Woolliscroft
veteran
Reged: 23/08/2005
Posts: 1253
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Quote:
I often wonder if the reason why it's the first camera to have autobracketing was because they knew it was a pig to control manually...
Could be. The autobracketing system is very effective once you work out how it works, and the motor drive is fast enough that I can still use it at 100 mph in the air. Oddly, though, the manual sells it very short. The best description can actually be found in the original AP review, which is still available from OTC.
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David.
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zx9
old hand
Reged: 22/06/2007
Posts: 907
Loc: London
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Quote:
Quote:
I've always loved the feel of Contaxes, but more important to me are those lovely lenses.
That sums it up for me as well, there is no other make that feels so nice in the hand. They are tactile, quality cameras. Though sadly I've never been able to afford the T* lenses other than the 50mm 1.7. Though I am watching the prices tumble, if it wasn't for those pesky digital Canon owners......... 
Works the other way too, the reason I went EOS film and then 5D (in the last year) was 4 zeiss lenses and no working Contax  so the worst Contax for me are the two I own.
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ZX9 (Keith)  
My Flickr Pictures
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melek
Reged: 12/12/2003
Posts: 22
Loc: USA
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Quote:
I think I read somewhere recently that 167's have a built-in lithium backup battery which would require replacement by .... Contax! If true, this would be a good camera to sell while you can, IMO! 
Remember, Contax is simply a brand name and not a company. That would be Kyocera. And I wonder how long Kyocera will commit to repairs of the cameras. Not long, I think. Have they already shed themselves of that responsibility?
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-Mike
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Habanero
newbie
Reged: 20/02/2008
Posts: 2
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I've still got a 139 and an AX. I also used to have an RTS which I sold, as for me it didn't do much more than the 139.
I too have been looking to the future, particularly as my AX developed a bizarre fault on a recent trip. I've got 4 Zeiss lenses, and 4 Tokina C/Y fit lenses, so have also been considering the 5D. If I eventually get get one, I'll probably regard that as the worst Contax.
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Malcolm_Stewart
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/07/2005
Posts: 2382
Loc: Milton Keynes, UK
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Quote:
... so have also been considering the 5D. If I eventually get one, I'll probably regard that as the worst Contax.
But only if you try using it with an un-chipped adapter. My attempts with my 5D and an un-chipped Nikon adapter got sharp focus in lots of wrong places. (Eric Morecambe said it better...)
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Malcolm Stewart
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Ian_A
Avocadopearaphobe
Reged: 02/09/2002
Posts: 7571
Loc: Horwich UK
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Quote:
Quote:
I think I read somewhere recently that 167's have a built-in lithium backup battery which would require replacement by .... Contax! If true, this would be a good camera to sell while you can, IMO!
Remember, Contax is simply a brand name and not a company. That would be Kyocera. And I wonder how long Kyocera will commit to repairs of the cameras. Not long, I think. Have they already shed themselves of that responsibility?
Quote:
Kyocera will continue to provide after-sales services to its customers for their CONTAX-branded cameras, and the exclusive lenses and accessories over the maximum period of ten years within the specified time of each model.
Source: http://www.contaxcameras.co.uk/
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Ian A
Inspire Digital Solutions who maintain this site (allegedly) - why is the performance of this forum so slooooow?
Our site
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Dave_Cox
old'n'grumpy
Reged: 12/07/2006
Posts: 2885
Loc: somewhere in Sussex
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I used a Yashica FR for several years when it was new. Wish I still had it but mortgage, kids etc forced it's sale. I was looking at a 137 and 167 on ebay (mint and recently serviced according to the seller). Unfortunately SWMBO and my daughter were looking for clothes and saw my 'watched list'.........needless to say I won't be getting any more cameras for a while..... 
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Growing old disgracefully..!
http://snapper56.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave2006/
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zx9
old hand
Reged: 22/06/2007
Posts: 907
Loc: London
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Quote:
I used a Yashica FR for several years when it was new. Wish I still had it but mortgage, kids etc forced it's sale. I was looking at a 137 and 167 on ebay (mint and recently serviced according to the seller). Unfortunately SWMBO and my daughter were looking for clothes and saw my 'watched list'.........needless to say I won't be getting any more cameras for a while.....
I trust you pointed out the weather is getting warmer and they don't need so many cloths in the summer  The FR was a great camera, my first Yashica / Contax. It travelled many miles in my motorbike tank bag, got very abused and always worked, until a GF left it in her hotel room from where it was nicked.
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ZX9 (Keith)
My Flickr Pictures
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Dave_Cox
old'n'grumpy
Reged: 12/07/2006
Posts: 2885
Loc: somewhere in Sussex
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Quote:
Quote:
I used a Yashica FR for several years when it was new. Wish I still had it but mortgage, kids etc forced it's sale. I was looking at a 137 and 167 on ebay (mint and recently serviced according to the seller). Unfortunately SWMBO and my daughter were looking for clothes and saw my 'watched list'.........needless to say I won't be getting any more cameras for a while.....
I trust you pointed out the weather is getting warmer and they don't need so many cloths in the summer The FR was a great camera, my first Yashica / Contax. It travelled many miles in my motorbike tank bag, got very abused and always worked, until a GF left it in her hotel room from where it was nicked.
Yeh, tried that argument plenty of times. After all who needs more than a couple of t-shirts and a pair of jeans........The return argument is "you can only use one camera at a time, so why have you got so many"
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Growing old disgracefully..!
http://snapper56.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave2006/
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Tony_Polson
newbie
Reged: 12/10/2005
Posts: 8
Loc: Eastern England
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The worst Contax has to be the AX. Whoever thought of a motorised telescoping body to deliver slow and hesitant autofocus should have been shot.
The second worst Contax (to me) is probably the 167MT. It worked well enough but I found the handling bizarre. Contax got it so right with the Aria, which I think shows that Kyocera/Yashica did learn from their mistakes.
I was a big fan of the N1. It performed and handled superbly. If only the N Digital had not been such a disaster, I think Contax would still be with us.
I didn't make the N Digital my choice for worst Contax ever because I admired the sheer bravery of Kyocera/Yashica in developing that camera when they did. The problem was entirely with the sensor, which was so bad that Pentax did not even release the DSLR they had developed around it.
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Ian_A
Avocadopearaphobe
Reged: 02/09/2002
Posts: 7571
Loc: Horwich UK
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The 167 is the worst I've had my hands on.
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Ian A
Inspire Digital Solutions who maintain this site (allegedly) - why is the performance of this forum so slooooow?
Our site
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Malcolm_Stewart
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/07/2005
Posts: 2382
Loc: Milton Keynes, UK
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Quote:
The 167 is the worst I've had my hands on.
And thanks to that, it's allowed me to get my hands on a 167MT body, some Carl Zeiss lenses at a very affordable cost, and I've now bought the AF chipped adapter for my EOS 5D from ebay. OK, it's not as convenient as using EF lenses, but I now have a usable 50 f1.4 with decent contrast at full aperture.
With regard to the 167MT I find it somewhat different, but it's certainly as usable as many of the other SLRs in my collection.
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Malcolm Stewart
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Benchista
Wich Tyler
Reged: 11/08/2000
Posts: 36970
Loc: Everywhere and nowhere, baby
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Keep it in Aperture Priority and it's a dream. In manual, it's a bit of a nightmare. Mine never budges from aperture priority as a result - which is really a bit of a waste of the camera's functionality, but there you go - it suits my way of working anyway.
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Nick
www.nbrphoto.com
Light and Shade II - the new blog
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europanoramic
newbie
Reged: 31/08/2008
Posts: 1
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hello all. worst was 159MM-although i liked it very much. exactly 20 years ago when i had my last assignment there was an accident at an important event. due to opto-electronical defect 50% of the flash-shots(ttl) were underexposed and the costomers very unhappy. since then i concentrated on rotapanorama-cameras. but also there: technical problems due to unprecise fabrication.
rts had problems with moisture in cold weather. i have now fx-3(variants) and fx-2(shutter not precise) 139, 137ma(again), fxd(identical to 139). if i will find a second ir-s-remote controller i could synchro the two for 3dstereo.
only receiver would be needed. will buy rts III again later.
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