View allAll Photos Tagged Contax_AX,
-
Shot on ILFORD Delta 100 Professional at EI 100.
Black and white negative film in 35mm format.
Contax AX, Hasselblad Planar F 80 F/2.8.
-
Large version at: emulsive.org/photography/35mm-format/no-smoking-area-ilfo...
-
Filed under: #35mm_format, #Photography, #2017_September, #35Mm_Format_Film, #Black_And_White_Negative_Film, #Contax, #Contax_AX, #EI_100, #EMULSIVE_Daily_Photo, #Hasselblad_Planar_F_80_28, #ILFORD_Delta_100_Professional, #ISO_100
The Contax RTSII, released in 1982, was the successor to the original pro-level Contax RTS of 1974. In the modern era, if you are looking to shoot film and can get your hands on some excellent Carl Zeiss prime lenses in the Contax/Yashica mount, the RTSII still makes an excellent pro-quality body to use as your platform. The RTSII can bring you into the world of Carl Zeiss glass for serious film shooting and travel with a Contax body that cuts down on weight and size by eliminating auto wind, certainly autofocus (i.e., Contax AX), and excessive electronics. In a way, the RTSII body design and viewfinder display is a bit like the Contax S2/S2b, albeit the RTSII has slightly larger size and weight. (The RTSII is the size of a "standard" manual wind SLR, as opposed to the "compact" size of the S2/S2b). The RTSII has the same right side vertical shutter-speed readout in the viewfinder as the S2/S2b, although it adds a digital display of the lens aperture, which is missing on the S2/S2b. Of course, a big difference between the RTSII and the S2/S2b is that the RTSII has an electronic shutter and other internal electronics, compared with the all mechanical S2/S2b.
There is really no reason today to buy an original RTS instead of the newer RTSII. Actually, the two generations of RTS body look very similar on the outside. However, the four major improvements of the RTSII over the first generation RTS are: (1) The RTSII has a wider shutter speed range of 1/2000 sec. to 16 sec., compared with 1/2000 sec. to 4 sec. on the RTS; (2) The viewfinder display of the RTSII is more high-tech compared with the older technology display in the RTS; (3) the RTSII supports TTL flash metering, while the RTS does not; and (4) the RTSII viewfinder displays a bigger 97% of the frame area, compared with only 92% for the RTS.
In many ways, the RTSII is very similar to a Nikon F3HP. Both are manual wind pro-level cameras with similar size and weight (around 700 grams). Both have electronic shutters with shortest shutter speed of 1/2000 second, although the longest officially rated shutter speed on the RTSII is 16 sec. versus 8 sec. on the F3HP. Both have center-weighted exposure metering, with manual and aperture priority exposure modes, although the sensitivity range of the RTSII is wider, at -1 EV through 19 EV, versus 1 EV through 18 EV on the F3HP. The Nikon F3HP meter assigns 80% weight to the central circle. I have not been able to find any official specification on the central weighting of the RTSII, but it seems to be about 60%. Both offer TTL Flash control, although the maximum electronic flash shutter speed is slightly higher on the F3HP at 1/80 sec. versus only 1/60 sec. on the RTSII. Both come with complete systems of high-end lenses and accessories, although the Nikon system is certainly broader than that of Contax. (Of course, Nikon lenses are still in production, while you need to find the Contax/Yashica mount CZ lenses, which are widely available at reasonable cost, on the used market.) Both have bright viewfinders, with 100% (F3HP) or close to 100% frame coverage (RTSII). Both can be fitted with motor drive units (more important back in the day). Unlike the Nikon F3HP, the Contax RTSII does not have interchangeable viewfinders, although both have interchangeable focusing screens, proper mirror lock-up capability, and a single mechanical shutter speed (1/50 second for the RTSII, versus 1/60 sec. for the F3HP). Finally, the F3HP supports single or multi-stroke film wind, although the RTSII is only single-stroke.
The user interface design concept is very different between most Contax and most Nikon bodies, and the RTSII has the typical Contax interface. On the RTSII, the exposure compensation dial is located where you would find the shutter speed dial on a classic Nikon, and it looks a bit like a Nikon shutter speed dial. The RTSII on/off switch is located around the exposure compensation dial, which also has another dial on the top of it to adjust ISO. The shutter speed dial of the RTSII is actually located around the rewind crank and looks somewhat like the film ISO setting dial on a classic Nikon. I think this reflects the Contax expectation that the user will primarily use aperture priority exposure setting, with the shutter speed set to Auto and exposure fine tuned with the super-convenient exposure lock lever and exposure compensation dial. Aperture priority mode also allows the shutter to use any quartz-controlled interim shutter speed. Shutter speed can still be adjusted manually by pressing the shutter speed release button to move the dial off of Auto, then pushing the dial's protrusion to rotate the dial to the selected shutter speed. Still, subsequent Contax body designs improve on the basic concept of the RTSII by upgrading the shutter speed ring to a proper easy-to-grip dial, albeit still on the left top of the body. This setup actually works well, because you can use your left hand to adjust shutter speed and right hand to adjust exposure compensation, all while looking through the viewfinder. One slight anachronism of the exposure compensation dial is that it only works in half-stop increments, unlike modern shutter compensation that is typically adjusted in 1/3 stop increments.
Another interesting feature of the RTSII's interface is the location of the exposure check button on the front of the camera, rather than as a half press of the shutter release button. At first, this system is disconcerting to those who are used to Nikon or even newer Contax bodies. However, the exposure check button is located in an extremely convenient location on the front of the body, which you can access with your right middle finger while keeping your index finger on the shutter release button. By separating the two buttons, you don't have to worry about pressing too hard and triggering the shutter release by mistake. Also, separating the buttons allows the shutter release to have a hair trigger touch; just slight pressure on the shutter release button causes the shutter to smoothly fire with no perceptible delay. Another great benefit of this design is the location of the exposure lock lever around the exposure check button. Just use your middle finger to lift up the exposure lock lever, which stays locked until you press it back down to release. While exposure is locked, you can change to any aperture/shutter speed combination with the same EV by simply turning the shutter speed or aperture rings. The only disadvantage to the RTSII setup is if you are habitually used to the Nikon shutter release half press to check the exposure, you will end up wasting a lot of film! Actually, newer high-end Contax bodies include both the legacy Contax front-mounted exposure check button, as well as the more modern half-press of the shutter release button to do the same thing.
A slight disadvantage of the RTSII film advance lever is that it is only single stroke. Although it works fine, a multi-stroke lever like on Nikon pro bodies would have been a nice professional touch.
Also on the front right of the body are the lens release button, self timer switch and button, depth-of-field check button, and mechanical shutter release. The self timer is of electronic type. Twist the lever on the self timer ring to turn the self timer function on, then press the electronic button inside the ring to start the timer. A red LED begins to flash every second for nine seconds, then flashes rapidly for the last second before exposing the frame.
Simply press in the depth-or-field check button to temporarily stop down the aperture. Twist the ring around the stop-down button to turn on the mechanical shutter release function, then press the same depth-of-field check button to release the mechanical shutter at a fixed 1/50 second. Finally, the lens release button is located on the right side of the body's front. The button location, lens mount twist direction, focusing ring and aperture ring all work in the opposite direction of Nikon bodies. The only control on the left front of the body is the mirror lock-up switch.
I should say a bit more about the view inside the viewfinder, which is great. First, the viewfinder is extremely bright, with almost 100% frame coverage. The standard focusing screen includes only a central microprism focusing circle on a plain matte field. At first, I was concerned that the microprism focusing aid would be harder to use than a split image rangefinder. However, in combination with the very bright viewfinder, the microprism clearly pops into focus when distance is set correctly. Several other types of focusing screens were originally available for the RTSII, although they are hard to find today. Sadly, adjustable viewfinder diopter correction is not built in; this did not become available until the release of certain later Contax bodies, such as the RTSIII. However, you can still find Contax eyepiece diopter lenses on the auction websites. All information that you would need is conveniently displayed inside the viewfinder. In aperture priority mode, the automatically selected shutter speed lights on the right of the display. In manual exposure mode, change the aperture and shutter speed dials until for two lighted shutter speed indicators coincide. The selected aperture is displayed digitally at the bottom the viewfinder image. The viewfinder also has indicators for exposure compensation, over and under exposure, and flash ready/after flash signal.
The RTSII is compatible with the same Contax TLA 360 electronic flash that was later produced for newer Contax bodies. The flash is very powerful and works great. Since the flash unit does not need an infrared rangefinder, there is a secondary smaller light emitter that can optionally be turned on in the case of bounce flash, providing a balance between bounce and direct flash. To use the flash, just set the shutter speed dial to Auto or any speed of 1/60 sec. or less, make sure that the film ISO and aperture value are set correctly on the flash unit, then press the shutter release button to photograph a subject at any distance within the indicated distance range. To use fill flash, set the ambient exposure manually, then use the exposure compensation dial on the camera to reduce the amount of flash exposure. Fill flash works just as well as on a modern film or digital SLR, just with manual compensation.
To sum up, if you are looking for a pro-level, classic manual wind film SLR that can take advantage of the amazing range of Carl Zeiss lenses for Contax/Yashica mount, and which has a wide-range electronic shutter and very sensitive exposure meter, the RTSII may be exactly what you are looking for. These retro cameras can be found used at Ebay for reasonable prices, even after taking into account the possible need for a CLA.
Copyright © 2015 Timothy A. Rogers. All rights reserved.
(DSC_1587mod1BR25 Rev1)
this week I fell down a rabbit hole looking at Pentax 645n images; accompanied one of my favorite architecture photographers, Darren, his image is in the center square, on an amazing tour of Japan; and was completely blown away by the experimental work of ponyrock (bottom left) who achieved this aged film effect by boiling her film!
There is so much beauty to be seen out there, as I have urged you for the past few weeks, please if something strikes you here, click through to see the whole image and let the creator know what compelled you to look closer.
1. ., 2. Here Comes The Sun #selfportrait, 3. 2/365, 4. 000031550002A, 5. 51//52, 6. Mamiya RZ67 - BW - Ilford100 - 9 - Station Triangeln III, 7. Breathe it all in, 8. A Bluer Shade of White, 9. Untitled, 10. flickr.com/photos/52356673@N03/9141156782/, 11. AGFA RSX 200 - Contax AX, 12. Ambiguity & Terje Rypdal* (Pentax 645N), 13. Mikimoto Ginza Building, 14. Untitled, 15. ~ may your new year be full of golden opportunities ~ que votre année soit remplie de moments dorés ~, 16. 1312180118, 17. Taking the holidays someplace a bit higher up, 18. 365 Impossible Self-Portraits: Day 117, 19. Snow country, 20. "Refugee - 1940", 21. Untitled, 22. 4 | 365, 23. Chickens are laying!!, 24. diner life, 25. 354:365
Created with fd's Flickr Toys
Contax AX / Contax Auto Extension Bellows / Oscillo-Paragon Ilex 75mm f1.9
Agfaphoto APX100 / R09 1+25 7,5min
My son Owen asleep on a car trip back from the coast. I take a fair number of photos of the little guy (who is rapidly getting less and less little) as you might guess. I mean, I am after all never without my cameras. But this is the first I have posted of him, usually I let Wendi post my photos along with hers on her account. But I wanted to get this photo up because not only do I really like it, it has a fairly interesting story to go with it that should interest some people. This is Ilford HP5 shot at 800 and processed through DR5 in their warm tone developer.
DR5 is a cool little company in Colorado that takes a variety of black and white films, and I do mean a variety, and processes them as positive slides. They have two different developers to boot. One for neutral black and white slides and the other a warm tone developer. And they look gorgeous. This digital representation pales in comparison to how the actual slides look on a lightbox but it still shows a bit of that quality. The grain of the HP5 at 800 through this developer is just beautiful too. Anyway, I have known about DR5 for a number of years but have never actually sent them any film until I finally decided it was about time I tried them out. I am going to have to do this more often!
They also process Scala by the way for any of you photographers still running around with some. I actually have a single roll of 120 left in my fridge...
Owen is definitely an easier target while sleeping and I couldn't pass this shot up. Especially with him conked out on my fleece. The lighting was actually kind of tricky as we would drive through patches of shadow and bright light, I was shooting manually on the Contax AX (I just like to say that) I was testing that day and didn't trust the camera enough to switch it over to any automatic setting. And why would I need to in this case, I know perfectly well how to expose film. It is too easy to replace trust in one's abilities with trust in a machine's abilities. Of course I might have completely blown the exposure because of that trust (I do make mistakes afterall), but in this case I didn't.
-
Shot on Fuji Provia 100F (RDP III) at EI 100.
Color reversal (slide) film in 35mm format.
Contax AX, Hasselblad Planar F 80 F/2.8.
-
Large version at: emulsive.org/photography/35mm-format/three-quarters-shot-...
-
Filed under: #35mm_format, #Photography, #Color_Reversal_Slide_Film, #EI_100, #Fuji, #Fuji_Provia_100F_RDP_III, #Iso, #ISO_100
multiple exposure
Contax AX / Carl Zeiss Distagon 18mm f4 / Agfaphoto APX100 / Rodinal 1+200 stand 2h
Contax Aria vs Contax AX - who is the beauty and who the beast ...
Test shot with Sony A7R2 and Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon MC 2.4/35mm.