CONTAX RTS II Quartz questions

I was GIVEN a 1982 Contax RTS II quartz and a Yashica FR1 + Yashica lenses, two Contax flashes ( one went BANG !) interval timer lots of winders, cables etc etc -- well I went to Mr Butkus site and found the instruction manual but I cannot quite understand about the 'Exposure Preview Lever' as I took some Agfa APX 25 and on processing got some very different exposures -- some very dense and some thin -- I'm not sure if the lever thing was the right way -- does it have to have the White Line to the SIDE or Vertical ? Also, I thought the expensive and much advertised 'Real Time' system would account for Filter Densities -- I took some with a RED filter and negs were very thin then same one without filter was dense ! Both cameras have had a Bang-- Contax on one corner so frame counter does not go back to 'Start', the Yashica on pentaprism and Frame Counter is stuck on 'S' and does not count up -- I put a new 6v battery in and replaced mirror foam on both as it had gone rotten and crumbled when I used shutter after so many years of non-use . Can I show photos here taken on Pentax K10D ? Oh well will try --- don't tell the Moderators --

Contax RTS II Quartz by pentaxpete, on Flickr

Yashica gear by pentaxpete, on Flickr

this might help

http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/contax/contaxrts2/index.htm

They may well need servicing, especially the RTS II. They're getting a bit long in the tooth, so you may want to have it checked out. The RTS II is still serviceable, but if you wait too much longer it may not be. The good news is that if you like the glass (and there's no reason you shouldn't!) you can always get another Yashica body like an FR-2 or something, for very little money, and then keep on using the lenses that came with the system. And the Yashica lenses are no slouch either - I can't tell what you have with it other than the 80-200 zoom, but I'm guessing a 50mm and maybe a 35 or 28? Regardless, you'll not suffer in the lens department.

cowanw: Ah Ha !! That is what I wanted to know -- I seem to have got it RIGHT on latest test bit of film I just processed as the exposures are much more even -- I took one metering with my Weston master V and set exposure manually then took same photo metering on 'Auto' and the two frames have matched quite well -- film is drying at the moment. Will inspect with my 6x magnifier.
The Yashica lenses I got are : 28mm f2.8 ML, 50mm f1.9 DSB ( whatever THAT stands for !) and a 80-200m f4 ML zoom ON latest test film I used the Red and a Yellow filter -- I found my 55mm filters FIT both the Planar and Yashica zoom . Many thanks for all your help here !

cowanw is bang on concerning the Exposure Preview Lever. You have a superb kit - the 50 1.4 Planar and RTSII was a classic combination in the early 1980s and the RTSII, unlike the original RTS, has a mechanical fail-safe of 1/60 if your batteries fail. The Yashica FR1 is a lovely, solidly-made camera which uses the same Sugaya shutter as the RTS - its only flaw is a tendency for the film counter to fail and a fallible self-timer, though both can usually be fixed. Your Yashica lenses will serve you very well - especially the two ML (Multi-Layer Coating) types; the DSB is an earlier type that has only a single coating. Some of the Yashica ML lenses outperform their more expensive and illustrious Zeiss cousins, specifically the 21mm, 24mm (sharper and more contrast than the Zeiss 25mm), 35mm, 55 2.8 Macro, 100 3.5 Macro (a stunner!), 500 f8 mirror (better than the Zeiss Mirotar and thought to be the best 500 f8 ever built!), plus the 28-50, 70-210 f4 (very rare) and 100-300 zooms. The standard lenses - ML 50 1.7 and 1.4 are great performers too. The RTSII is a lovely camera to use and with Zeiss glass still being very expensive, those in the know are buying the top Yashica ML lenses instead - but their prices are already moving north.

Have fun with your Contax/Yashica gear. I have dozens of their cameras, lenses, data-backs, bulk-backs, winders and motor drives, Polaroid backs, flash units, etc etc and my original 1977 RTS is still going strong...so you could be enjoying that Contax feeling for many years to come!

Mr Contax from Crickhowell : Many thanks for your information and YES I HAVE been to Crickhowell when I was Youth Hostelling !
I would be interested for some help on the huge hammerhead Real Time Flash Contax 540 -- it has NO instruction manual and I can;t find much about it on Mr Butkus site -- there are many cables came with the gear and many battery holder things -- I DUMPED a couple as they were all rotten with battery acid leakage and green -- there is a brown case with the 540 flash to go over the shoulder. You are RIGHT about the Yashica frame counter -- on the FR1 it is stuck on 'S' so I have to guess how many frames I have taken !

Some info on the 540 on this page: http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/contax/shared/flash/

And there's a new manual on eBay with a BIN for $9 and change...

Big and powerful flash! I have a Sunpak 611 that is one of that type I use with my Contax and Hasselblads, but no TTL...

I had a reply from the famous ( or infamous!) Roger Hicks on the 'Amateur Photographer magazine' site about the RED filter problem and he said it was a fault of the colour sensitivity of the Contax metering being 'over-sensitive to RED' therefore giving the under-exposure -- I tend to agree with him .

Most cameras will NOT expose correctly through a red filter if you use the meter with the filter on the lens.
They will underexpose.

Breaking NEWS ---- last night I got the Huge 540 Hammerhead flash working !! It takes 12 AA Batteries !! -- I had to clean up all the green goo from the battery holder contacts and it took a long time to insert batteries correct way round as the labelling was poor for the + and - signs -- well, I switched ON and red light came ON and 'LO and BEHOLD!! '' it Powered up after must be 25 years !!
I pressed the 'Test' button and there was a huge CRACK sound as flash discharged !! I tried fitting the cables and it took some photos but film not processed yet - the unit is a bit 'scary' compared to my Mecablitz 45 CT units !!