I bought a broken T2 on ebay back in 2012 for $30. I sent it in to Contax/Kyocera in New Jersey and they repaired it for about $100. It came back a brand new camera. In case you're wondering Kyocera ran out of spare parts several years ago so they no longer repair any of the Contax line of cameras. After watching this video, I should probably take better care of it!
Ian, I am so glad that you have your own channel. I appreciate your professionalism and passion about analog gears. Concerning the price, I think Digital Rev is partly responsible :) When you type on google "best compact film camera" the first result is a DR article in which this camera appears (btw did you write this article ? Cuz the same picture of the girl on Agfa film appears to illustrate the T2). Anyway, keep making these lovely videos, also props for the person(s) behind the camera. PS: you and Bellamy inspired me to purchase the F3 :) I do recommend this camera at my turn now when's possible, and actually some of my subscribers came back to me saying that they bought the F3 after seeing my videos in which I use it. So thank you for inspiring me and indirectly them :)
Very true - media and internet blogs did for sure lead to the massive hype around this camera (good as it is). And yes I did write that article LOL. Completely forgot about it. Great to see you and your audience love the F3 - such an incredible classic.
came in china, after weeks of waiting got my internet connection, after quite a few attempts of vpns finally got back my youtube! , this is the first video I'm watching.
Best youtube show ever!!! Please carry on! Can you do an episode about the leica digilux 2 and the olympus trip 35 And maybe the lovely nikon f2!!! Big upppp from Tunisia
Nice video Ian. You’re right, its great that film is getting more and more of a following, even if that pushes the prices of certain cameras up. Please keep up the great videos!!!
I bought my T2 from Belamy a year and half ago and paid 500.00usd for the black version and pretty minty. Can't believe how much it gone up in such a short time.
Great work once again. I'm a little worn out of seeing these cult cameras being reviewed at every other film photography channel (it's always a Leica M#, Nikon F3, Hasselblad 500xx, Contax Tx, Pentax 67, etc) but i enjoy knowing that your channel covers other aspects about the camera aside from its technical specs.
Thanks! We tried to put a little bit of a different spin on it. But aside from that, it was also quite a strange occurrence that it appeared on TV. (And I just simply have a long history with it).
You guys are funny! Great video. Yea bought my T2 in 2012 after missing the process of shooting film. Picked it up for under $300. Also bought a G1 around the same time. Great camera.
This the DigitalRev guy? Contax blast from the past. Always wanted a G2 myself. Have a Contax SLR. My favourite point and shoot was Olympus Stylus Epic.
Still ❤️ this beautiful thing. I had a chance to bought one but it was faulty, and had to return it. Ended up getting the T3, but I still think T2 has more classic characters which I like it so much more.
Mostly reliable - except the autofocus for mine seemed to have gotten worse over the years. After one too many misfocused portraits I switched to the T3 which can focus closer.
Your videos are made so well. It's awesome. This series inspired me to get a Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super B on the fleamarket (30€) to try out some analog photography. Just for fun. I'm thrilled to see the results. If the camera is bad, it will still look nice on my shelf. :)
M JP That's great, but try not to watch videos on Facebook. Unless someone posted their own video, chances are that it was a "link" from TH-cam. In a sense, Facebook is "stealing" videos from TH-cam. When you watch a TH-cam video from Facebook, Facebook gets all the money. The content creator (in this case Ian), will get 0% of what Facebook made from that video.
Just for the size alone, I will go with the T3 even with its lack of intuitive usage. You get used to remembering how to turn flashes off etc as you play with it more.
I have the Contax Tix -- an outstanding camera, if you can scrounge up film for it! Keeping in mind that the last APS film was discontinued in 2011, I mean. . .
I got a Leica C2. It's a small compact camera like the T2 or T3 and it's rumored that it's made by Panasonic and therefor not a true Leica. I bought it brand new 6 years ago and only shot 5 rolls of film with it, so it's still in very good condition. However, I have a mixed relationship with it; I hope goes up in value in the future since it's a 'Leica' and get a good profit out of it, but I also like the camera because it's the only small (and luxurious) 35mm camera I will probably ever own. What I'm trying to say is that I rather shoot with my Mamiya 645j since it's full manual in contrast to these small point-and-shoot camera's where you have (almost) no control at all. But that's also a charming factor that creates these spontaneous looking shots and of course, perhaps, a lazy photographer.
I own a Nikon 35Ti since new and I much prefer it to the T2 or T3 ... Or Minilux. I often take it out instead of my M6 with Zeiss 35mm. And these fun hands at the top + awesome light metering.
Went to Tokyo last month to source one of these bad boys, switched from the good old culty GR1 to T2, and I definitely love it! High quality review as always!
Makes you wonder... why doesn't a company like Fujifilm, Ricoh, Voigtländer, Zenit or Lomography bring such a compact point-n-shoot filmcamera back on the market? Don't know, get a crowdfunder going to create some hype. You see it all the time with like Lomography and Meyer Optik Görlitz. People eat that shit up like crazy. Now, I think, you could make one for $50 bucks, but say you actually want to create a worthy new classic maybe 249-599 then, but you can probably still sell these easily at 799. Then why is nobody serving this market? With Kodak licensensing their name to everything, I think I might pull a Meyer Optik Görlitz and get into this myself. Anybody want to co-found a Kickstarter with me?
I think the problem is that old point-n-shoot film cameras are so easily available and cheap that there really is no market for new ones. Until the old ones are gone, of course. And most film shooters prefer to have some ability to focus manually etc, so that's another nail in the point-n-shoot coffin.
'Cheap' is relative. Not sure if you have taken a look at the highly sought after quality built Contax/Fujifilm etc cameras. Some go for well over a 1000 bucks. I'm not talking about your average throw away film camera. Something like the Olympus Mju line is very affordable and pretty solid though. Or a Yashica if you want the Contax glass, but cheap price and accept the fairly ugly design etc. But there's hardly the same desire to have one as it is one of the before mentioned cameras that are a class of their own... I'm talking Contax T2, T3, Fujifilm Klasse S & W, Ricoh GR1v, etc, they're true icons and there's a premium on that. They appreciate like crazy over time. Old ones go to die and the few that remain standing get offered to the highest bidder and in meanwhile... they're opening their wallets real wide. I think it's a missed business oppertunity not to bring a new compact film stills camera in the Contax league, but at retail prices that makes it cheaper if there's more demand, rather than making it more expensive. And they have to be affordable and with new technical advancements, they're probably better thought through, more efficient and perhaps with the styling of a Ricoh GRII or Sony RX100 V nice looking and compact. Just one guy with an opinion though.
Yes, I have the Huawei P10 Plus with Leica dualcam set-up. IT'S NOT FRIGGIN' THE SAME, BRO. - With comments like that, what are you even doing on this channel?
Sorry for asking a probably stupid question, but how do you have the film developed in adequate quality, and then, more importantly, digitized in a way that does the Zeiss justice?
I always preferred the Ricoh GR1s but mine died a couple of months ago (they just die like that). An olympus mju i/ii or yashica t4 are the smart options. Don't get me wrong, the T2 and T3 are beasts, but are you going to spend 1000$ on a P&S? I would buy a cheap mju and spend all the rest of the money on an airplane ticket to HK and film.
I love the darkroom series so much and just started to consider joining the film family as well, would you mind telling me that you shoots lot of film, are you developing all those by yourself or just pay the shop to do it? It would be a great helping hand for me. thx
I bought a broken T2 on ebay back in 2012 for $30. I sent it in to Contax/Kyocera in New Jersey and they repaired it for about $100. It came back a brand new camera. In case you're wondering Kyocera ran out of spare parts several years ago so they no longer repair any of the Contax line of cameras. After watching this video, I should probably take better care of it!
Yes it's a huge shame about the lack of repair parts for the Contax T2. I hope you still have yours!
I'm addicted to this Digital Darkroom series!! Thanks for the great work, Ian and Anne! xx
"It's a lot of money for a small camera."
Leica: "Aww, that's so cute."
Haha Leica is indeed on another level...
Ian Wong The CM is not though.
I'm just stopping by to say that I miss this channel. Hope you bring it back soon Ian!
I'm a professional photographer who originally learned on film and I've never heard of this camera until this video!
This was well done.
Very nice Ian I really like the style of video you do.
Thanks Brian! We'll keep experimenting with some different styles in the future though maybe :)
I sold mine in 2013 for $400 to pay rent. Now they're $1000 - $1500!
Great job guys! This series is becoming one of my favorites here on TH-cam!
Thanks!
this content quality is amazing for such a small channel. can’t wait to see you reach 100k
Great video Ian. Keep up the good work
The king of film photography videos 🙌
Ian, I am so glad that you have your own channel. I appreciate your professionalism and passion about analog gears.
Concerning the price, I think Digital Rev is partly responsible :) When you type on google "best compact film camera" the first result is a DR article in which this camera appears (btw did you write this article ? Cuz the same picture of the girl on Agfa film appears to illustrate the T2). Anyway, keep making these lovely videos, also props for the person(s) behind the camera.
PS: you and Bellamy inspired me to purchase the F3 :) I do recommend this camera at my turn now when's possible, and actually some of my subscribers came back to me saying that they bought the F3 after seeing my videos in which I use it. So thank you for inspiring me and indirectly them :)
Very true - media and internet blogs did for sure lead to the massive hype around this camera (good as it is). And yes I did write that article LOL. Completely forgot about it. Great to see you and your audience love the F3 - such an incredible classic.
The opening close-up shot on the camera reminds me the DigitalRev Contax G1 episode. Good work!
Really nice video, Ian. Glad to see you producing new stuff!
We are trying to keep it regular!
content as chill and inspiring as ever. makes you want to go out and shoot
Good.... good :)
just dropped off my first roll to be developed from the t2 i bought last week. excited to see the results!
Ian I love the theme and flow of your videos and the aesthetics of your editing. Hope to see more greatness from you!
Got a couple of Contax T , the model 1, one silver, one black, with the fold down front, and a T3. I always enjoy using them
Love your videos man, keep up the hard work!
Loved the intro man 🤟🏽and the video is fantastic
Again this is great. Love your work!
Great video. Looking forward to the next one!
Ian's directions are amazingggggggggg
Great work Ian! Looking forward to see more videos from ya!
Good to see you still out there Ian.
Hi John, glad you are still watching!
Nice work, as usual!
Thanks Daniel!
Another great episode ! congratulation on this one 😀
Just picked up a Champagne T2 with the data back! I love it.
I love you videos, well done again.
Your videos have that wonderful mood in them :)
another fun episode - nice job.
came in china, after weeks of waiting got my internet connection, after quite a few attempts of vpns finally got back my youtube! , this is the first video I'm watching.
Loved the video Ian! Looking forward in what you bring next 🙂
just got my T3, $2300, enjoying it so so much.
absolutely crazy.
Best youtube show ever!!! Please carry on!
Can you do an episode about the leica digilux 2 and the olympus trip 35
And maybe the lovely nikon f2!!!
Big upppp from Tunisia
Good stuff Ian, I like what you do. Keep going at it!
I've waited so long for another episode ;D
I've got the T2 and T3. Trying to figure out which to keep and which to sell is one of the hardest decisions ever.
T3 imo! The close-focusing makes so much difference.
Keep both. Prices are only going through the roof.
sell the T3. I want to have it.
Nice video Ian. You’re right, its great that film is getting more and more of a following, even if that pushes the prices of certain cameras up. Please keep up the great videos!!!
chill and lowkey content as always.
I bought my T2 from Belamy a year and half ago and paid 500.00usd for the black version and pretty minty. Can't believe how much it gone up in such a short time.
Wow dude. Fantastic work!
great as always
Amazing production Ian, congrats! ;-)
Thanks!
Great work once again. I'm a little worn out of seeing these cult cameras being reviewed at every other film photography channel (it's always a Leica M#, Nikon F3, Hasselblad 500xx, Contax Tx, Pentax 67, etc) but i enjoy knowing that your channel covers other aspects about the camera aside from its technical specs.
Thanks! We tried to put a little bit of a different spin on it. But aside from that, it was also quite a strange occurrence that it appeared on TV. (And I just simply have a long history with it).
You guys are funny! Great video. Yea bought my T2 in 2012 after missing the process of shooting film. Picked it up for under $300. Also bought a G1 around the same time. Great camera.
Cool video... introduced me to the world of Contax T2...
You have a really cool style. I'm glad you carried on making videos. I love the ones from the outdoor pool
Glad someone liked it! It looked better in real life though, so my attempts at scaling the wall didn't really pay off.
quality content bro. feels like im watching a documentary. glad I came across your channel
Sweet! I didn't know you had a TH-cam, Ian. AnalogRev was always one of my favourite parts of DigitalRev.
Awesome video! Wish i could find a T2 for $200 nowadays. What kind of shoes are you wearing tho man! love em!
Great episode.
Love the style of this vid dude! (That d'va soundbite made me lol)
top quality content! very informative but must have been a lot of work so thank you!
Your Videos never fail... You always bring the best! You're right.. "Greed bay" prices are out of this world.
Everybody has gold now..
Greay video! So happy for this trend. Recently got rid of my Contax T2 for quite a lot of $$$. Never liked using it. More of a Ricoh user.
Great work Ian
entertaining video and great pictures! it's always good to have a walk in Hong Kong with you. keep up the good work!
It's funny that you posted this ha ha. I've been researching this camera hardcore lately deciding between a T2 and a Leica Minilux.
This probably won't help you much with your choice ;)
Ian Wong Or did it? (It did) Keep it up with the great content! 😁
Great video! Nice job!
really enjoy your videos.. you have your own way.. love it .. wish you would create more content.
This the DigitalRev guy? Contax blast from the past. Always wanted a G2 myself. Have a Contax SLR. My favourite point and shoot was Olympus Stylus Epic.
Great video!
Thanks for this video. I use to sell this camera when I worked in a camera store.
i had and dearly miss my leica minilux i am considering triying a contax t2 or perhaps both as I get back into this hobby
Great video guys.The T2 in uk is average in between £1,500-£2,500 🤦🏻♂
Still ❤️ this beautiful thing. I had a chance to bought one but it was faulty, and had to return it. Ended up getting the T3, but I still think T2 has more classic characters which I like it so much more.
I really love my T3 ... but can't quite bring myself to sell my T2. It's been too many places with me.
Ian Wong I’m eyeing a T2 now, would you say yours has been reliable so far? Thanks!
Mostly reliable - except the autofocus for mine seemed to have gotten worse over the years. After one too many misfocused portraits I switched to the T3 which can focus closer.
Your videos are made so well. It's awesome. This series inspired me to get a Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super B on the fleamarket (30€) to try out some analog photography. Just for fun. I'm thrilled to see the results. If the camera is bad, it will still look nice on my shelf. :)
Hope it works!
I love your content so much
With Ian you first like👍 then watch😉
:D
I liked the second I saw it on facebook and while the video was still loading I hit that thumbs up button.
M JP That's great, but try not to watch videos on Facebook. Unless someone posted their own video, chances are that it was a "link" from TH-cam. In a sense, Facebook is "stealing" videos from TH-cam. When you watch a TH-cam video from Facebook, Facebook gets all the money. The content creator (in this case Ian), will get 0% of what Facebook made from that video.
Well done!
Theme music reference at 4:25 to Weekly Imogen.!?😄🤓👏
Keep up the good work..
What about comparing the two Nikon TI 28 , TI 35 ??
Sammy Anderson would like to see this too 🙂
I've wanted to get my hands on those for ages haha
Solid episode!
Just for the size alone, I will go with the T3 even with its lack of intuitive usage. You get used to remembering how to turn flashes off etc as you play with it more.
I am Anne's #1 fan!
I see his flash burned out on the T2, happened to mine as well. Wish there was a way to replace them!
Ian with the surprise Wednesday morning upload, you never expect it.
Good...good...
Awesome channel Ian
Ian, when are you coming back? Needing another episode of this!
I have the Contax Tix -- an outstanding camera, if you can scrounge up film for it! Keeping in mind that the last APS film was discontinued in 2011, I mean. . .
i have a T2 which is a great camera. taking very sharp image and very durable like a tank.
I got a Leica C2. It's a small compact camera like the T2 or T3 and it's rumored that it's made by Panasonic and therefor not a true Leica. I bought it brand new 6 years ago and only shot 5 rolls of film with it, so it's still in very good condition. However, I have a mixed relationship with it; I hope goes up in value in the future since it's a 'Leica' and get a good profit out of it, but I also like the camera because it's the only small (and luxurious) 35mm camera I will probably ever own.
What I'm trying to say is that I rather shoot with my Mamiya 645j since it's full manual in contrast to these small point-and-shoot camera's where you have (almost) no control at all. But that's also a charming factor that creates these spontaneous looking shots and of course, perhaps, a lazy photographer.
I had absolutely no idea she went on the Tonight Show with one of these, or that she had one in general. That's wild.
Yeah it's crazy! She has a nice one too '-'
I own a Nikon 35Ti since new and I much prefer it to the T2 or T3 ... Or Minilux. I often take it out instead of my M6 with Zeiss 35mm. And these fun hands at the top + awesome light metering.
Nice video! What little bag was that that Derrick had his T2 in?
I've got mine for 300€ in Germany. Good video!
Went to Tokyo last month to source one of these bad boys, switched from the good old culty GR1 to T2, and I definitely love it! High quality review as always!
Great to watch this again for the memories, now that Jumbo has closed down :-(
Makes you wonder... why doesn't a company like Fujifilm, Ricoh, Voigtländer, Zenit or Lomography bring such a compact point-n-shoot filmcamera back on the market? Don't know, get a crowdfunder going to create some hype. You see it all the time with like Lomography and Meyer Optik Görlitz. People eat that shit up like crazy. Now, I think, you could make one for $50 bucks, but say you actually want to create a worthy new classic maybe 249-599 then, but you can probably still sell these easily at 799. Then why is nobody serving this market? With Kodak licensensing their name to everything, I think I might pull a Meyer Optik Görlitz and get into this myself. Anybody want to co-found a Kickstarter with me?
Fuji kind of did with the Klasse, but only for Japan market a while ago...
I think the problem is that old point-n-shoot film cameras are so easily available and cheap that there really is no market for new ones. Until the old ones are gone, of course. And most film shooters prefer to have some ability to focus manually etc, so that's another nail in the point-n-shoot coffin.
'Cheap' is relative. Not sure if you have taken a look at the highly sought after quality built Contax/Fujifilm etc cameras. Some go for well over a 1000 bucks. I'm not talking about your average throw away film camera. Something like the Olympus Mju line is very affordable and pretty solid though. Or a Yashica if you want the Contax glass, but cheap price and accept the fairly ugly design etc. But there's hardly the same desire to have one as it is one of the before mentioned cameras that are a class of their own... I'm talking Contax T2, T3, Fujifilm Klasse S & W, Ricoh GR1v, etc, they're true icons and there's a premium on that. They appreciate like crazy over time. Old ones go to die and the few that remain standing get offered to the highest bidder and in meanwhile... they're opening their wallets real wide. I think it's a missed business oppertunity not to bring a new compact film stills camera in the Contax league, but at retail prices that makes it cheaper if there's more demand, rather than making it more expensive. And they have to be affordable and with new technical advancements, they're probably better thought through, more efficient and perhaps with the styling of a Ricoh GRII or Sony RX100 V nice looking and compact. Just one guy with an opinion though.
Shiznutsz We got smartphone today.
Yes, I have the Huawei P10 Plus with Leica dualcam set-up.
IT'S NOT FRIGGIN' THE SAME, BRO.
- With comments like that, what are you even doing on this channel?
Hi Ian! It would be great to have some information of the little pouch with strap that your friend was carrying the contax t2 in.
Derrick got it at a market in Albuquerque, New Mexico :/ Good luck on your search for a pouch!
Not sure about the title. Anyway I got T1~3 and TC1, and many others. T3 is hands down the best.
your content is very nice!
Sorry for asking a probably stupid question, but how do you have the film developed in adequate quality, and then, more importantly, digitized in a way that does the Zeiss justice?
Where did you get the leather case for the contax t2?
I need a P&S camera so bad..
Looking forward for a AGFA film roll video later on!
Lots of good ones out there for less money than the T2!
great video with awesome view. Are you Hong Kongnese by the way?
Great video. Anyone knows what song is used in the outro?
I always preferred the Ricoh GR1s but mine died a couple of months ago (they just die like that). An olympus mju i/ii or yashica t4 are the smart options. Don't get me wrong, the T2 and T3 are beasts, but are you going to spend 1000$ on a P&S? I would buy a cheap mju and spend all the rest of the money on an airplane ticket to HK and film.
I love the darkroom series so much and just started to consider joining the film family as well, would you mind telling me that you shoots lot of film, are you developing all those by yourself or just pay the shop to do it? It would be a great helping hand for me. thx
We usually send them into a shop we trust for development. Welcome to the film family :)