Contax 159 MM
Contax (Kyocera) · Contax/Yashica mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film · 1985
single source, unconfirmedAlso known as: Contax 159 MM · Contax 159MM · Contax 159 · CONTAX159MM · Contax 159 Multi Mode · Kyocera Contax 159 · コンタックス 159MM · コンタックス 159 MM · コンタックス159MM · コンタックス 159
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 159 MM (1985–) | Contax/Yashica | 1985 | — | No figure published |
- The finder figures, dimensions, battery and the manual speed range rest on Cees de Groot's page alone, which is why the entry carries the single-source flag. The 1/4000 top speed, 1/250 sync and three program modes are confirmed by Japanese and English Wikipedia and collection-appareils.
- The slowest automatic speed is 60 seconds by both Japanese Wikipedia and de Groot, not the 16 seconds of the later 167 MT. 520 g is de Groot's weight without batteries.
- No launch price in yen, dollars or francs was found; collection-appareils notes only that the MM lenses cost slightly more than the AE versions. The end of production is not dated by any source read.
How to tell them apart
- First body with the MM coupling: MM lenses, recognisable by the green-marked smallest aperture, give three program modes; AE lenses drop the body to aperture priority and manual (Japanese Wikipedia; collection-appareils)
- 1/4000 top speed and 1/250 sync, where the 139 and 137 stop at 1/1000 (Japanese Wikipedia; English Wikipedia)
- Compact body of 138 × 89 × 55 mm at 520 g, with rubber covering and a retained advance lever (Cees de Groot)
159 MM (1985–):
- Rubber covering rather than leatherette, which de Groot says does not last (Cees de Groot)
- Mode selector with three program positions, Av and manual; 1/4000 on the speed scale, the first on a Contax (Japanese Wikipedia; English Wikipedia)
- Advance lever retained, with a coupling plate for the Winder W-7 (Japanese Wikipedia; Cees de Groot)
- 159 MM (1985–): The only version recorded in the sources read. A grey body described as a 10th Anniversary edition appears in dealer listing titles, and 1985 was ten years after the RTS, but no source read describes such an edition and it is not recorded here.
Specifications
- Format
- 24×36mm on 35mm film
- Finder
- fixed eye-level pentaprism with LED information display · 0.82× magnification · 95% coverage · no rangefinder image
- Shutter
- electronically controlled focal plane with 1/4000 top speed, the first on a Contax (Japanese Wikipedia; English Wikipedia); powered by two SR44 silver-oxide or LR44 alkaline cells (Cees de Groot) · Program and aperture priority 60s–1/4000; manual 1s–1/4000; B (Cees de Groot; Japanese Wikipedia gives 60 s to 1/4000) · flash sync X at 1/250; TLA auto flash at 1/100, manual flash at 1/250 or slower (Cees de Groot; Japanese and English Wikipedia give 1/250)
- Film advance
- single-stroke lever; optional Winder W-7 at 3 fps (Japanese Wikipedia; KEH; Cees de Groot)
- Meter
- TTL centre-weighted; program AE in normal, high-speed and low-speed variants with MM lenses, aperture-priority AE and manual, with AE lock; TTL flash in program and aperture-priority modes with the TLA flashes (Japanese Wikipedia; Cees de Groot; collection-appareils). With AE lenses only aperture priority and manual are available (Japanese Wikipedia).
- Motor drive
- Winder W-7 — 3 fps (Japanese Wikipedia; KEH); de Groot runs his with a motor drive carrying a front grip and two extra releases
- Weight
- 520 g
- Dimensions
- 138 × 89 × 55 (Cees de Groot) mm
- Country
- Japan
- Accessories
- Winder W-7, 3 fps (Japanese Wikipedia; KEH) · TLA-series TTL flashes (collection-appareils; Cees de Groot)
95% and 0.82× by Cees de Groot; collection-appareils gives only the LED display
What reviewers say
- Dusty Traill Forbyth (Emulsive) (blog) — "Hands down, my favourite Contax SLR": the body he reaches for despite owning more desirable Contax bodies, here with CineStill 800T pushed to EI 1250.
- Cees de Groot (blog) — His main body: "a great blend of old and new technologies", with the fullest specification list found; the rubber covering "looks and feels nice but doesn't last".
History
The Contax 159 MM, unveiled at Photokina 1984 and on sale from February 1985 (collection-appareils; Japanese Wikipedia), is the body that gave the Contax/Yashica mount its second life. Zeiss’s new MM lenses carried an extra coupling and a green-marked smallest aperture, and on the 159 they unlocked three program modes, normal, high-speed and low-speed, beside aperture priority and manual; with the older AE lenses the body falls back to aperture priority and manual (Japanese Wikipedia). It was also the first Contax with a 1/4000 top speed and 1/250 sync, where the 139 and the two 137s stop at 1/1000 (Japanese and English Wikipedia).
It kept the compact format of the 139 rather than the motorised bulk of the 137: 138 × 89 × 55 mm and 520 g without its two SR44 or LR44 cells, with a conventional advance lever and the optional Winder W-7 at 3 fps (Cees de Groot; Japanese Wikipedia; KEH). The finder shows 95% at 0.82× with an LED display, and the automatic range runs from 60 seconds to 1/4000 with manual speeds from 1 second (de Groot; Japanese Wikipedia). TTL flash works in program and aperture-priority modes with the TLA flashes. Most of these figures come from de Groot’s page alone, which is why the entry is flagged single-source.
Its reviewers are owners rather than critics. Dusty Traill Forbyth at Emulsive calls it hands down his favourite Contax SLR, the one he reaches for despite owning more desirable bodies, and de Groot runs it as his main camera, a blend of old and new technology whose rubber covering looks and feels good but does not last. No launch price was found, the end of production is not dated, and a grey body sold as a 10th Anniversary edition is known only from dealer listing titles.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Live listings
- CONTAX 159MM 10周年記念モデル
- 値下げ◆極上品☆コンタックス CONTAX 159MM 10周年記念 W-7 モータードライブ付 稀少なセット ###oe16728
- #5307 【動作OK・希少】 CONTAX 159MM 10周年記念モデル コンタックス ヤシカ カールツァイス フィルムカメラ ★実用品★
- 《外観綺麗》コンタックス CONTAX 159MM 10周年モデル #5916A2101
- P46 CONTAX 159MM フィルム一眼レフカメラ ボディ ジャンク コンタックス
- #9908583 京セラCONTAX 159MM 修理研究教科書 全94ページ 弊社オリジナル( カメラ カメラ修理 修理 リペア )
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