Many thanks for providing this detailed background information. Greatly appreciated!

Many thanks for this valuable information! Yes, I actually forgot about why ... but I always keep this Contessa in a dark cabinet since I got it, and it also was previously stored somewhere in the dark for maybe decades ... so that would explain very well why it still works so well! Now that you mention it - many cameras with selenium cells also have flippable covers over their meters. Like the Zeiss Contax III / Kiev III for example. I think Rolleiflex 6x6 never had such covers. And almost always when I see a Rolleiflex w/meter for sale, it does say in the ad that the meter is broken ...

That's very interesting. So sitting in a shop window is the worst place for the camera!

In case u dont have a case or u want to display your selenium lm camera, u can always cover ur lightmeter with black electrician tape or similar and take it off when u have a shooting session.

Ja, die Contessa ist tatsächlich eine unterschätzte Kamera! Und wenn der Beli noch läuft, sehr einfach und praktisch! Vielen Dank für das nette Feedback!

Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it! The film, by the way, was a gift from a photographer friend. I got a lot of film for free, some of it many years ago. I use those films for purposes like this - when it's okay if the outcome is a bit "experimental"! :)

Sounds great! Also that you can give it a full service! So I hope the selenium cell still works on your camera as well. I hope you'll gonna have a lot of fun with it!

🤣

Hey! I wish you a lot of fun with your new Contessa and keep my fingers crossed that your camera will work well! 🙂

Thanks for your comment! I'll think of something where I can put the 1/500 flash sync to good use!

Maybe you saw my Contaflex in one product picture in this video. I totally love that camera. Contaflexes came out in the early 1950s and in that time, they were breathtaking! About Leica: I admit I never ever bought a Leica M when they were affordable. Because I am basically an SLR guy. Today, I value Leica very highly cause they still keep the legend from 1954 alive, and they are the first and also the last company on the world, still continuing to make 35mm film system cameras! But yes … they have their fair share of problems. Which is also why I never bought a digital M camera so far …

Gern geschehen 😀

For that price, you can’t go wrong at all! I hope your camera works and you’ll have a lot of fun with it!

The Vitomatic's are also a great choice, of course! I wish you a lot of fun shooting it!

Hey, what a great story. It is so cool that you own this camera for 40 years. I don't own any of the cameras any more that I got 40 years ago, sadly. Okay, I was 7 back then and when my first camera(s) broke, I would just take them apart. That's what most kids do, maybe 😃

First, try if the light meter works correctly - you can compare it with your DSLR camera. If it doesn't work anymore, then just download a light meter app to your smartphone. Once that's sorted out, this camera is very easy to use for many different styles of photography! I would maybe start with a standard color film like Kodak Gold 200, or also black and white film - if you live in Europe you might want to use even ISO 400 film right now because it is noticeably darker even during the day, compared to summer. When shooting hand held, try to avoid shutter speeds slower than 1/60 so you won't get any motion blur. If you're able to hand-hold your camera very steadily, you might get away with 1/30 as well. Remember the Contessa does not have any mirror slap, and the shutter itself is also totally vibration free. I hope you have a lot of fun with it!

Thanks! I did my first roll! It is fantastic. I first used Agfa BW 400, and the results were excellent. Now, I have a roll of Kodak 200 gold in the camera and am looking forward to the results.

Many thanks, I'm glad you enjoy my videos!

Yes! 😇

Many thanks! I'm glad you like the video!

Thank you very much!

Danke für Deinen Kommentar! Irgendwie ist die Contessa so ein Modell was sehr unter dem Radar fliegt ... obwohl die Kamera wirklich gut ist und genau das kann was man heute gern von einer analogen Kamera erwartet! Hast Du die analoge oder die digitale OM-1? Weil die analoge OM-1 ist ja auch sehr aufgeräumt ... daher mag ich die besonders!

@@tomscameras Es ist die digitale OM-1 in die ich völlig schockverliebt bin- ich bin vor Jahren nach eben Vadders Contessa, einer Yashika und eine Minolta auf Digital umgestiegen - wobei ich die Entwicklung von Blende, Verschlusszeit und Fokus manuell einstellen ( die Contessa hat ja einen großartigen Belichtungs- und Entfernungsmesser - und bei der Yashika vom ersten Lehrgeld dachte ich dann WTF wofür brauche die eigentlich eine Batterie) - dann die Zeitautomatik eben der Yashika und erst dann kam die Minolta mit Vollautomatik - allerdings auch alles auf manuell umstellbar - nicht missen möchte. Was das Digitale betrifft da sticht für mich zum Analogen, dass ich nicht auf 36 Bilder pro Film festgelegt bin und in der digitalen Dunkelkammer selbst gut nachbearbeiten kann. Ich hatte mal ein SW Labor mit dem ich nie wirklich weit gekommen bin, aber bei Farbe war ich raus. Ansonsten: Irgendwann lad ich wieder einen Film in die Contessa - einen SW und ich weiss, dass das Baby nach 60 Jahren immer noch zuverlässig funktioniert - auch bei Stromausfall kurz vorm Weltuntergang - wenn meine OM-1 schon längst den Fisch gemacht hat -was ich mit aufgeräumt meine ist ganz puristisch: 3 Einstellräder am Objektiv - alles schön über analoge Skalen ablesbar - that's it. Wobei ich das nicht gegen mein High Tech Geraffel auspielen möchte, dass auf jeden Fall seine Vorzüge hat und ich heute erst Fotos schießen kann, die ich früher niemals hinbekommen hätte.

Oh I am happy to have inspired you to give the little LKE a try! I hope it works well and you have a lot of fun with it!

Hallo Roland! Danke für Dein Feedback! Und ja, ich muss dringend auch mal meine beiden Zeiss-Ikon SLR-Kameras ausführen. Die Geschichte ist wirklich faszinierend ...

Many thanks! I am very glad you enjoy my videos. I am always very impressed by anyone who is able to service these nice old cameras and giving them a second life! And yes: it’s amazing how nice and smooth these old cameras perform after a good service!

@@tomscameras my first attempt as a student was a shoe box full of bits from two cameras!! A teacher gave me a box of photographic paper for them. I've come a long way since those days. Most people put a bit of lighter fuel in the shutter and while this works it will not work reliably for any length of time. The only way is to strip them down as the grease moves to areas you don't want it and mixed with dirt and dust over the years acts like a grinding paste. I'm in france if you ever want one serviced..

You've got two beautiful rangefinders it seems! 😍

Sure! Did you see my Sunny 16 video already on this channel? But I admit: whatever features are built into a camera, I love them to work! So if the camera has no light meter at all, I am happy … but if there is a light meter, then I want it to work 😇

Hi Glenn. I'm absolutely no expert on any camera repairs. But from what I have heard and read over all the years I am into old cameras, selenium meters tend to die with age, and I think they also don't respond well to being exposed to daylight all the time. Which is the reason why I keep this camera in a dark closet when I don't use it. I am not aware of any possibility to repair a broken selenium cell. I do remember however that once a repair guy told me that it's possible to replace a dead selenium cell with a modern solar cell. But to do that, you'll need some advanced knowledge to make the modern cell fit in the old body, adjust the voltage and what not else. So, sadly, I cannot really help you with your issue. And of course there's always the possibility that the selenium cell itself still works, but some internal wiring is broken or contacts (that e.g. transfer the shutter speed / aperture settings to the meter) are dirty. In that case a repair is maybe easier.

To me it looks like my camera has front focusing: The focus ring is at the very front of the lens and it also operates with very little effort. The aperture / shutter speed rings stay fixed when you focus. I know that front focusing is not ideal as the Tessar is not a "floating element" design, but given that the camera has a huge minimum focus distance, I guess it's just okay in practice like this.

Absolutely not, it's a great choice!

No, then something is not working properly in your camera unfortunately. Changing the shutter time also moves the needle!

@@tomscameras thx for answer. I probably figured it out, well photos will show but moving the shutter speed compensates for aperture in the same steps so it should not move the needle. On this camera anyway. I wish you many great shots 🙂

The LK lacks the rangefinder!

@@tomscameras ah so.. thank you 👍