Not Lucky with Contax SLRs

[bwcolor]

I took my RX to the Carnival Parade and the exposures were not agreeing with my incident meter. It turns out that the aperture isn't transferring to the exposure system. When I set f/4.0 it registers as f/5.6 and so on. This is true when mounting a different lens. No exposure compensation set. I just shot in manual mode with external meter. This is the third body with problems. I only have one functioning Contax SLR without problems. Not a good track record.

I can't think of anything that I might be setting that would do this, but I'm open to any ideas.

[hipsterdufus]

Why not just get a C/Y mount Yashica? They're cheap as heck. Sure, they don't have the "caché" of a Contax, but at least you won't feel like you're killing your pocketbook if you get a non-working one. The lenses are the important part any way.

[kdemas]

That is VERY strange. I have, and in some cases still have, many Contax bodies and I've never experienced this problem. I still have an RX, Aria and 139 and have never ran across this. In the past I've had STs and RTSIIIs and they were terrific as well.

I use my cameras almost exclusively in aperture priority mode however. I'll mount up a lens on each of the bodies I own to see if I can re-create your issue later. This seems quite strange, however.

Are you using Contax lenses, Yashica lenses or another C/Y mount lens? Just interested to see if there's a trend here. I currently have the 45/2, 50/1.7, 85/1.4 and 135mm which are all working fine on the bodies.

Kent

Originally Posted by bwcolor

I took my RX to the Carnival Parade and the exposures were not agreeing with my incident meter. It turns out that the aperture isn't transferring to the exposure system. When I set f/4.0 it registers as f/5.6 and so on. This is true when mounting a different lens. No exposure compensation set. I just shot in manual mode with external meter. This is the third body with problems. I only have one functioning Contax SLR without problems. Not a good track record.

I can't think of anything that I might be setting that would do this, but I'm open to any ideas.

[shadowfox]

Originally Posted by bwcolor

I took my RX to the Carnival Parade and the exposures were not agreeing with my incident meter. It turns out that the aperture isn't transferring to the exposure system. When I set f/4.0 it registers as f/5.6 and so on. This is true when mounting a different lens. No exposure compensation set. I just shot in manual mode with external meter. This is the third body with problems. I only have one functioning Contax SLR without problems. Not a good track record.

I can't think of anything that I might be setting that would do this, but I'm open to any ideas.

Consult the RX manual to make sure, but it shouldn't be hard to determine if the body is working properly or not.
Does the DOF preview button works?
Set the camera on full manual and take the lens off, you should see the camera trying to set the aperture when you trigger the shutter. Does this happen?

If the body is not working, it's a broken one, I hope you can return it to the seller, or pay cheap enough not to bother.

Record-wise, I had experienced 6 Contax bodies and one Yashica FR-I, only one has a front-focusing problem (an RTS). I have two left (137MA and ST) because I sold most of them (didn't hear any complaints from the buyers).

[oftheherd]

On the 167mt, the aperture must be set to its minimum, then the Mode Button is depressed and the Operating Lever is moved right or left for for Program mode, AP and TL as well. I don't know if any of that applies to your camera also or not. That is only for MM mount lenses. Non-MM mount should only allow AP mode.

[nickdando]

Try the suggestion given here and see if that cures the problem.

http://www.contaxinfo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2422

Nick

[paulfitz76]

I have a Contax RTS that does this I believe. It shows about 2 stops wider in the finder, but the exposure values are ok and actual film exposed looks good. There is something with the very small lever under the pentaprism. It does not seem to move right. However, the large ring with the tab is indexing ok. Just makes for a bit of a nuisance.

If the large ring is not moving right, then there is a bigger problem.

[bwcolor]

I'll need to follow-up on the suggestions above. I was shooting with the Zeiss 100-300 zoom, but when I got home it was doing the same with the 50 f/1.4. Maybe there is a custom setting that I don't know about, or maybe as mentioned above it is a mechanical issue.

I should mention that all was ok when I placed both lenses on another RX body.

[bwcolor]

I compared my two RX bodies. No lens mounted and manually putting finger in open lens mount and moving the aperture tab. The working cameras starts at f/1.2 and moves up the scale. The malfunctioning camera starts at f/2.8 and then f/1.2 and moves up the scale in an orderly manner. Both aperture tabs.. comparing between cameras.. are located in the exact same position when the spring is fully unloaded and one is reading f/1.2 and other f/2.8.

Are there any qualified repair depots for this camera? Open to suggestions. I realize that I could ignore the reported aperture display.

[kdemas]

Tocad will fix it. They have lots of parts as they're the official Contax repair shop in the US.

Also Nippon Camera Repair in New York can probably help you as well. They did a nice job on a Contax T for me recently.

Kent

[kdemas]

I believe I've found your problem. Read down this thread, sounds like an inverted hook of some sort.

Kent

[bwcolor]

I checked that one out. The tabs are facing the same way on both cameras and one camera functions as it should. Thanks for trying.

[bwcolor]

Originally Posted by kdemas

Tocad will fix it. They have lots of parts as they're the official Contax repair shop in the US.

Also Nippon Camera Repair in New York can probably help you as well. They did a nice job on a Contax T for me recently.

Kent

OK, I'll have to contact them and see if it is worth fixing. Thanks..

[shadowfox]

Sorry, this is just a curious question.
Why the need for two RX bodies?