Was the Contax S2 and S2b made by Cosina

Cosina has made SLRs cameras (and now rangefinder cameras) for a lot

of different brand including its own Cosina and Voigtlander brand.

That was the case of the Olympus OM2000, the Nikon FM10, the Nikon

FE10, the Voigtlander VSL 42, the VSL 40, the Bessaflex TM, etc,

etc. Looking at the pictures of the Contax S2 and Contax S2b I have

realised that the Contax look like being part of the same family.

That the Contax is made of Titanium is not an issue since Cosina has

not made only cameras made of plastic. The lightmeter of the Contax

seems to be a similar LED meter. Everything technically looks like

camera made by Cosina. Only the shutter seems to be different and is

not one of the three shutters put in Cosina's cameras.

Have a look at this link to see how similar the Contax S2b is to a Cosina. <http://www.johnstons.org/roy/photo/s2b>

The compare it to the Bessaflex TM in Stefen Gandy's website <http://www.cameraquest.com/voigtFlexTM.htm> and to thhe say the Nikon FM10 <http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/filmcamera/slr/1995-1999/fm10/index.htm>

They both look like SLR's to me. Is *that* all you have to support your claim?

 

Robert

I own and use the Contax S2. I have heard that it was made in the Cosina factory but I couldn't say for sure. It is a splended camera and it exhudes quality. Whether it is better than the Nikon FM2 or fm3a remains to be seen. It certainly is more solid than the Yashica FX3 Super 2000 or the Oly OM2000 or the Nikon FM10. By the way the film advance on my S2 broke and I had to send it to TOCAD for repair. They fixed it but did a rather sloppy job, and it took 2 and a half months to get it back. I just thought someone might want to know.

The top deck has that Cosina look to it.

>The top deck has that Cosina look to it.<P>

 

I guess Cosina even made (or at least gave the "looks" to) the Nikon FE from 1978, huh?<P>

 

<img src=http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonfeseries/fe/mapfetopview.jpg>

Cosina look? Cosina is the company that Zeiss chose to manufacture the new Zeiss Ikon. That cmaera has a very elegent look.

 

RObert

No, wait...the Nikkormat EL from 1972 was made by Cosina too, right?<P><img src=http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikkormat/elseries/el/images/mapfrontview.jpg>

>The lightmeter of the Contax seems to be a similar LED meter. <P>

 

Darn, here's another proof of Cosina making the Nikon F2 Photomic AS camera (or at least the DP-12 finder) from 1977:<P><img src=http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonf2/f2/nikonf2as/images/leds.gif>

Look at the Nikon FM2n's full range of shutter speeds - <i>they are the same as those on the Contax S2!!!</i> Even the shutter curtains look alike. All those units must be made by Cosina, not Nikon or even Copal. <a href=http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonfmseries/fm2/>FM2n</a><P><img src=http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonfmseries/fm2/shutter.jpg>

The Nikkormat EL is a Cosina. I asked a Nikon repairer today and he has told me that. I have no evindence about the Contax S2 beeing a Cosina, nor I know anything about other Nikon lightmeters. However, have a look at the new Zeiss Ikon or the Bessaflex and you will see that caractheristic door hinge on the right of the camera. Or just look where the deep of field buttom is situated and the strap lugs, and the type of timer buttom and where is situated. I do not know but the Contax S2 looks to me like a Cosina. The Olympus OM2000 had spot meter and the FM10 had center weight meter. Cosina has been doing both meters which are so similar to the ones of the S2 and the S2b.

Please go to the Nikon forum and open their eyes with your repairer's and your own compelling evidence about Cosina, the alpha and omega of camera-making. Don't forget nikonians.org and the Nikon Historial Society at http://www.nikonhs.org/forums.html

 

The Rangefinderforum.com will need to hear the Gospel According to Fernando also.

And you probably need to go check your hearing. What your Nikon repairer said could have been "the Nikkorex was made by Mamiya" which is actually true.

 

But who cares? Cosina made and still makes virtually every camera coming out from Japan anyway. Most folks don't know that and you need to go tell them.

Somebody forget their Ritalin?

That's absurd. I'm sick of people commenting on things they don't have the least idea about. Obviously this guy has never had any of these cameras in his hands. The shutter of the S2 is the same as that one of the Nikon FM2T. BTW the Contax S2 was produced by Kyocera in Japan, like the rest of the Contax cameras. The red dot LED viewfinder? well, that one looks exactly like the one on the Contax 139Q (incidentally I have both and it's very obvious that the S2 owes a lot to the 139 when it comes to body shape and dimensions, as well as levers etc, but it's a different product all of its own). I also had a nasty Bessaflex for a while, what an awful thing! You cannot compare a S2 to anything else but to another Contax. I'm sick tired of people claiming that this camera is a Yashica FX3 or something of the sort... Please!

The Contax S2 was produced by Cosina. I don't know why that would get people so upset. Cosina considerably upgraded the construction of the S2 chassis over the earlier Yashica FX-3 iterations - particularly the made-in-China Super 2000, though apparently the film advance was not the best as there have been more than a few complaints of early malfunction or failure. Cosina has apparently made use of some of the technical improvements in the S2 chassis in the production of its Bessa/Voigtlander RF bodies.