The Contax 645 is without a doubt a Camera Legend and perhaps one of the greatest cameras ever made. It is a camera that can take film or modern digital backs making it versatile enough for the old school film die-hard or the modern digital artist. To this day, it is considered one of the premier systems in all of medium format photography. With its usable AF system, and an arsenal of superlative Carl Zeiss lenses, it is an incredibly capable image maker. The Contax 645 is a highly desirable camera. It seemed to me that Kyocera put everything they could into making the Contax 645 the best camera that they could make. Oh, there was one time when the camera started focusing erratically, but it turned out that it just needed a new battery. I’m happy to report that in the three or four years that I had the Contax 645, I never had that problem. If you’ve ever read any of my articles on Contax, you will know that while I love Contax cameras, I’ve always blasted their electronics as brittle and unreliable.
Perhaps it was the extra shallow DOF that you can get with medium format, but the bokeh on this lens was not quite as “nervous” as the Zeiss lenses I have used in the 35mm format. The lens was beautiful wide open for portraits with bokeh that seemed much smoother than other Zeiss lenses I have used.
The lens, as expected, made for wonderful portraits.
#Mamiya 645 vs contax 645 manual#
I believe only the manual focus Mamiya 80mm f/1.9 was faster. The 80mm f/2 Zeiss Planar is one of the fastest lenses available in the 645 format. It was not an EOS or Nikon speed demon, but I did not remember having issues with it, except in very low light conditions. I think you’d be fine with this for those wonderful outdoor wedding portraits. I do not know how it performed with any other Contax lenses. While there were quite a few lenses for the 645 system, I only used the 80mm f/2 Zeiss Planar so I speak only to my experience with the camera and this lens. The Contax 645 is an autofocus camera and unlike the Contax AX 35mm camera I wrote about, the AF on the 645 is quite good and definitely usable. It’s one of those cameras I could use without a manual and that to me is always a sign of a good camera. It’s a Contax and all the controls are well laid out. The Contax 645 is still popular with wedding and portrait photographers today due to its ability to use compatible digital backs and if you’ve got this setup, this would be the ultimate digital portrait system in my view.Įrgonomically, I had no complaints. The camera runs on one 2CR5 battery, but can run on four AA batteries with the optional MP-1 grip. The left side does not have a top “plate” so to speak, but it contains the dial for drive (single or continuous at 1.6 fps). The mode (B/X/M/TV/AV) dial and AE lock is also located on the top right. I believe there was actually a waist-level finder for this camera.įrom the shooter’s perspective, the top right of the camera contains the shutter speed (32-1/4000 in AV mode) and exposure compensation dials. The viewfinder is beautifully bright and contrasty. The body when fitted with AE prism and film back feels very solid and is as beautiful to look at, as it is to shoot. You can even add a nice (but expensive) accessory battery holder/vertical grip (the MP-1). The Contax 645 is a modular system with removable backs, prisms, and lenses. I couldn’t write enough to do the camera justice. I do have photos made with this camera and will be updating this article, once I can rescan and put them together. This is by no means a complete review of the Contax 645, just my memory and experience with it. When I sold it years back, I never thought I’d be writing about it one day on a blog 🙂 I apologize for not having more photos of the camera. but man, if you have to have an excuse for another camera, the Contax 645 is IT!! Looking back now, it was just another excuse for G.A.S. I had actually gotten the camera initially because I had done a couple of weddings, was thinking of going down the weekend weddings path, and was thinking of adding something different and unique to my wedding portraits. I’d always say that I would only sell this camera if I had to pay the rent. I got the Contax 645 in 2008 and had the pleasure of using it for a few years, but eventually had to sell it.
#Mamiya 645 vs contax 645 professional#
It was part of their 645 system, an ambitious foray in the (then) professional portrait and wedding world where medium format was king. The Contax 645 is a Medium Format autofocus film camera introduced by Kyocera in 1999. Perhaps one of the greatest camera systems ever made? I took this shot when I had to sell this dream combo. The almighty Contax 645 and 80mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens.
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