Contax Nx
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| Pro | Excellent layout. Very good build. Good design. Superb metering. Amazing flash system. After having used the Canon EOS, Canon FD, Canon T, Nikon F3HP/F4s/F5, Canon EOS digital, I thought I would go back to Contax even though it was discontinued. I love taking photographs with the N system and the amazing lenses it offers. | ||
| Contra | Not many lenses available. However, I have made do with 3 zooms and 2 primes. They cover most of my needs and the images are simply superb. The only other Nikon or Canon body that came even close to this image quality was my trusty Nikon F4s or my favorite manual SLR - the F3HP.
The only negative that I would stress on is the slower than standard xsync speed of 1/125th. I would have preferred atleast 1/250th. | ||
| Thoughts | This body is a steal for what it is capable of doing. It makes the superb Zeiss optics come to life with AF and lets you enjoy some very good lenses to a whole new potential. Lenses are now available for very reasonable prices (compared to what they were a few years ago for new). I am particularly impressed by their lowest priced lens (28-80) and simply blown away whenever I look at images taken with the 50mm f1.4 or the 85mm f1.4. The 24-85 f3.5-4.5 zoom is about as good as it gets in this focal range and is in a whole new class compared to the Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L or the Nikon 35-70mm f2.8 ED. Just wish it was a little smaller in size - 82mm filters get expensive. I also have the 70-300mm f4-5.6 and find it to be a very high quality tele zoom with performance similar to the canon L's in this focal range. If you can find a Contax Nx body for around $300, it is well worth the price. Throw in a 28-80mm f3.5-5.6 and a 70-200mm f3.5-4.5 and you have an amazing film SLR system that rivals any offering from Canon or Nikon. | ||
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| Pro | To be had at a great price for a Contax
Built-in flash (GN 13) Zeiss glass Light weight (for a Contax) Rrich in features | ||
| Contra | Fixed matte screen not the best for manual focus
You`re not spoiled for choice in the lens-department.(but all are good/very good) A dead system | ||
| Thoughts | A lightweight (compared to my RTS with motordrive which the NX will replace) but not compact camera, capable of very high quality pictures. Very well built and professional looking it has a very nice layout of buttons and switches that fall to hand as soon as you grab hold of the rubberized exterior. Exposure is accurate in every situation you can imagine. The lenses suck color of you subject into the picture like no other. The USM motorized lenses are a joy to use (fast and precise) and focus slightly faster than the ones with a normal lens-motor.
If you like Contax and like the layout of buttons as you handled it ( it`s a bit love or hate I guess) and don`t mind buying into a dead system, by all means.....Buy it! You won`t look back once! | ||