 Well, let's face it. You're probably watching this video because you think the Contax T2 is a pretty cool camera for pretty cool people Well, guess what motherf**kers the secret is out the whole world thinks that and that's why it's super expensive now But whatever let's discuss the Contax T2 the best point-and-shoot camera. You will always try to justify buying Since obtaining this camera about two years ago I've probably put about 40 rolls through it and I don't regret a damn thing I brought it with me to Wildwood the past two years and of course It was the perfect companion to bring along to Iceland in 2019 Right off the bat probably the most noticeable aspect of this camera is the look the design is nothing short of sexy And everyone thinks so when I initially showed Monica a picture of the Contax T2 versus the follow-up Contax T3 She said and I quote it's 3 a.m. Why the hell did you wake me up for this? You're always doing this sh** go to sleep The T2 was launched in 1991 Which was the only good thing that happened that year at launch Contax targeted a luxury and professional camera buyers market and it shows This camera is one of very few point-and-shoots on the market today that have exposure compensation manual focus and aperture priority options Because of the amount of exposure control with this camera I knew I had to get one plus I'm secretly a huge fan of contacts as a company and I can't wait to see what they do next Legend has it that these cameras went for about 200 to 300 dollars a couple years ago before the infamous price increase on cameras Nowadays they go for more around seven hundred to two thousand dollars the price increase on these cameras can be attributed to several things But mostly it's Kendall Jenner's fault You brought your camera. Yes, I did. This is the one you use now little contact. I just got this one Wait, I'm gonna turn the flash on for you Apparently Thor Frank Ocean and the kid from stranger things also have a Contax T2 So you can hold a grudge against them as well if you want This camera waterproof definitely not although it can't handle a little light rain or maybe even some of your empty bank account Depression tears should it need to as I mentioned before I took this camera with me to Iceland last year and it got drenched several times But it still works. So that's something just to clarify here. I'm not saying that this camera is waterproof It's definitely not I'm just some idiot who use an expensive camera in the cold Icelandic rain and I'm sharing my experience My abs the body of the cameras made of rock hard titanium and is quite comfortable in the hand But probably the biggest selling point of the Contax T2 is the lens Now some people might tell you that it's the quality of your tripod that makes the biggest difference in the outcome of your image But me personally I think it's more the lens in the film the lens on this camera is a 38 millimeter Carl's Ice f 2.8 That is overall pretty sharp. I do feel like this lens is a bit overhyped Yes, having a Carl's Ice lens that goes down to f 2.8 on a point you body is some kind of combination I can't even put the words but in the corners of your images You still get vignetting ghosting and chromatic aberration not a deal-breaker and oftentimes it makes your image come together quite nicely So who cares? With a maximum shutter speed of 1 500th of a second ranging all the way down to 8 seconds You can likely find the wiggle room to shoot this camera at f 8 which I think is the sharpest aperture for this lens So the way that this camera works which is quite a bit different than other point shoots is through aperture priority Before you shoot you need to decide what f-stop you'd like to shoot at and the camera will then run a hyper advanced computer Matrix simulation to decide what shutter speed to use based on your films ISO But worry not if you get sweaty and nervous when faced with simple decisions You can put the aperture on the lens to f 2.8 and the camera will then go into full auto and decide the best aperture for you That's why it's labeled green like money Notice a trend here So it's worth noting on this camera unlike the other apertures You cannot actually force this camera to use f 2.8 just by selecting 2.8 This camera is gonna do whatever the f*** it wants and use whatever f-stop it needs to to get the job done if you select f 2.8 So just to be clear the lowest aperture that you can force this camera to use is f 4 The f 2.8 only gets brought out by the computer if you're in a situation of low light I'm not really sure why that's a thing But hey, I'm unsure of a lot of things probably the coolest part of the contacts t2 though In my opinion is the exposure compensation dial here on top If you're a psychopath like me and enjoy playing with overexposure or underexposure You can do that with this camera Which should you desire opens up a whole new world of being able to push and pull your film The exposure compensation dial goes up to two stops over and two stops under with half-stop increments And you even have the luxury of changing this setting as many times as you want mid roll So recently my brother and his two roommates felt the need for super fresh air being the purebred stallions that yearn for the open planes like we are So yeah, we went to utah for a long weekend of camping Of course, all I needed for survival besides beer was my contacts t2 This campsite was really cool But what made it really cool was the view but in photography a cool view and a cool camera Doesn't necessarily make a good photo. So I had to improvise This is my last beer ever Without it A good point and shoot camera wouldn't be anything worth If it didn't have good autofocus But the contacts t2 takes it a step further and gives you the option to manual focus on your dial over here There are settings like infinity five meters one meter and point seven meters If you switch to these settings the t2 will set the focus distance to those ranges But if you're a lazy piece of shit like me, you can always just leave it on af for ass face The autofocus on this camera is good But not perfect in my experience with this camera I generally get about one shot per roll where the camera just blatantly misses focus on a subject that should have been obvious How does the camera know what is so you're using good question? You dumb idiot this camera has dx code reading Which means when you put it film in it reads the dx code on your cartridge and set your iso for you If your cartridge doesn't have a dx code it will default to 100 iso To cover all the bases and hopefully this is obvious When you look through the viewfinder on this camera, you're not actually looking through the lens The viewfinder is meant to be more of a rough estimation of what you're going to get You have a few different color options to choose from with these cameras champagne gold titanium black jet black and Platinum or you can collect them all for the very low price of splitting your soul into five horcruxes But maybe just save yourself the time and dark magic and get the gold version since it's the dopest one For reference the one I have here is the titanium black version Some quick little tidbits about the camera to turn this camera on you flip the dial here near your thumb To any of your preferred settings. This camera takes a cr123 battery Which in my opinion are the tastiest and most fun to swallow There is a self timer a tripod socket on the bottom and of course a pretty solid flash that apparently can burn the plastic cover If overused if that happens in some cases you might be able to unscrew the Top plate here of the camera and easily swap out the burnt plastic for a new sheet Definitely do your own research on this if you were considering it The meter on the camera is also great. No complaints here. All right with that out of the way Let's talk about the biggest con of this camera in my opinion the price If you haven't checked the prices on these lately have an extra pair of pants on hand because you'll probably instantly yourself because of the price on this camera I find myself not using it in the way that maybe it was meant to be used by that I mean I almost never carry this camera around with me in my backpack pocket man purse etc Every time I go out to shoot with it I'm too afraid of breaking it or losing it because it's a pricey son of a bitch I only really use this camera on special occasions like my Icelandic road trip Never so much when I'm just going out with friends mostly because you need to have friends for that to happen So yeah, I just wanted to reflect on how I don't really use this camera as one might assume a point and shoot camera Is meant to be used So what is the downside to this camera besides the price? Well, perhaps the biggest issue with this camera is that it's made up of electronic parts I mean what point and shoot camera isn't but the problem is Electronic parts like all of us will eventually all die a slow and painful death That means that this expensive camera will one day fail on me and I'll be out of luck. Why? Well, it's because contacts as a company isn't around anymore to fix these or make new parts And if you need a spare part you have to cannibalize it from another contacts t2 But because there's only a limited supply of these cameras left in the world the price will invariably just keep going up So get your investments in now. I guess Additionally while there are some most classic camera repair shops will not fix point and shoots So you might be hard-pressed trying to find someone to fix it in the first place. Thus, it's quite a gamble with a camera like this So anyway, if you're too much of a poo poo pp bitch, baby to carry around a pentax 6 by 7 like a point and shoot Then this camera might be a good option for you Contacts t2 alternatives There are a few but they are also somewhat pricey exposure compensation or iso selection Exists on a few other point shoot cameras out there though in a lot of cases It's really just a button to overexpose by one and a half stops to counter backlit scenes A good alternative to the contacts t2 is the yushika t4 and they're often compared to one another I've never used a yushika t4, but I've heard good things They're about half the price of the t2 and they also feature zeiss 35 millimeter glass bonus points because they're weatherproof Anyway, that's about it. If you're thinking of investing in the contacts t2, then hopefully this has been helpful I certainly don't regret purchasing mine though prices were a little bit different back then But hey times are changing for all of us In fact, one day there will be a version of earth where there's no more working contacts t2s And that's a scary thought that I don't want to imagine so i'm gonna hold my t2 close like a sun Oh hi baxter