Hello to all. I have a near mint Contax S2b SLR which is titanium in a charcol grey color, boxed. I know they are hard to find, but are they collectable? I really never use it, since I bought my Leica M system. I am thinking of selling it. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

-- John Abela (jamriman@yahoo.com), March 02, 2002

Answers

John, the best place to look for information on Contax cameras is the Zeiss experts at Zeiss camera group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZICG/

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), March 02, 2002.

online prices: Contax S2b 1560 DM

http://www.photographica-world.de/xyz.htm

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), March 02, 2002.

The S2b (center-weighted meter) was never a great seller compared to the S2 (selective meter), and both cameras are discontinued from a brand which is a slow-seller in itself. The camera is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. You might put it on e-Bay and see what it brings.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), March 02, 2002.

John, there are few S2 out there and even fewer S2b, but there also doesn't seem to be much demand for them---I wouldn't call them "collectible" if you define collectible as "increasing in value due to rarity." Like with a lot of used hardware, S2/S2b prices are kind of soft right now. They're selling used at less than 60-70% of their new street price these days---around $600 for an S2 and $700-$750 for an S2b? I wanted as S2 for a while, didn't look too hard and didn't even think about buying until I found one last week for $550.

Putting your S2b on e-bay would give you a good idea what folks are willing to pay.

Good luck,

PB

-- Paul Brodek (pcb@skyweb.net), March 02, 2002.