it again and document the results with you guys here and on YouTube!
So I put in a roll in early January and just finished the roll near the end of last month and here are the results.
SAMPLE PICS
All photos in this set were taken with the Vivitar V3800n, 50mm f/1.7 Vivitar lens and shot on Ilford HP5 Plus and developed in Xtol.
Snow DayIce ColdMochi CakeMochi Cake Closer CropDelicious Tempura ❤️TaxiGraffiti Bronx StreetChurch At NightCloser CropBucket Of CrabsAvailable Light @ Night
PRICE & AVAILABILITY
The Vivitar V3800n is cheap and still easily found on the used market. Prices can range anywhere from $10-40 USD for the body only and same for the Vivitar 50mm f/1.7 MC lens. Sometimes you might even be able to find them for free! 😍
If you can’t find the V3800n, any of the V series bodies will do for basic shooting.
The V3800n was made by Cosina and uses a Pentax K mount so lenses are plentiful and can be very cheap. You don’t need to use a Vivitar branded lens if you do not want to.
CONCLUSION
The Vivitar V3800n and 50mm f/1.7 Vivitar lens were the most fun I’ve had with a film slr in a while!
It’s not perfect, I’m not going to lie. It feels cheap and there are some issues that might be detrimental to beginners. I explain all that in the video.
But once you learn how to use the camera you will see that it’s capable of taking good pictures. And there’s just a “cheap thrill” (pun intended) to getting satisfying results on cheap equipment, like you got more than your money’s worth!
I’ll even go out of my way to say that it’s perfectly capable of taking pictures as good as any equivalent combo. By that I mean, for example, a Pentax K1000 with 50mm f/1.8 or Canon AE-1 with 50mm f/1.8 FD lens or Minolta X-700 with 50mm f/1.7 MD lens. These are just some examples but you could add your own and as long as you’re being fair, I can say the Vivitar will match up to it! No it will not beat a $5000 Leica or Zeiss 😀
In conclusion, my main point of doing this cheap camera challenge is to show, especially beginners, intermediates, or anyone wanting to get into film photography that it doesn’t have to be expensive. You can have a lot of fun with film photography without paying a lot!
In 2014 I posted probably one of the last “real” reviews of the elusive Contax N Digital, the world’s first full frame digital SLR with a true 35mm sized sensor. By “real” I mean it’s a review by someone who had actually used the camera and not just repeating information off the internet. The original review can be found here.
Flash forward to 2020 and today I have a new review on the Contax N Digital only for you the readers of Camera Legend!
INTRODUCTION
I won’t repeat everything that I’ve already mentioned in 2014 but I think a little bit of the specs and history of the camera are important and worth repeating.
The Contax N Digital headlining claim to fame is that it is the world’s first digital slr with a 35mm sized full frame sensor. It was introduced by Kyocera in the year 2000 and brought to market in 2002.
At the heart of the camera was a 6 megapixel full frame sensor made by Philips of the Netherlands.
The Contax N Digital is based on the Contax N1 film camera and it takes the newer N Mount lenses. The N Digital, N1 and NX are not compatible with the older Contax/Yashica (aka C/Y) lenses.
YOUTUBE VIDEO
For those of you who prefer a video review, here it is:
In this video, I discuss a few things not mentioned in detail here including image quality, and a lively “film vs digital” discussion including my early (Circa 2005) experimentations of scanned 35mm film vs digital.
At that time I had a Microtek Artixscan 120f which was a high resolution 35mm & medium format optical film scanner. In 2005, I compared scanned 35mm images to my 12mp Canon EOS 5D Classic and was surprised by what I saw. I speak about these results in my video.
REVISITINGHISTORY
To fully appreciate how big this was in the camera world back then one must remember that the top cameras of the digital world from 2000-2002 were cameras with APS-C sensors like the 2.7mp Nikon D1, the 3mp EOS D30, and the 3mp Fuji S1 Pro plus a plethora of 1-3mp small sensor digital point and shoots.
As I said in 2014, the Contax N Digital was full frame before any of us knew what “full frame” was! Of course, I was talking tongue in cheek but you know what I mean. If you don’t, I was basically saying that in those days every megapixel seemed to mean something. Every increase in megapixel was exciting and expensive. And digital cameras, low end and especially high end models were also expensive.
We were getting used to APS-C sensors and hoping for increased megapixels so a “full frame” sensor was not on most people’s radar. But the thought of a “full frame” digital camera was out there no doubt. However the prevailing thought was that a full frame sensor back then was either not yet technically doable or it would be incredibly expensive.
And when the N Digital came out to market, it was indeed expensive at over $7000 for the body alone. The competition, primarily Canon, followed up in that same year with their own full frame body, the original 1Ds which came to market at $7999.
Nikon did not come out with a full frame DSLR until 2007 when it released the pro D3 model.
THE 2014 REVIEW
In my 2014 review I stated that I was lucky to have a friend who allowed me to use his camera for a short time for a review. I returned the camera to my friend shortly and a few months later the camera had a dead sensor.
Thankfully my friend did not blame me for it because it was working fine for months after I returned it. However, this is one of the reasons I no longer accept from or loan cameras and lenses to other people.
Not because I’m being greedy, but I have lent cameras and lenses to friends in the past and some of the equipment would come back with scratches or dents that weren’t there before. Sometimes, the equipment would be gone for months, and I’d have to kindly ask for the equipment back. Sometimes repeatedly!
I’m not extremely picky but as a collector if something is in pristine condition I’d like to keep it that way. The thing I hate more is the feeling when someone borrows cash and they promised to give it back to you, but then you have to chase them down to get your money back. You know the feeling! 😀
At the same time, I hate borrowing equipment from my friends for the same reasons. But since the Contax N Digital is so rare, I just had to ask! And my friend was kind enough to let me use it for a couple of weeks in 2013. I’ve always felt a little guilty for my friend’s dead sensor even though I know in my heart that I treated that camera with kid gloves and it was working when I gave it back to him.
(Above) An image from my 2014 review showing a little of that “Zeiss Pop” otherwise known as the Zeiss 3D effect. Contax N Digital, 50mm f/1.4 N Zeiss Planar.
Anyway, if you’ll remember from my 2014 review, I helped arrange and send the camera out to Kyocera for a repair and it came back a couple months later as “Unrepairable.”
FLASH FORWARD TO 2020
I was browsing photo gear ads without any real intent to buy anything when I saw a listing for a Contax N Digital for $477 USD. It was in “Bargain” condition (you know the dealer!) and no notes about a bad sensor.
Remembering what happened to my friend’s camera, but still so curious, I was hesitant but I bit hard and bought the camera!
The model I bought looked exactly like my friend’s (why wouldn’t it?) and worked well except it would only AF using the back AF-ON button.
If you’ll remember what I mentioned in 2014, I kept the Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 Contax N lens to use with my N1 and NX film cameras so I used this same lens on my new to me N Digital.
The images were just as beautiful as I remembered in 2013, color and everything looked the same. I was happy!
SAMPLE IMAGES
Here are some of the better images I got from my short five months with the N Digital in 2020. Images were shot using mostly ISO 200-400. I have always loved the Contax 50mm f/1.4 N Zeiss Planar and in combination with the sensor on the N Digital, I feel they are a perfect portrait combo, which is why you see a lot of pictures of the kids 🙂
Most images have been processed but most remain very close to the original files. Any of the images with trees have not been processed if you need to know for camera geek reasons 😀👍🏻
THE SURPRISE
About a week in to using the camera, a couple of photos started showing purple lines and blacked out images. I said uh oh! I remember seeing this on my friend’s camera back in 2014. I knew what was happening. The sensor was going to give out! 😦
This is how a failing sensor looks. Images begin to have lines, streaks, and discoloration.
In all honesty, it wasn’t a surprise to me. I was expecting the camera not to even work and when I saw the sensor failing, it didn’t surprise me at all.
I was all ready to pack up the camera for a refund when I took a few more shots and the photos came out fine. What? Yep that’s what I said!
I figure ok, no doubt the sensor is going to fail but if it works for a year I’ll keep it and take the loss so long as I get some nice pics out of it.
So over the next few months, I used it sparingly. As I’ve mentioned many times, much to the chagrin of Contax fanboys, Kyocera/Contax electronics are very delicate, fragile even.
I basically used the camera only on weekends, maybe 5-10 shots at a time. I always made sure it had fully charged AA batteries in it.
About five months into my ownership of the camera, the Contax N Digital gave up the ghost. After one last good picture, it started shooting only blanks. Black screen. It was game over.
This is how images look when the sensor finally dies. The camera starts shooting blanks. Nothing but black screen images.
I did everything I could think of to see if I could get it to start taking pictures again. I cleaned the contacts, tried different settings, tried RAW, Tiff, what have you. No dice. The sensor was dead.
PRICE & AVAILABILITY
If you’re seeking the Contax N Digital, and I’m not sure that’s a good idea, I have revised my trending prices to around $500-2000 USD for the N Digital body only. That is, if you can find one, and in working condition!
I would not recommend it unless it had a working sensor and at a very low price. Anything in the $2000 range would have to be old new stock, brand new in box, which I think is almost impossible to find.
As in the two copies I have tried, when the sensor dies, the rest of the camera may still work which is a shame because without a sensor, it becomes something like a chicken without a head or a man without a heart. A digital camera without a sensor becomes a paperweight. In the case of the N Digital, it’s an expensive paperweight.
As I mentioned in my video, I even reached out by email to Roger Cicala of LensRentals.com, a man known for tearing down cameras and lenses to see their innards and how they worked. I asked Roger if he or his team would like to open up my Contax N Digital and see if they could fix it. He politely declined to do it 🙂
BOTTOM LINE
I said this in my 2014 review and I’ll say it again…As the world’s first 35mm full frame digital SLR, the Contax N Digital is no doubt a Camera Legend.
However, it’s hard to find them, and almost impossible to find one in working condition. The main issue appears to be dead sensors in these cameras which are in Kyocera’s own words “Unrepairable.”
The camera was pulled from the market very early in its production run so it’s apparent now that Kyocera either may have known something we didn’t know or perhaps it cost them too much to produce versus how many sold. We’ll never know.
Take it from me and avoid the urge to buy one. I was your guinea pig. I did it for you guys! I can almost guarantee that if you can find a rare working model with a working sensor, that sensor will fail if you use the camera enough.
All that said, I will say something that might surprise you…when it was working, the Contax N Digital might have been my favorite DSLR ever!! I love the way it renders. There’s something to the images. A lot has to do with the Zeiss lenses but I also give credit to the flawed Philips 6mp CCD sensor. In my opinion, images can have that rare 35mm “film-like” quality and it has a lot to do with the low resolution sensor. I speak more about this in my video so check it out if you’re interested.
The N Digital also has some very digital qualities such as banding and not so pretty noise at higher iso ranges or underexposed images. But overall its images can be impressive especially when you remember it’s a camera introduced in the year 2000!
(Above) The Contax N Digital is among my favorite cameras of all time. Unfortunately, they never last and almost always end up with dead sensors
Looking back today, it’s clear that in 2002 Canon was on the verge of releasing the 1Ds, the world’s second 35mm full frame digital slr. Contax just beat them to it, but by beating them to it, they have that distinction of being the first and anything “first” will always be remembered.
So despite the Contax/Yashica brand being gone for years now, I do miss them. They thought differently and brought something different to the camera world and the Contax N Digital is a prime example of this. Despite the sad fact that in my opinion and experience, the sensor will inevitably fail and is unrepairable, the Contax N Digital will always be a Camera Legend as the world’s first 35mm full frame digital slr. It will always have a place in my heart as a camera I have experienced and loved, as well as a camera that will always have me thinking what could have been.
It’s early November and around here where I live the leaves are well past their peak. This photo was taken a few weeks ago up in Rockland County, about 25 miles from NYC. The autumn leaves were still at their beautiful peak and I just had to get some shots. This was one of my favorites.
The camera I used was the Olympus Pen-F Digital, my current favorite digital camera and the Panasonic LUMIX 20mm f/1.7 G lens. I’ve had this lens since 2009 and it’s sharp, versatile, and always delivers the goods.
Whatever you shoot, there are still a lot of Autumn remnants. It’s a beautiful season for photography. Get out there and shoot! 😎📸👍🏻
Good morning you war torn hardcore camera geeks! Just posted last night the latest (I don’t want to say last) installment of the “The Lonely Art Of Film Developing.”
As stated in the video, when I first thought of doing this, I just wanted to take you guys through the process, give people an idea of what a film developing session is like, for me at least.
The focus was not really to show you pretty results or anything, although the results are just a by product of this.
As you’ll see in the video, before I even thought of making the video, I was testing a Rolleiflex 3.5F with a 0.7x Mutar which is an add on lens that turns the 75mm lens of the 3.5F into a 55mm, or around 28 or 30mm in 35mm equivalent.
The goal was to see if this would work for me as a poor man’s Rollei Wide. The Rollei Wide is the Rolleiflex with the 55mm f/4 lens. The prices for these cameras are insane, like $3000-4000 insane! Like Crazy Eddie’s “Insane!!” 😀👍🏻
They have pretty much become collector’s items. In comparison my poor man’s version cost me $400 total.
I’ve read in many forums and discussions that the Mutar is junk, that it doesn’t get sharp until you stop it down to f/11 or f/16 even. But there were a few who said it was very good, fine even. Since opinions differ greatly, I wanted to find out for myself.
The above photo is a good example. I shot this probably at f/4 or 5.6. I definitely did not stop the lens down to f/11 or f/16.
Maybe I’m not as demanding as the $4000 Rollei collector but the sharpness is perfectly acceptable to me. Center sharpness is best but even corner sharpness is not bad. Sure it may not be a match for a $4000 Rollei Wide but the point here is that this is good enough for me! If you want to see the photo larger, just pinch the photo to enlarge it if you have a phone, tablet or smart computer.
The film was Ilford HP5 Plus developed in ID-11. This is one of the frames I developed in Part II of my video.
I still have some more testing to do with the 3.5F and Mutar but needless to say, it works for me! I’m happy with my poor man’s Rollei wide and as most of you know, you can’t get much better in photography than getting something good for cheap! 🙂
Also in this video I discuss a little bit of the basics you would need to get started in the fascinating world of black and white film developing.
To make it easier, here’s a list of the items you would need. Please understand, these are affiliate links. You pay nothing extra and I may get a few cents, maybe not even enough to buy a cup of coffee but every little bit helps the site to grow.
As always, thanks for reading and I truly appreciate your support!
Good September morn you war-torn, hardcore camera geeks! Continuing on from our last article, here is Part Two of my YouTube series on “The Lonely Art” of film developing.
This video focuses on the “fixing” part of bw film development. It is a very important process that makes your images permanent and protects the film from going bad, ie, fogging up, etc.
Incidentally, the fixer is also the part of bw film developing that “smells” the most! All the fixers I have used have had this really pungent, sour smell to them.
Some of you may remember the Flickr group with the brilliant name of “Film Is Not Dead It Just Smells Funny.” Personally, I believe the fixer is what they’re talking about. If I am wrong, let me know!
Anyway, this video is a little more technical than the last but my main point is still NOT about teaching bw film developing. Many people already have videos up that show you how to do it way better than I can.
What I have learned over the years is that, even though there are guidelines as to what to do for whatever film or developer you’re using, there can be variations and people sometimes do things a little differently but as long as you don’t stray too far from the formula, your results should be ok.
The point of this video is to show how tedious the process can be. There’s a lot of downtime involved, a lot of counting minutes. It reminds me a lot of when I worked overnight security for a big tech company. I did in the 1990s so I could go to school during the day.
There was a lot of downtime, free time with that job. Often I would read books, eat, call friends, exercise or get lost in thought. Anything to past the time. And the same goes for developing film.
When I started relearning the process over a decade ago, it was fun, fascinating and I did a lot of it. Today, I still find the results fascinating but I don’t quite enjoy the process as much. My mind wanders.
And even though it doesn’t take all that long to do one roll of film, it feels like forever sometimes but no it’s not. Actually yes, when you factor the scanning and processing thereafter, it does feel like forever!
In the video, I exaggerate some of the things I might do while waiting but there’s a lot of truth to those exaggerations. It is a deeply personal process. Some people put music on, some might do their bills, meditate, etc. It takes a patient person to want to develop film but the results, especially when good, are most worthwhile.
Also to keep it fun, I reveal in this video a camera I’ve been shooting with a lot the past couple of months. Can you guess what it is? 🙂
Thanks for watching and feel free to leave a comment about your experiences, I love to hear from you!
Good Sunday morning you guys! As I revealed earlier I’m also a healthcare worker. In fact, it’s how I make my living.
So today, before I talk about our camera of the day, let me tell you a little about I got into healthcare.
In my twenties, back in the 1990s, I graduated from college with a Bachelor’s in Communication Arts, majoring in Advertising. I took advertising after much personal struggle. I’ve always had an artistic heart but I also wanted to please my parents who wanted their son to work in the business world.
And being a loyal son to my old school parents yet wanting to have some part in the decision I took advertising because I felt it was a good compromise between art and business.
Anyway, working in advertising provided me with an opportunity to use my homebrew photography skills and I worked in this field for several years until a couple of layoffs made me realize that I needed a backup field where I would always have work. I met a person who pointed me in the direction of healthcare and the rest is history. In fact, my “backup” field became my main field of work! I’ll tell you guys more about this in future postings!
THECONTAX I
The Contax I is a 35mm rangefinder film camera introduced by Zeiss Ikon of Germany in 1932. It had a production run of four years until 1936.
As a true hardcore camera aficionado and Contax super-fan, the Contax I was always a camera on my wishlist. However, most of the cameras that I came across were either exorbitantly expensive or they were in unusable condition. Many times it was both.
In 2017, I negotiated a deal of $250 for the Contax I and Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f/2 collapsible. My particular camera is not without its problems as I’ll describe below but for $250 for the body and lens, and with a working shutter, I thought it was a deal!
My Contax I has shutter speeds of 1/25 to 1/1000th of a second plus B. Apparently there are variations that had slower shutter speeds but that was added later so mine must be an earlier model.
The best information I have seen on the Contax I comes from Stephen Gandy’s fabulous Camera Quest website. It has all the information you need on the Contax I. Since Stephen said it best, I need to shut up! Here’s the link:
For those of you who prefer a more animated experience 🙂
In this video I also talk about my experiences on the unemployment line. I understand and empathize with those of you going through hard times. Stay strong, you WILL make it!
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THE CONTAX I
If you are looking to add the Contax I to your collection, keep in mind that (in my opinion) the Contax I should be viewed as a collectible. In other words, don’t expect to find one to use as a regular shooting camera. It may or may not be in working condition but don’t expect it to be perfect unless it’s been restored.
View the Contax I as a collectible first and foremost. Why? Well, first of all the Contax I is really old at this point. Introduced in 1932, these cameras are close to 90 years old. Secondly, even in its day it didn’t have the best reputation for reliability. It was seen as a premium product that was rushed to market in order to compete with the Leica 1 or A as its known.
As a “premium” product, Zeiss tried to outdo Leica anyway they could. If the Leica had zone focus, the Contax would have a rangefinder. If Leica had a cloth shutter, the Contax would have a metal bladed shutter. If Leica topped out at 1/500, the Contax would top out at 1/1000.
Unfortunately, the Contax ultimately ended up as a well conceived product that didn’t quite deliver on the perception its specs conjured up. The shutter on the Contax I is said to be “fragile” or unreliable so that’s the first thing you should look for in these cameras. If the shutter blades are intact and working, that’s a big step in the right direction.
One funny side note…you guys might remember how I’ve often talked of Contax/Yashica and how I’ve always said they made great cameras that were not the most reliable? Well, it seemed Yashica was just following in the spirit of the Contax I! 🙂
Despite all the bad things I’ve read about the “fragile” shutter on the Contax I, the vertically traveling metal blades are still working on mine. I know of at least two other people shooting with the Contax I as well.
But accurate, it is probably not. The speeds feel off to me, which is to be expected for a camera this old. The rangefinder patch on mine is pretty much gone. I can barely make it out. Keep in mind the rangefinder and many other things will probably have worn out on a camera this old.
I know of a great trick where one puts a tiny black dot on the rangefinder window and it worked in the past with other cameras I had with dim rangefinders. I give credit where credit is due. I learned this trick from the website of a man named Rick Oleson, one of the early pioneers of internet photography pages.
His page is on the “tripod” platform that’s how far back it goes! My very first website in 1999 was also on Tripod. I made one page and back then it wasn’t easy like what I’m doing on WordPress today so anyway I put up one page, saw it once and never saw it again! I don’t even remember the name of my page, sad ain’t it?
Anyway, I just want to say Rick thanks for the useful tips and great articles you put on your site over the years. I hope you’re still out there doing your thing!
Ok so back to the Contax I. My rangefinder patch is so dim that even the black dot trick did little to remedy it. And it is true that not many people will attempt a repair on this camera. I reached out to a couple of renowned camera repair people and they politely declined to even attempt it.
So I have to just accept it. I use zone focus and try to compensate for shutter speeds that appear to be slower than the values.
SAMPLES?
Do you guys remember this article I wrote in early 2019?
Zone focusing. Slightly off, but close. Probably f/2-2.8 on the lens. Nice neutral bokeh!
Rabbits 🙂
Vintage haze can be seen in this shot.
Sharpness test. Shot at around f/5.6-f/8
Portrait test. Love the rendering of the 50mm f/2 Sonnar lens!
Trying to get the zone focus down!
Not the sharpest shot but I love the subjects!
Well, the mystery is solved! All those images (above) were taken with the Contax I and 50mm f/2 Sonnar collapsible. The film was Kodak Gold 400. How do I know? Well, these photos were taken in 2017. I found a memo I kept for the cameras I was using that summer of 2017 and especially because I was taking a road trip to south Jersey. The only film camera on the memo for that time frame was the Contax I. In fact, in the article I stated that I suspected it might be the Contax!
None of these images are what I would consider “winners” but considering that I was zone focusing and dealing with a less than optimal shutter, I guess I didn’t do too badly. I’m just happy anything came out! Honestly, I thought the whole roll would be unusable.
I can see the lens is suffering from flare and/or haze, maybe. Still, I do like its rendering on some the images. It’s got an old school vibe to it.
Now I’m even more inclined to put another roll in the Contax I just to verify the results.
PRICE & AVAILABILITY
As I mentioned, the Contax I should be seen as a collectible first and foremost. If you can actually use it for photography, all the better!
That said, prices are all over the place for this camera. As a collectible, there are many factors that will determine the final price. The factors include condition, mechanical and cosmetic, usable or non working, and whether it’s bundled with lenses, accessories, etc.
As a rough guide, I have seen the body alone go from $250-600, and even seen some unscrupulous overseas sellers charging up to $1000. Unless it’s really pristine, working, and has all original accessories I wouldn’t pay anywhere near $1000 for one…and I’m a hardcore Contax fan!
Again, I got mine, body and lens for $250 USD. For that price, it was not without its flaws as I said. Very dim (unusable) RF patch, shutter speeds off. But, it works! And that was the most important thing to me. The fact that I got it cheap was also a deciding factor 🙂
BOTTOM LINE
The Contax I is without a doubt a true legitimate Camera Legend. It is with the Contax I that the legend of Contax was born.
It was an ambitious attempt by Zeiss Ikon, one of the premier names in photography, to compete with Leica for supremacy and control of the then new 35mm film camera market.
Perhaps due to over ambitious and rushed execution, the Contax I is seen today as a somewhat failed product with a reputation for reliability problems. The later Contax II and III/IIIa are much better user cameras but there can only be one number one and the Contax I was the first.
I’ve talked many times about “the real Contax” and the Contax I represents this better than any other Contax I own. It is the camera that put the Contax name into the world, a name that still imprints the thought “Camera Legend” onto the hearts of camera lovers worldwide.
While the Contax II and III/IIIa and the Zeiss lenses cemented Contax as one of the world’s finest camera brands, the flawed Contax I was the first and as such it will always be the camera that started the Contax legend.
Thanks for supporting Camera Legend! Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the very latest!
Ah, there is no doubt spring is in the air! In the past few days I have seen these “things” everywhere! What are these “things” anyway? Well, it apparently starts out as yellow dandelions and they eventually turn into this white/grayish thing which are the seeds!
This was shot with an Olympus E-10 digital camera which was introduced in the year 2000. It was a bridge camera which looks like a large DSLR but is in reality a point and shoot with a fixed lens. In some ways Olympus was ahead of their time with cameras like this! In appearance, it looks very much like a digital equivalent of their IS-3 or other “IS” series of film bridge cameras.
One big difference though is the E-10 had a much smaller 2/3″ sensor versus 35mm film. This was well before the full frame era or even APS-C sensor point and shoots. That was the norm back in 2000. Actually, to have a camera that looked like the E-10 in 2000 is quite mind blogging when you think about it now!
How does it compare in today’s world? Well I haven’t done any scientific testing, but the images have that old school digital look which means colors are not always accurate. There is softness from the low 4mp resolution. When I say “soft” I don’t mean not sharp. In this case I mean lacking a lot of details that we’re used to seeing from higher resolution cameras.
But guess what? Taken on the whole, I like the images! Old digital cameras have a “vintage” look all their own. I won’t even call it “film like” though I know people like that term. It’s digital and it has got its own charm.
Perhaps it’s just a fondness for nostalgia but I find that things that weren’t so pretty back in the day, people tend to love today. Ok, maybe it’s just me 🙂
Ah don’t lie, I know there are many of you out there who feel the same way! Anyway, the digital cameras from back in the early days of digital can be a lot of fun to play with. An Olympus E-10 today on the used market can set you back anywhere from $10-60 dollars. Many are either not working or the rubber surfaces become sticky. Find a working one for a low price and they can be a lot of fun! Happy shooting folks!
Good morning guys! Hope you don’t mind if I indulge a little in celebrating and wishing my daughter Zay a very Happy 4th Birthday!! A wonderful child, couldn’t ask for a better baby, we’ve been blessed. Love you lots kid 😍🎂✌🏻
Sorry if you’ve seen some of these pictures before but they just happen to be some of my favorites among many.
Time marches on so fast! Sometimes I get sick when I remember like yesterday it was 1999 and now you telling me it’s twenty years later?!
Friend, it doesn’t get any slower. In fact, anyone above the age of forty can tell you it moves faster every year! Cherish the day and take lots of pics!
Zay at three months. 2015. Canon EOS 5D Classic, EF 50mm f/1.8 II.
“Lost” 2016. Leica M8, 50mm f/2 Summicron-M.
Zay at around four months. 2015. Leica CM, Ilford FP4 in D76.
Zay & Zoe, 2016. iPhone 6s Plus.
“A Portrait Of Zay” 2016. Olympus OM-D EM-5, 45mm f/1.8 Zuiko Digital lens.
“Eskimo Pie” 2019. iPhone 6s Plus
FUJIFILM, FUTURE REVIEWS & COSMOS?!
I posted this a couple of days ago, sorry for the late update. In our latest “Trends” video, we look at the news that Fuji will be raising the prices of their films by thirty percent. I’m not too happy about this. Yes, I understand they are a business and prices do not stay the same forever. However, a thirty percent increase is pretty steep and in my opinion, they haven’t felt the love for the “film” portion of their name for a long time now. I wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually get rid of all their 35mm and 120 film and focus squarely on their Instax line which makes them a lot of money.
I will also show you some of the cameras and lenses that I plan to review. Actually, I already have drafts for most of them! My issue is that I tend to be too cautious with what I say or write so I just keep editing. I just want everything to be accurate. This explains part of the reason why it takes so long between reviews. Sorry about that! My reasoning is that once these reviews come out you cannot take back what you said so you must get it right!
Thank you guys for reading and as this is the last day of February, I guess I’ll see you all next month!
This photo was shot about two, almost three years ago in 2016. I said to Zay, give me your best smile and this is what she gave me! Ah the baby’s already a natural in my biased opinion 🙂
Sure yes I know it’s not a real “flashback” but hey when you’re a 3 year old toddler, yeah it’s a flashback! 😀
I wonder though, could anyone figure out the camera setup being used in the picture? Hint, it’s not something I ever alluded to on these pages before lol but perhaps this is the year for it! This is the year we go BIG…or is it not? Haha
What’s better than a good Monday Mystery Camera on a Tuesday? 😀
Sorry I’m late with this posting but I did get the YouTube video for this in late on a Monday night if that counts!
Anyway, this is just one of those cameras that I don’t feel the need or want to kill myself writing about so I’ll let the video do the talking for those interested since everything I know about it is in the video. I’ll save the double duty for the hardcore camera stuff! It’s basically a Sony DKC-C200X Passport Camera from 2003 and it is one of the largest, goofiest digital cameras I’ve ever seen! 🙂
But does it work? Is it good for anything other than passports?
One thing I’d like to note. The “coffee” thing at the beginning is basically a parody of this much used and cliched scene. I’ve seen it on so many YouTube videos that I’ve lost count! 😀
As far as I can tell, the only way I can use this camera is to have the photos sent via Bluetooth to a compatible Sony Printer which I do not have. Now if anyone out there has this camera and can tell me if there’s a way to send photos from this camera to a laptop or phone I’d appreciate it! Thank you!
Camera Legend 