light, simple, zeiss

apparently not hardy, batteries don't last

I got my NX off ebay and paired with a Planar T 50mm. I am not experienced so when my photos were not sharp, I blamed myself. After 20 rolls over the last few years I finally took it in. The autofocus is front-focused according to the eye view and I never knew which one to trust. The shop told me the mirror is mis-aligned and will cost $250. I suppose I could have them repair it, but how confident can I be that it will be 100% right. If you have any advice please let me know.

Customer Service

diagnosed to have mirror misaligned

Similar Products Used:

ancient Minolta SLR

Optics. AF system clear and easy to use.

Lack of dials and switchgear to change settings.

I purchased this camera primarily to gain access to Zeiss optics. I have the 24-85mm and 70-210mm and yes, they are as good as claimed. The NX is an excellent camera for the price with a very nice AF display through the nice bright viewfinder. The built quality is first rate although I prefer the feel of a metal body. The flash works quite well except for vignetting at the widest settings on the 24-85mm zoom. The AF works with 100% accuracy. I had about 6 badly exposed slides out of 6 rolls of 36 exposures and believe it may have been a result of switching the on switch all the way to AEL in error. My only complaint is that I would prefer more traditional dials and switchgear as getting in and out of the vartious program modes is awkward. The N1 does better here but that camera is simply too large. The NX is definately a "fringe" camera with so much competition from Nikon and Canon but if you are a fanatic with lens quality and take pride in owning "the best" this is an inexspensive body to get into the Zeiss club.

Customer Service

Have not yet tried it and hope I do not have to!

Similar Products Used:

Contax G2 system, Nikon F3hp, Nikon F2AS

Light weight CZ optics AF/MF switch easier than many other cameras

battery consumption

Having read the reviews below, I find them a bit unfair to criticise NX to be a mediocre camera "just because" it has a built-in flash, not entirely made of brass and titanium, etc. I find NX to be an excellent camera in what it does and what it is. Given that NX is positioned as the junior model in the new N mount line-up, it cannot be directly compared to N1. NX has enough capability to satisfy most users, and it is a fine and well-made camera in its own right, though somewhat pricey compared to simliar cameras of other brands. One thing I didn't like about NX is its voracious appetite for battery. CR2 litium batteries are not cheap, and the separate battery pack is a joke (too cumbersome requiring another adapter and doesn't last long). Also, the data back for NX is a "date" back, recording only the date, not photo data. Nevertheless, I like NX for its light weight, CZ optics, and the ease with which one can switch back and forth between MF and AF. But I will probably move up to another body once the successor to N1 is released. BTW, Contax ought to do something to bring down the price of N mount lenses. With a new line-up there aren't many used lenses available and buying everything new is prohibitively expensive when you are considering Contax.

Customer Service

Not yet needed

Similar Products Used:

Contax RX, AX, G Minolta 5, 7 Nikon N80, F100

-Carl Zeiss lenses (the name is great)! -Contax, a rare name in any function. -Accept medium format Zeiss lenses (becos I use Hassel Zeiss on my Nikon!) -Nice & rather quiet shutter.

-Lack of lens variety at the moment. -Auto focusing is not as good as Canon & newer Nikon. -Excuse yourself before rewind your film.

Is it almost the price of Nikon F100 but with quality not as good. But all flash-equiped SLR are lightweight & more "fragile" design. Just compare Nikon F70 with F801, you know what I mean. So NX is on its own, never compare with RX, N1 or others. If you find the features are good enough, feel right, price right, buy it (bear in mind lenses are costly). I personally find NX suits me more than Nikon F70 & F80. Features on F70 out of date (lack of fancy features!), F80's focus assists (white-light) beam is terrible for my subjects (mostly people)& is not made in Japan. Nikon F100 has no built-in flash (becos I need it, otherwise stick with Nikon or go for N1). For the lens, I prefer 24-85 for its faster 3.5-4.5 and the weighty feel compared to the 28-80, which has cheap feel (like those cheaper Nikon zoom). Exactly as if you compare the Manual Focus Zeiss 28-85mm to the cheaper Zeiss 28-70mm. Lens is not as good as the 25mm result at wide angle. At normal to tele focal length are acceptable to me.

Customer Service

Not yet.

Similar Products Used:

Contax RX, T3 Nikon FE, FE2, F801, F70, F80

Light weight N mount and good backup for N1 Buit-in flash (sometimes you dont need power flash but just light) 20 very usable and powerful custom functions

Not as rigid as Contax bodies use to be but a guy who buy Contax knows how to take care of it. Its like a guy who own porche will take care of his car more than one who buy ford focus.

I'll disagree with those who are complaining about the fine detail of focusing. First of all, auto-focusing in Contax is not as mature as Nikon or Canon cuz they are doing it for very long. The strength of Contax is not this. The Contax is know for its support of Carl Zeiss lenses and rigid body. When I bought my N1 then I also bought the focusing screen cuz I know "no any camera" in world can focus "what you want". Every electronics has its logic of focusing but this is me who can make best decision that what is the right focus for my short. I'm buying NX as my backup body for my N1. NX is not a true Contax. The first body I've ever seen in contax which is not rigid as others. Its light. First time contax introduced built in flash. Sound is not an issue for me that it is doing DING or DONG. I know that NX has the same mount as N1. This is made by Contax. Nothing ever I have to worry about.

Customer Service

never needed so far

Similar Products Used:

Contax Aria Contax N1 Yashica Nikon N70

Zeiss lenses (what else) Light weight Focusing area

No mirror lock up.

Contax NX is a superb camera. Limited lenses. I use the travel kit (28-80mm and 70-200mm). You need a fast film in low light since the lenses are fairly slow. plus 800 and 1600 film. Build quality is not on par with my Nikon F100 but I like the light weight and pop-up flash.

- custom function to show difference between evaluative and spot metering. - Zeiss lenses, of course! - light weight - innovative controls - infrared focus beam - focusing area selection

- high pitch sound when rewinding - no mirror lock but these are things I can live with.

First of, Contax cameras are for those who can live with a limited but superb line of lenses. Having passed that, the Contax NX is a joy to use! I don't miss the large dials found in the manual Contax cameras. I like that the selection for initial settings are on all on the left side and then settings that you need to change are all on the right side. I especially like the custom function where the difference between the spot and evaluative metering is shown in the viewfinder. With that, I can easily adjust the compensation with the front dial. For example, If the difference is two clicks to the left, I can just turn the front dial two clicks to the right, if I want to. All done with taking my eye off the viewfinder. The rear/roller dial is also quite an innovation! Something out of PDAs most probably. I have no problems/complaints with the AF nor with rear joystick for selecting focus. I initially used this in Vegas with the travel kit (28-80mm and 70-200mm)plus 800 and 1600 film. My night time photos turned out great! Regarding the build, it's not plasticky but it's not rugged, somewhere in between. I like the light weight.

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

Contax RX Leica M6 Canon Elan 7E Nikon FM2/T

Cheaper than the N1 with cheaper lenses.

You get what you pay for!

Having used the N1 since it was first released in the UK, and the NX for about three months, I must disagree with just about everything the first reviewer has said. The NX line of lenses have nowhere near the optical quality of the N1 lenses, hence the price difference, and the very obvious quality difference if images are assessed from both lines of lenses side by side. The NX feels lightweight next to the N1 and I doubt it would stand up as well in a long term test for robustness. Whilst the N1 autofocus is not startlingly fast by Canon standards, neither is the NX. In measurements there is no difference in AF speed at equivalent fstops. As for the 200mm being a full stop faster, well so what! It is also 100mm shorter! Having used these two cameras side by side the N1 is obviously superior in just about every way, and is designed for a different type of user. he NX is designed to get upgraders and newcomers into the Contax line, and at the price point should do very well. But it is no match for the N1.

Similar Products Used:

Contax N1, Nikon F5, Canon EOS 1V.

Contax Feel. Built in Flash! Fully Featured. Light and Balanced.

Plastic Fit and Finish not up to the old Classic Contaxes.

The Contax NX is a major attempt by Kyocera to have an affordable entry into the autofocus wars! The camera is well balanced, very capable and boasts a mighty built in fill flash. It is not built to the traditional heavy Contax standards. There is lots of composite plastic material.It feels good in your hands. Autofocus speed is a definite improvement over the AX. Think of it as anice second body to go with your N1. The Zeiss autofocus lenses are big. I have the inexpensive 28-70. Nice color and contrast. Is it as sharp as the 24-85? I would guess not but it was half the price. Convenient. Well Featured. Contax Prestige. For medium duty I think it is a winner.

Light Weight Pop-up Flash with exposure compensation Default settings can be user preset

No mirror lockup (or quasi-lockup like the 2-second timer of the N1) Rear wheel too small and rotates vertically

If you want an acceptable autofocus system to use with your N lenses, this is the camera to buy. Although not up to the standard set by Nikon and Canon, the autofocus sytem of the NX is far superior to that of the N1. Many reviewers (myself included) have complained about the erratic behaviour of the N1 autofocus to the point that some were suggesting using the N1 as a manual focus camera with occasional autofocus assist! The NX has all the important features of the N1, including 20 custom functions, but adds a very useful pop-up flash with exposure compensation. Fitted with the new 70-200 lens the NX is a MUCH LIGHTER combination than the N1 with the 70-300 lens. Another useful feature of the NX is the ability to input your own mode, focus, metering, etc. settings that stay as ''default'' settings. Most cameras just revert to factory ''program'' settings. On the negative side, the ''LCD and wheel'' access to major camera functions is not as nice as the N1 knobs. The shutter lag could be less and sounds like a ''clang'' rather than a ''clunk'', if you know what I mean. Some notes about the lenses: I have used the 24-85, 70-200, 70-300, 50 F1.4 and 100 F2.8 on both the NX and the N1 and you can''t go wrong with the NX, 24-85 and 70-200 combo. At the 200mm setting the new 70-200 lens is 1 full stop faster than the 70-300. Don''t bother with the 70-300. For half the money you get a faster and much lighter zoom lens in the important focal lengths with the 70-200.

Customer Service

Only one centre now located in New Jersey. Had a lens repaired and they returned it with the ''A'' and ''P'' settings reversed. Back it went!

Similar Products Used:

Contax N1, Nikon F80, F100, F90