Contax AX - the first impressions

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ujjwaldey8165

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I just received the Contax AX today, and played around with it the whole afternoon.

Its an unique camera - it autofocuses by moving the film plane. So it can AF using any lens that'll mount on the body. I dont think there is another 35mm camera with that mechanism.

Its a big beast, weighing over 1 KG and is much thicker than any other 35mm camera I have handled. That said it feels nice and solid - not akward at all.

The view finder is bright; and the camera has a whole lot of features. Most important ones are Spot and centre weighted metering and Exposure lock at the flick of a switch.

The focussing is pretty fast and very smooth. There is also a focus signal - both audio and visual. The only catch is, the lens need to be set to infinity to focus properly. In other words if the lens if set to 5 mts, then it will only focus to 5 mts and no further. On the positive side, if the subject is beyond 5 mts, there is a visual warning in the view finder.

Its very intuitive to use, and all controls - and there are many - are via dials and knobs.

The focussing does hunt in low light, but there is a manual focus over ride, with a split image focussing screen.

The other unusual feature is that it can use the lens to focus closer than the min distance for the lens. So if the lens min distance for focus is 0.5 mts, this camera can focus the lens upto, say, 0.3 mts. The camera manual gives the min focus distance for each of the Contax lens.

Overall, its a great equipment. One needs to have a lightweight body as a backup for the times when lugging a kilo is too much, but other than that, its a treat. I am very pleased with it.
 
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ujjwaldey8165 said:
I just received the Contax AX today, and played around with it the whole afternoon.

Its an unique camera - it autofocuses by moving the film plane. So it can AF using any lens that'll mount on the body. I dont think there is another 35mm camera with that mechanism.

Its a big beast, weighing over 1 KG and is much thicker than any other 35mm camera I have handled. That said it feels nice and solid - not akward at all.

The view finder is bright; and the camera has a whole lot of features. Most important ones are Spot and centre weighted metering and Exposure lock at the flick of a switch.

The focussing is pretty fast and very smooth. There is also a focus signal - both audio and visual. The only catch is, the lens need to be set to infinity to focus properly. In other words if the lens if set to 5 mts, then it will only fucus to 5 mts and no further. On the positive side, if the subject is beyond 5 mts, there is a visual warning in the view finder.

Its very intuitive to use, and all controls - and there are many - are via dials and knobs.

The focussing does hunt in low light, but there is a manual focus over ride, with a split image focussing screen.

The other unusual feature is that it can use the lens to focus closer than the min distance for the lens. So if the lens min distance for focus is 0.5 mts, this camera can focus the lens upto, say, 0.3 mts. The camera manual gives the min focus distance for each of the Contax lens.

Overall, its a great equipment. One needs to have a lightweight body as a backup for the times when lugging a kilo is too much, but other than that, its a treat. I am very pleased with it.
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Awesome :thumbs:
 
ujjwaldey8165 said:
The focussing is pretty fast and very smooth.
Click to expand...

Not what I'd read previously, I must admit. Pleased you're able to say otherwise.

It's an intriguing design.

e2a: I've a feeling I may yet own an RTS when the right opportunity comes up.
 
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i remember handling one of those back at a focus on imaging show, it was the camera I had wanted the most, i loved it! Didnt get around to buying it as it was way out of my price range, I'm sure you will be enjoying it!
 
I used the camera extensively today, so a few additional observations.

1. For lens upto 50mm prime, the focussing mechanism works even in pretty low light ( as in light which requires 1/30th, f2.8 setting (for ISO 400) For 80mm prime, however the focussing hunts a lot, and even fails to focus under that condition. Its actually much easier to manually focus at that point. I think with a longer lens - something like 135, the lights need to be enough for F4/125 @ 400 ISO
2. The thing is heavy, and with a zoom lens - even the light weight Tamrons I have - it is a chore.
3. I forgot to set the lens to infinity at least 4 times - and didn't notice the warning in the view finder. It something that needs constant attention - and I wish Zeiss lens had the infinity lock like the Leica ones have.
4. The M42 135mm lens is pretty useless with an adapter. When the lens is closed down, at low light it cant focus well. I dont use such a long lens usually; but if I did, I would have to get a C/Y mount one
 
Do you think the struggling AF is down to the availability of light or the max aperture of the lens? Does the 80 have the same max aperture as the 50?
 
Dont know for sure Kev. The 50mm was 1.7, while the 80mm was 2.8. In bright light, the 80 mm was having no problem - so low light is surely a contributory factor to the problem.

But contax AFs struggle to focus with long lens. Its the same with the G system - the 90mm lens sometimes struggle to focus.
 
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Hmm - seems like if you can afford an AX you gotta afford the decent glass too Ujjwal? How long before we see some pics though? Of and with?
 
ujjwaldey8165 said:
Dont know for sure Kev. The 50mm was 1.7, while the 80mm was 2.8. In bright light, the 80 mm was having no problem - so low light is surely a contributory factor to the problem.

But contax AFs struggle to focus with long lens. Its the same with the G system - the 90mm lens sometimes struggle to focus.
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Fair enough mate I was just thinking out loud. It's probably a combination of the low and max aperture but given that the 80 is a 2.8 I'd say it's definitely more of a low light problem in this case.
 
Ambermile said:
Hmm - seems like if you can afford an AX you gotta afford the decent glass too Ujjwal? How long before we see some pics though? Of and with?
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I am debating whether to get a 28-70 Contax or a 35mm prime. I have to sell the 28mm Distagon before that - I have way too many of these lens which do nothing really. I have never found use anything longer than 90, so the 135 will have to go too. That said, the Tamron is a decent glass as well.

As to photos of - I dont have a digital anymore, so cant do any now. I am collecting some rolls to send off for development - when they are back I'll scan them. The photos will be with the old contax glasses and my (lack of) skills though, so no surprise in the photographs there....:D
 
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