Expensive LEICA Rangefinder vs Affordable CONTAX SLR - Shooting Film in Serbia
More film photography content at cameraville.co
Quality Used Film Gear:
kamerastore.com/?...
In this video we start by crossing over the Sava River to explore New Belgrade, slowly making our way towards the well-known [in the Brutalist Architecture movement] Genex Tower as we shoot and compare images from two very different film cameras.
In this video you can see the Leica Summicron-C 40mm f2 Leica M-mount lens compared to the Carl Zeiss Tessar 45mm f2.8 for Contax/Yashica mount.
The difference in price between these two setups is over $1300, while most of that difference is made up of the price of the camera bodies, the point is, in my opinion, once you are willing to spend $200 to $300 on a film camera lens, the quality of the results are subjective compared to that of anything costIng higher I’m most situations.
Additionally, in the images from the video above, we not only have different lenses and films, but with a film speed of 100 in the Leica, I was able and chose to shoot nearly all the images at f2. At least half of the images taken on the Contax are shot at f5.6.
This means the images from the Contax will be sharper and have a less shallow depth of field. Though, for me what is attractive about the Carl Zeiss Tessar 45mm f2.8 compared to the Leica Summicron-C is the wonderful dark and dynamic contrast it renders to the images. It’s possible it is the Kodak Gold giving extra contrast over the Kodak Pro Image 100 - but I’m set on believing it is the lens.
Music:
Produced by White Hot
Great video, I loved the shots 👌
Cetinje, Kotor, Ulcinj, Old Budva, Perast. Unfortunatelly, I do not see just anything so beautiful in Belgrade to see or remember. Again, ... and of course: welcome o Montenegro! I live in Herceg Novi and NY(USA). Cheers!
Thank you guys that was professional
Nice video. I would love to see a video to re-skin the Contax.
Fun video! Would love to see a more accurate comparison video sometime (same frames, film, settings) to get a real comparison. Fun photo walk video nonetheless though
Your city is beautiful!
Why in heck would you use different films?
I said “Oh no!!” Out loud when they said they were using different film. Just…. why???
Great video. I have the same Contax and lens, Iv'e taken some pictures I really like with it. I do worry about it long-term though, Iv'e tried to buy another for back up, but so many here are inoperative. Leica mechanical M's are forever if you can afford the service.
You are right. Try to find another body that works. They are still good prices and I think 2 that work... well at least one will last a long time.
I have shot contax a lot, my fav lens is the 25, but the tessar is fantastic, pity you had different film, as the tessar showed more saturation. Thanks, a great comparison!
Thank you! I haven’t used the Tessar since the video - it’s still in Serbia !:(
The tessar has a better rendering of contrast. The summicron is a bit on the warm side. Thanks for the video!
Yes I agree completely 👍🏻
Oh my god, that cherry wood cover looks amazing! Any chance your friend could make one to order?
Hi thank you, apologies for the late reply. I’m sure he can make one for you, send me an email and I can connect you 👍🏻 home@cameraville.co
Can you send me the link where can I buy the exact Camera 🎥 Contax 12:24
You should have had shot the same film stock in both cameras, that would have been better...
Video @ 8:03 "Wow, there it is" - I'm not familiar with your area. Did something of significance happen there ? Finally, I too was confused as to which camera/lens shot which shot...
No nothing significant happened, I was referring to the being able to first see the Genex Tower with is an architecturally notable structure (brutalist architecture). Sorry for the confusion. When you see one guy take a photo, and the split screen after has one side larger - it's the same photo with part of it enlarged to take advantage of the video screen space. When you an equal split screen with both of us in it, our own images are displayed on the same side as us.
Yugo ftw :)
That smoke at the beginning!
Nice photo trip, i would choose the 139 hands down :D ok i got it and i LOVE Contaxes ! keep it up cheers
You almost walked under a car in 4:20!
I took little steps until it passed ☺️
Contax looks sharper and colder, Leica, softer and warmer?
Yes to me it looks like that but we didn’t try to use the same aperture on every shot. Leica lens is nice too F4 and above
Damn, Belgrade must have been beautiful before NATO fucked it over. Somehow it still looks beautiful though. I love the shots on the Contax. I have an ST with the 28mm but now thinking of trying the setup in this vid as it seems far more compact.
I agree on both counts about Belgrade. And that particular lens is just so good - perhaps the Tessar lens design may be responsible.
You got the guy sitting in a Yugo to pose!?
Yes my friend talked to him, after we saw him park to make a delivery. he was cool.
The Contax images look much better but what a depressing city.
It’s one of my favorite places. We toured the more neglected areas in this video. In this situation I like Contax images better as well.
the latest fad: $1 black electrical tape on $2000 black leica
matteovrizzi its been happening for a while 😅 do you know why people do it?
@@Cameraville Yes .... same as the 90s fad of de-badging high-powered mercedes/bmw's :-) Another point to note is that if i was comparing two camera / lens setups , frankly, i would use the same film on both - In any case, an interesting video.
Yes I could have compared much much better. I think my point was lost, which was - a good lens is good enough and you should get what you like and not be concerned with subtle differences. Perhaps I will do more towards your point in a future video, for those who want learn something from a solid comparison. Oh yes the de-badging of nice cars, I remember. For me I black tape for a few reasons. Aesthetically I prefer it with no markings (like the Leica M-A), and additionally in many countries I travel to I think its not smart to display the word Leica like that. Countries where a $2000 camera might be worth 4 of 5 months salary. Well I guess only a criminal would try to steal it - which have a €0 /mo salary :D
A pretty dreadful video on all counts. Poorly thought through and badly captioned, besides the terrible shots. I'm assuming the wider images are the Leica ones as it's a wider lens but who knows....and mixing films is just plain bonkers which therefore renders the whole idea a waste of space....
Why belgrade. There are many more beautiful cities, ... come to Montenegro, ...
I love Belgrade, and would be thrilled to be able to visit Montenegro. Would you recommend some cities?