Help needed for Contax 167MT
Peter Ishii
HI,
I've just bought a 167MT. Surprisingly it is said in the manual that
using a mechanical cable shutter release can damage the camera...!
What else but a cable release can be used since it fits prefectly
(though I didn't dare to shoot)?
Has anyone had any experience from this?
Peter
Paul Magwene
That's right, don't stick a mechanical shutter release in any of the
current line of Contax SLRs. Well, that's not exactly true - I think
the RTS III has an additional shutter release port for a mechanical
release.
What you need is an electronic release which Contax makes. Yet
another way for them to get your hard earned bucks. Oh well, the
cameras are still a pleasure to use...
Paul Magwene
Paul van Walree
In <31B5B2...@midway.uchicago.edu> Paul Magwene <pmag...@midway.uchicago.edu> writes:
I am shocked. I have an RTS III, which indeed has a mechanical
cable release in addition to a `regular' cable release entrance.
However, I always though the main difference between the two
was that the mechanical cable release does not consume the
batteries, and that it explicitly requires a cable that can be locked.
I *do* often use an ordinary mechanical cable in combination with
the `regular' cable release, and it functions perfectly well
all the time. Also in the manual of the RTS III there's a warning
on this point, which unfortunately is pretty vague.
After reading the passage several times I concluded that the warning
was about not connecting a mechanical cable to the flash-sync entrance
of the camera. That made sense to me.
Walrus
Marcus Hanke
In article <walree.8...@ruunat.fys.ruu.nl> wal...@fys.ruu.nl (Paul van Walree) writes:
>From: wal...@fys.ruu.nl (Paul van Walree)
>Subject: Re: Help needed for Contax 167MT
>Date: Thu, 6 Jun 1996 13:34:47 GMT
If I were you, I would stop using an mechanical cable release on the standard
(electronic) socket immediately!
Contax started using only electronic cable releases already when they
presented the first RTS. RTS stands for "Real Time System" and means that
there should be the least possible loss of time between pressure on the
release and activation of the shutter. The first releases were so sensitive
that you needed an extra button for checking the metering because it was not
possible to depress the release just halfway (this was the same with the
Yashica FR-series too). With this system Contax/Yashica also introduced the
electrical cable releases which had the advantage of making greater lenghts
possible.
In the socket an electrical contact must be closed to activate the shutter.
The electrical cable switch has always the same pressure on that contact,
whereas a mechanical cable release - when used very often - could expose the
contact to a too high pressure and damage it.
Especially in astronomy it is necessary to open the shutter for a long time
and there it is annoying that the standard electrical cable release is using
battery power. Therefore the RTS III has got another cable release socket (its
on the grip near the release button for vertical hold pictures) where you can
use a mechanical release without the risk of damaging the contact.
Marcus
Paul van Walree
>If I were you, I would stop using an mechanical cable release on the standard
>(electronic) socket immediately!
>Contax started using only electronic cable releases already when they
>presented the first RTS. RTS stands for "Real Time System" and means that
>there should be the least possible loss of time between pressure on the
>release and activation of the shutter. The first releases were so sensitive
>that you needed an extra button for checking the metering because it was not
>possible to depress the release just halfway (this was the same with the
>Yashica FR-series too). With this system Contax/Yashica also introduced the
>electrical cable releases which had the advantage of making greater lenghts
>possible.
>In the socket an electrical contact must be closed to activate the shutter.
>The electrical cable switch has always the same pressure on that contact,
>whereas a mechanical cable release - when used very often - could expose the
>contact to a too high pressure and damage it.
This may all be very true, but I don't understand why
a) Contax uses the same screw mount for this electronic release that
is used for ordinary mechanical cables.
b) Why the electronic cable release functions properly with a
mechanical cable.
I bought my Contax SLR second-hand, recognized the cable release entrance
as such and simply connected my old mechanical cable. It worked fine.
If Contax would have chosen a different screw mount or if it wouldn't
function with a wrong cable, I would have noticed something was wrong
sooner.
>Especially in astronomy it is necessary to open the shutter for a long time
>and there it is annoying that the standard electrical cable release is using
>battery power. Therefore the RTS III has got another cable release socket (its
>on the grip near the release button for vertical hold pictures) where you can
>use a mechanical release without the risk of damaging the contact.
I know that, of course. It works fine, just as the above-mentioned
wrong combination.
>Marcus
Walrus
Nicola Marzari
In article <walree.8...@ruunat.fys.ruu.nl>,
Paul van Walree <wal...@fys.ruu.nl> wrote:
>In <Marcus.Hanke...@sbg.ac.at> Marcus...@sbg.ac.at (Marcus Hanke) writes:
>
>This may all be very true, but I don't understand why
>
>a) Contax uses the same screw mount for this electronic release that
> is used for ordinary mechanical cables.
>b) Why the electronic cable release functions properly with a
> mechanical cable.
>
May be that the mechanical cable just shortcuts a circuit, and so can be used as
an emergency 'electric' release. This also explains why the screw mount is the
same.
The RTSII has also a double mount, for an electric release (never tried a mechanical
one on that) and for a mechanical release, to operate B without using the
batteries, and to operate the backup mechanical speed of 1/50th
alternatively to the button on the other side of the lens mount.
nicola
Blake Ziegler
peter...@ihm.se (Peter Ishii) wrote:
>HI,
>I've just bought a 167MT. Surprisingly it is said in the manual that
>using a mechanical cable shutter release can damage the camera...!
>What else but a cable release can be used since it fits prefectly
>(though I didn't dare to shoot)?
>Has anyone had any experience from this?
Hello Peter,
All Contax SLR bodies except the S2 & S2b are electronic. They
require the L Series Cable Switch. These are available in 4 lengths:
L-30 is approx 1 foot long
L-100 is approx 1 yard long
L-300 is approx 10 feet long
L-1000 is approx 33 feet long
A mechanical plunger type cable release will not guarantee holding the
electrical connection especially during long exposures. Further the
mechanical type can cause damage by intrusion of the plunger into the
camera body.
The L Series Cable Switches are not expensive.