Contax 167 MT

Contax (Kyocera) · Contax/Yashica mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film · 1987

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: Contax 167 MT · Contax 167MT · Contax 167 · CONTAX167MT · Kyocera Contax 167MT · Contax 167 MT body · コンタックス 167MT · コンタックス 167 MT · コンタックス167MT · コンタックス 167

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
167 MT (1987–) Contax/Yashica 1987 — No figure published
  1. The launch price rests on David De's page alone and is given as an approximation there, hence the single-source flag; no yen price was found, and Japanese Wikipedia lists none.
  2. 620 g is David De's figure, repeated in unattributed comparison tables; no dimensions were found in the sources read. The shutter's travel direction and blade material are not stated by any source read.
  3. The bracketing steps of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 stops are Casual Photophile's; De's page confirms three frames in continuous drive without giving the steps.
  4. The D-7 data back is known from reader comments on Casual Photophile's review, not from a maker's document.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Motorised Contax with no rewind crank and a slide switch for shutter speed, between the lever-wind 159 MM and the dial-equipped RTS III (Japanese Wikipedia; Casual Photophile)
  • A.B.C. bracketing control and spot-metering switch on the top plate; LCD exposure window on the prism (Casual Photophile)
  • Four AAA cells in the body, unusual among Contax SLRs, with the P-5 pack for AA cells (David De; Beau Photo)

167 MT (1987–):

  • No rewind crank: advance, loading and rewind are motorised (Japanese Wikipedia; David De)
  • Shutter speed set by a slide switch rather than a dial, with an LCD exposure-data window on the prism housing (Japanese Wikipedia; Casual Photophile)
  • Top-mounted AE-L switch and the A.B.C. bracketing control (Casual Photophile; Beau Photo)
  • Battery chamber for four AAA cells; the optional P-5 pack takes AA cells (David De; Beau Photo)

Specifications

Format
24×36mm on 35mm film
Finder
fixed eye-level pentaprism; split-image and microprism screen, information display along the top · 0.82× magnification · 95% coverage · no rangefinder image
Shutter
electronically controlled focal plane · 16s–1/4000; B (ImagingPixel; David De; Beau Photo) · flash sync X at 1/125 (ImagingPixel; David De; Beau Photo)
Film advance
built-in motor: automatic loading, single frame or continuous at 3 fps, motorised rewind started by the user, powered by four AAA cells or four AA cells in the optional P-5 pack (Japanese Wikipedia; ImagingPixel; David De; Beau Photo)
Meter
TTL silicon photodiode, centre-weighted or spot; program AE in high, normal and low variants, shutter priority, aperture priority and manual; A.B.C. automatic bracketing of three frames at 0.5, 1 or 1.5 stops; ±2 EV compensation in 1/3 steps; AE lock, which David De says works only with spot metering; film speed ISO 6–6400 (Casual Photophile; David De; Japanese Wikipedia). Program and shutter-priority modes need MM lenses; with AE lenses the body offers aperture priority and manual (Casual Photophile; Beau Photo).
Motor drive
Not compatible — None needed: the 3 fps motor and rewind are built in (Japanese Wikipedia; ImagingPixel)
Weight
620 g
Country
Japan
Original price
About $600 body only at launch in the United States (David De, who dates the launch to 1986) (today $1,720)
Accessories
P-5 power pack for four AA cells (David De; Beau Photo) · Data Back D-7 (reader comments on Casual Photophile) · TLA-series TTL flashes (Casual Photophile)

95% and 0.82× by Casual Photophile and David De; Japanese Wikipedia gives 95%; the display lights for night shooting (Beau Photo)

Where sources disagree

First
  • 1987 — Japanese Wikipedia; February 1987 in a collectors' timeline found by search
  • 1986 — English Wikipedia's table; David De; Beau Photo

Better supported: 1987

Japanese Wikipedia is the more carefully referenced of the two encyclopaedia pages for the Contax SLRs; the 1986 dates may reflect the announcement or export release.

What reviewers say

History

The Contax 167 MT is the camera that brought Kyocera’s Contax line into the age of multi-mode automation. Released in 1987 by Japanese Wikipedia’s account, or 1986 by English Wikipedia’s and by two of its reviewers, it combined the MM coupling introduced on the 159 MM with an integral 3 fps motor that also loads and rewinds the film, so the rewind crank is gone and the shutter speed is set by a slide switch rather than a dial (Japanese Wikipedia). It was the first camera with automatic exposure bracketing: the A.B.C. control fires three frames at 0.5, 1 or 1.5 stops apart (Casual Photophile). Program AE in three variants, shutter priority, aperture priority and manual, centre-weighted and spot metering, an AE lock and ±2 EV of compensation in third stops complete the list, with the program and shutter-priority modes available only on MM lenses (Casual Photophile; Beau Photo).

The shutter runs from 16 seconds to 1/4000 with X sync at 1/125 (ImagingPixel; David De; Beau Photo), the finder shows 95% at 0.82× with an LCD data window on the prism, and the whole thing weighs about 620 g on four AAA cells, with the P-5 pack for AA cells as an option (De; Beau Photo). De puts the body at about $600 at launch in the United States, the only price found. Japanese Wikipedia notes that it was the only Contax-brand SLR in production between the end of the RTS II and the start of the RTS III in 1990, which makes it the bridge between the Yashica-era bodies and the ST, RX and RTS III that inherited its layout.

Its reviewers divide on the controls rather than the pictures. Casual Photophile calls it imperfectly perfect, a loved camera whose slide-and-button interface is the one real flaw, and Beau Photo found it a joy to use on holiday with the Tessar 45mm. 35mmc’s contributor calls it an outstanding but overlooked tool, surprisingly light for an all-metal body. De is the dissenter: an orphaned design whose LCD layout takes getting used to, whose shutter-priority and manual modes are slow to set, and whose electronics can fail beyond repair now that Kyocera no longer services it, as happened to one of his. Reader comments on Casual Photophile add corroded switches and failing battery contacts to the list of things to check.

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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

Asking price, USD: a median of $130 across 33 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-02 (middle half $92–$170). Tracked since 2026-11-01, 2 days: up 4% from $120.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-11-02$130$92–$17033
2026-11-01$120$91–$15032

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