USM offer precision control and extremely quick and quiet operation. Secondly, an Ultra Sonic Motor (USM) drives the ceramic collar and an inner camera body forward and back on the rails to obtain focus. At the core, two main technological achievements made focussing possible: the first is ceramic technology a very finely finished ceramic rod acts as a guide rail and motor part to move the film plane forward and back. It is said that over one hundred patents have been granted regarding the technology in the camera. The AX was an incredible engineering feat.

Still, since the beginning of photography, using a view camera, it is normal to focus by moving the film plane - which is exactly what the Contax AX was designed to do when released in 1996.

This seems to be an alien thought after years of being used to turning a lens to achieve focus. Consequently the plans for a conventional AF camera were dismissed and R&D continued.Īn alternative to moving the lens for focussing was to move the film plane. These components were not up to the longevity and optical expectations of Carl Zeiss. The helicoid and the spacer rings, positioning and holding in place lens elements, had to be made of plastics. Especially the helicoid, the device controlling lens to film distance for focussing, had to be made of a lighter material to let the rotation be carried out by electric motors. It feared that the optical performance of its lenses was compromised by the entailing use of lighter materials. Yashica, perhaps unsurprisingly, was prepared to go ahead a prototype based upon the Contax 137 SLR with a coupled Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.4 lens was presented at Photokina in 1982 and its workings were, in principle, identical to the 7000 AF introduced three years later. The pressure to introduce AF had been building up over a long time.

Obviously this was foreseeable for Zeiss and Yashica. Minolta 7000 AF (MAXXUM 7000) 35mm SLR camera It marked yet another significant milestone in photography as it was the first camera to feature both integrated auto-focus (AF) and motorised film advance. Kyocera inherited Yashica’s agreement with Zeiss and an expansion of the photography division was pursued by developing new products such compact cameras and even a medium format system, all equipped with Zeiss lenses.Īnother significant development of that decade was Minolta’s introduction of the 7000 AF (MAXXUM 7000) 35mm SLR camera. Kyocera is an industrial conglomerate with a very diversified product palette ranging from industrial ceramics (which gave the Kyoto-based company its name), to audio components, photo copiers and laser printers, solar cells, mobile telephones (due to a merger with Sanyo Electric) and ceramic kitches knives, just to name a few. The early 1980s saw two major changes for Contax: in 1983 Kyocera Corporation acquired the Yashica company.

Contax rts iii review