Contax NX 35mm SLR - Anyone Have One?

[Marco S.]

Hello,

I picked up a Contax NX for a really good price but having done a few searches I really can't find any info on this camera.

I figured since it uses Carl Zeiss T* lenses and a Contax name I could not go wrong with the purchase. Having said that I don't know anyone who uses one!

Does anyone on the forum here use one and if so what do you think?

Marco

 

[Dave Wooten]

Don t have one....it does have built in flash with a red eye reduction...center weighted spot meter....auto rewind...a bit smaller and lighter than the N-1 ...Dx coding auto and manual...I found this info by googling contax NX

 

[edwardkaraa]

You can find the requird info at www.contaxusa.com. However you should consider that this camera belongs to a system which was aborted before it was completed. There are only a few lenses available, and not of very usable focal lengths. A better investment would have been a Contax manual focus camera. The lens choice is really substantial and available on the market, though the prices rocketed recently because of all the digital guys buying the Zeiss glass. I recently bought 2 camera bodies and 10 lenses all for around 6000$, almost 50% more than what I would have paid for new items back in 1998. Go figure.

 

[sbelyaev]

I have N1 which is similar to NX. The camera and lenses are very good. You can get a NAM-1 adapter and use contax 645 lenses. Planar 80/2 is fantastic.

 

[Karl K]

I have an NX with the 28-80mm f3.5-5.6 and a 70-200mm f3.5-4.5. Lenses are excellent, with great build quality. Autofocus is OK, not as fast as Nikon or Canon, but accurate. Built-in flash is OK with ISO 400 under 13 feet. Camera is a bit boxy and plasticky, but has a great set of features, once you learn how to use all the bells and whistles. The NX lenses are hard to find at a reasonable price. I gave up on the system because of this. You can buy a Nikon F100 with three or four lenses for less than an NX with two lenses. Too bad the system is dead.

 

[edwardkaraa]

Also the C/Y lenses seem to have a higher resolution than N lenses according to Zeiss own MTF charts, and the prices are more affordable.

 

[notx]

The one lens that really appeals to me for the N series has always been the 400mm F/4. It is dramatically cheaper for a birding lens than the CY 300mm F/2.8.

I considered the camera, but in the end really wanted to go back to rangefinders... and so now no longer have a 35mm SLR