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on Aug 18, 2016 0:36:38 GMT
Posted: Aug 18, 2016 0:36:38 GMT
Ah, what might have been....
I had quite forgotten that I had this prototype carrying case which uniquely carries both the Yashica and Contax brands embossed in the leather.
It is quite a substantial piece of kit - 27x20x10cms/11x8x4inches - in its closed and folded form and has a zipped pocket on the back cover which allows access to the base of the case. I've used it to carry a Contax G2 with a couple of lenses and a flash as well as a Yashica T5D or Electro 35 GT. Sadly, it never got into production so I think I have the only one in existence. I also have an alternative back cover which disposes with the zipped pocket and goes instead for one with two magnetic clips to hold the flap in place. The heavy duty strap gets a lot of use carrying all kinds of gear from the Yashica Medical Lens Kit to the Contax TLA480's PS120 Power pack or an Imacon Ixpress Image Bank for a digital Contax 645.
It's a pity that it never made it into production as it's both practical and well made; it also displays both of our favourite brand's logos (I exclude Kyocera from such a description) as a single design which I think is unique for an accessory. When I was still in employment, I got one of Italy's most prestigious makers of leather goods (they made me a one-off document case which I treasure to this day) to quote me for making it in saddle leather and back then (2005) it was about £380 but I also found a British company that could make one in faux leather for only £65 as a one-off or £43 for an order of 100; I was very tempted but I feared running into design copyright problems.
However, it's the perfect design for mirrorless system cameras so I might revisit it one day.
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on Aug 18, 2016 2:26:06 GMT
Posted: Aug 18, 2016 2:26:06 GMT
Could be your Y/C case is a promotional item that would have gone to a dealer with high sales volume. I once owned a clock that was built into an FDn lens body that was just such a promotional item. But it didn't look as good as your case.
PF
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on Aug 18, 2016 4:07:29 GMT
Posted: Aug 18, 2016 4:07:29 GMT
You are absolutely right in saying that there were quite a few unusual promotional items produced by Yashica, and then Kyocera, as sales rewards, often exclusive to particular territories but most prolifically in Japan.
I've certainly seen quite a few variations of the gold RTS - usually lacking the lizard skin leathers - but without some of the 24ct accents. I also have a few gold and platinum lenses with standard black, rubber grips - not the usual gold and lizard-skin 50 1.4 Planars but 35mm and 28mm Distagons - those were promotional items. I do recall once having a 'Contax RTS Travel Kit' that I bought from MapCamera in Japan that was a re-badged kit of items like table clamps and mini-tripods among other oddities. I also believe that the uber-rare T3 Travel Kit (black T3, TLA200, SA-2 Flash Adapter and bespoke aluminium case) was also made as a promotional item for 'outstanding sales performance' with the carry case being specially produced in anodised black metal.
Promotional Zeiss MM 28 f2.8
The equipment case never even got into production; looking at my Excel sheets what I have is a manufacturer's prototype sample (hence the alternative back cover and a variety of sample zips, some with Contax etched into the tag) that appears to have come from the Indian sub-continent; from a couple of other zip tags, the manufacturer may have been called Karak. It's a nice curio but at least it's a very useful carry case.
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on Aug 18, 2016 7:38:16 GMT
Last Edit: Aug 18, 2016 7:40:36 GMT by bp_reid
Interesting bag, indeed.
I have, on a couple of occasions, come close to buying the Gold Pfiel Contax bag, which was made for the Contax G series (I suspect it would work superbly with my Sonys). It looks like an amazing bit of kit but is still very expensive even used.
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Group: Moderator
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on Aug 18, 2016 13:47:46 GMT
Posted: Aug 18, 2016 13:47:46 GMT
The GoldPfeil case is still very expensive as you say although the quality of manufacture is very high so it should prove pretty durable.
Contax produced two leather hard cases for the Real Time System and were the best they made, especially the oddly shaped black leather version which contained several C/Y metal mounts to allow you to lock the lenses into the case in a vertical position, minimising stress on zoom mechanisms, and could also carry 3 cameras and a bracket-mounted flash. When I find where I've left mine, I'll photograph it and upload a couple of images.
Meanwhile, I attach a few piccies of more affordable cases: A Yashica brown leather case (still in its wrap), a Contax brown leather case for the G-series, and finally, Heritage's beautiful leather and canvas carry case for the Contax system. These can all take a SLR, a couple of lenses and a shoe-mounted flash.
  
All of these crop up on Ebay regularly and provide good protection and easy carrying for our favourite cameras.
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on Aug 20, 2016 13:11:18 GMT
Posted: Aug 20, 2016 13:11:18 GMT
You are a very happy Camper, with these Collector Items, Biggles.  |
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Group: Moderator
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on Aug 20, 2016 19:27:39 GMT
Posted: Aug 20, 2016 19:27:39 GMT
It's embarrassing to admit just how much C/Y gear I've amassed since the late-1970s.
I put it all down to a former excess of funds (sadly no longer the case), good food, great wines, bad women...and self-delusion.
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on Aug 30, 2016 20:17:33 GMT
Posted: Aug 30, 2016 20:17:33 GMT
It's embarrassing to admit just how much C/Y gear I've amassed since the late-1970s. I put it all down to a former excess of funds (sadly no longer the case), good food, great wines, bad women...and self-delusion. Oops...bad women...i had that type four times the past 11 years...always out of luck, and the wrong ones...i wouldn't sell these C/Y things, unless you absolutely sure you won't need them anymore in life.... |
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on Oct 13, 2016 20:43:55 GMT
Posted: Oct 13, 2016 20:43:55 GMT
At last! Quite by accident I found the Contax carrying case that I mentioned a while back.
I've taken a piccie which shows one of the breech locks open to demonstrate the clever design of the case. If you have 2 cameras, you can travel with 5 lenses that are absolutely secure - 3 in the mounts and the other each on a camera which is secured by the heavy straps you can see at the front of the case. Even the longest lenses such as the 70-210 ML f4 or VarioSonnar f3.5, 100-300 ML or VS, and 300mm ML or Tele-Tessar will fit comfortably.
I used one of these back in 1978 to carry 2 Contax RTS, 2 PMDs, a 250 Back and 6 spare cassettes (pre-filled), and Zeiss' 50 1.4, 35 1.4, 85 1.4, 28 f2, 135 f2 lenses to work on my gymnastics book in Bucharest. The reason for the fast lenses was that I could not use a flash for obvious reasons to photograph Nadia Comaneci and her team mates on the beam, bars, etc. So, 400ASA Ektachrome pushed one stop was bulk loaded onto the 5 cassettes along with rolls of GAF 500 and 1 cassette of 800 ASA mono film. Admittedly, I did need a separate case to carry all the AA batteries - 288 were needed for the motor drives and my 1 RTF540 flash which I used for portraits.
Contax designed the big carry case very cleverly as it's not a cube as one might expect - the lid is angled part way up its face and the heavy duty carrying strap is offset to the rear so that it balances perfectly on the hip. It has saddle leather which makes the outer very firm but comfortable and able to withstand quite a beating. One of the best accessories created for the Yashica- Contax system...
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on Oct 14, 2016 0:33:47 GMT
Posted: Oct 14, 2016 0:33:47 GMT
I saw that case recently on the Dutch "Marktplaats"..
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on May 8, 2022 18:52:17 GMT
Posted: May 8, 2022 18:52:17 GMT
At last! Quite by accident I found the Contax carrying case that I mentioned a while back.
I've taken a piccie which shows one of the breech locks open to demonstrate the clever design of the case. If you have 2 cameras, you can travel with 5 lenses that are absolutely secure - 3 in the mounts and the other each on a camera which is secured by the heavy straps you can see at the front of the case. Even the longest lenses such as the 70-210 ML f4 or VarioSonnar f3.5, 100-300 ML or VS, and 300mm ML or Tele-Tessar will fit comfortably.
View Attachment
I used one of these back in 1978 to carry 2 Contax RTS, 2 PMDs, a 250 Back and 6 spare cassettes (pre-filled), and Zeiss' 50 1.4, 35 1.4, 85 1.4, 28 f2, 135 f2 lenses to work on my gymnastics book in Bucharest. The reason for the fast lenses was that I could not use a flash for obvious reasons to photograph Nadia Comaneci and her team mates on the beam, bars, etc. So, 400ASA Ektachrome pushed one stop was bulk loaded onto the 5 cassettes along with rolls of GAF 500 and 1 cassette of 800 ASA mono film. Admittedly, I did need a separate case to carry all the AA batteries - 288 were needed for the motor drives and my 1 RTF540 flash which I used for portraits.
Contax designed the big carry case very cleverly as it's not a cube as one might expect - the lid is angled part way up its face and the heavy duty carrying strap is offset to the rear so that it balances perfectly on the hip. It has saddle leather which makes the outer very firm but comfortable and able to withstand quite a beating. One of the best accessories created for the Yashica- Contax system...
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