Contax system??? Need your thoughts

[abhishek@1985]

Hi friends,

I had a great opportunity to use a contax aria with the 50mm CY lens.Blown away by the handling and the ease of use of it. Have been thinking to sell all my bronica medium format system as its getting too heavy to carry on hikes. Hence would like to invest in a Contax system.

Thus, would like to know your viws as to which ody to go for - Aria or RX?
I am interested in 28mm or 25mm lens for landscapes and 85mm/100mm lens for portraits. This would complement my Leica M6 with 50mm f2 hexanon.

Please let me know your thoughts and key points I should consider as I am looking forward to use the same for street portraits as well as 28mm for landscape shots.

 

[Pioneer]

Not to discourage you from using the Contax system, it is certainly a wonderful little camera, but if you intend to move away from medium format and shoot 35mm landscape, I think you would be further ahead to spend your money on a top notch Leica or Zeiss wide angle and work with your M6. That would reduce your hiking load considerably by packing one camera instead of two.

Unless of course you have an over riding reason for owning the SLR.

 

[rawhead]

I agree with Pioneer… if you want wideangle on a 135 format, going SLR + retrofocus lens is the opposite of what you want to do. Get a Biogon for your M6 and you're set.

Now, one thing that *might* tip the balance towards the Contax is the portrait lens. If you have your eyes on the CY 85/1.4, which is a superb lens, then that would be harder to match/better on the Leica system unless you're willing to spend big $$$, e.g., on a 'Lux 75/1.4, etc.

 

[kdemas]

If you're choosing between the RX and the Aria I'd go with the Aria (I did). The Aria has a far brighter finder and is very light and portable. The ST is also an awesome machine with a ceramic pressure plate.

 

[jordanstarr]

I wouldn't invest in an SLR system if your rationale is to use 35mm for landscapes, whilst already having a Leica system. I'd either sell the Bronica and buy a Leica 28mm for landscapes or just stick with what you have. I used to have the Contax system, with almost every lens for it (including a 35/1.4 and 28/2.0) and I sold it all for a Leica with a 28, 35 and 50 and haven't looked back since. I think if you get the contax, you'd simply be duplicating an already fantastic 35mm Leica system and not complimenting it. My Leica with a 28mm lens does beautiful landscape work and I can easily blow up 20x24 prints on it with ease on 400 film. But there's something to be said about a medium format landscape shot that has kept me hanging on to medium format.

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

the aria is certainly a nice light camera, the rx
is a great camera for heavy duty work.
The good news is that contax bodies can be
gotten quite cheaply. My suggestion is to get
the aria and then go get the rx if the contax system
grows on you. with the right data back, the contax
can print exposure details on the first 3 frames
and/or in between frames.

the only downside with the aria is that tele lens
makes it off-balance.

having said that, here is an example of the aria with the
big and heavy 85 f1.4 planar:

raytoei

 

[Dirk]

I had the Aria and sold it for the RX. The Aria seemed too plasticky for me, and the viewfinder darker and smaller than the RX. (Interesting how an earlier poster,kdemas, found the opposite). The Aria was also a tad too small for my hands, while the RX is just right. If I were you, I'd try both to determine which one fits me better. Oh, I should also ad that the RX is among the quietest SLRs I've ever used, quieter than the Aria. To me, that's important.

 

[redisburning]

there is also the Zeiss line for Nikon, that will give you native support on digital as well as film.

the real star Zeiss SLR wideangles are the 21/2.8 and the 25/2. the latter doesnt exist in C/Y and the first was improved in the move to ZF/ZE. although, if you dont want to be in for that much an RX and a 28/2.8 wouldn't be so bad, but it's not so wide.

I will also +1 a biogon for your M6, the 25/2.8 is literally beyond reproach; it's resolution is beyond comprehension.

I think the real solution here is to find some weight savings in your MF kit, maybe Bronica RF or Mamiya 7? The Mamiya 7 wasnt much bulkier and heavier than my FR-1 and 50/1.7 contax.

 

[Rico]

Using Contax RTS is its own reward. Technical issues aside, I like the controls and handling of the system. For low weight, there's nothing better than an Aria, Distagon 28/2.8 and Sonnar 100/3.5. Those lenses are outstanding, and cheap. The bigger bodies have metal exteriors, but the sheer mass gets tiring on a hike. Not that I'm dumping my three RTSIII anytime soon. 🙂

 

[abhishek@1985]

Thank you guys so much for the detailed input. Just want to know what are you guys input on Contax G2 with 28mm and 90mm lens? I know its autofocus and electronic but whats your thoughts?

 

[CVickery]

The Contax G line is very differnt from the others discussed above. (there's some good advice there so I won't repeat it).

The Contax G lenses are for the most part exceptional. The AF system of the system takes a bit of getting used to, but works.

The bodies are comfortable to hold and seem well built. The issue I had was that I found the VF tiny and difficult to use. This would likely be different for each user, but I would suggest trying the camera before committing to buy.

 

[SakamakuAme]

My main 135 has become compacts (T2, T3 and T4 Super) but I still use Contax Aria for longer than 50mm lenses. I consider myself as a rangefinder shooter, but ARIA is better than the other 135 rangefinder I had used in many ways. Funny...

Contax Aria would be one of the best Contax SLR in terms of its size, weight and sophistication. Extremely light, 450grams or so. Much lighter than Leica or G2, and not much larger either. It is the very last Kyocera-Contax camera (-2007?) and I bought a dead stock last year. Finder is probably the best of Contax SLR as far as I know. Actually the finder of ARIA is larger and brigher than RX II / III / AX.

However, I think rangefinder users here may find the motor noise somewhat disturbing. Mirror and shutter are very quiet and well controlled, though.

If someone is on the market, ask seller if the back door is NOT sticky. The sticky rubber is probably the only issue of this camera. I have had a sticky one until I found my current dead stock body.