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on Jul 30, 2019 15:40:30 GMT
Last Edit: Jul 30, 2019 15:49:53 GMT by biggles3: added explanatory photo.
According to my inventory, today is the 40th anniversary of this very rare Contax RTS variant - the Fundus.
I bought two of the first to come off the production line as I really liked the enhanced specification of this RTS - they are easy to tell apart from the standard camera because of the lock-button in front of the shutter speed dial and, for the eagle-eyed, the raised surround to the shutter release (though I do have one without it). The other principal difference was enhanced mirror damping as the camera was intended for scientific use and not every situation leant itself to using the mirror lock-up. Here, it's paired with the PMD, 250 Back and the ML 55mm f2.8 Macro with Yashica's 27mm Extension Tube to provide 1:1 macro shooting. This unit was usually attached to the Contax AC Control Box and set for remote, automated operation over a period up to 99 days when observing certain chemical or biological reactions. I also knew of a couple that were set up for remote observation on sections of the border between East and West Germany using the Zeiss 500 f4.5 Mirotar.
RTS Fundus ML 55 2.8 1x
I had another identical camera/motor-drive/bulk back assembly but with the Zeiss 85 1.4 attached for indoor sports work using Ektachrome pushed to 800ASA. It wasn't good for your shoulders! How much easier life is today with digital cameras and SD/CF cards...
Perhaps what is most amazing is that all the items in the photo are still working perfectly after more than 40 years (the PMD and 250 Back were bought earlier); all I've had to do is get the PMD lubricated once and change the seals and dampers on the RTS twice and the 250 back once. No planned obsolescence back then...
all rev
I thought I'd add a piccie of the AC Control Box as it's quite a rare beast...
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on Jul 31, 2019 19:40:46 GMT
Posted: Jul 31, 2019 19:40:46 GMT
Presumably, given that it's called a fundus camera, it was originally intended to be used on an optician's fundus camera to record what the optician sees. In which case, I don't see the purpose of extra mirror damping as the mirror could be locked up (the optician wouldn't be looking through the camera). The lock on the speed dial makes sense to stop it being accidentally rotated and the collar around the shutter release to stop it accidentally being released. I assume there would be a remote release built in to the optician's fundus camera. |
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on Jul 31, 2019 20:40:35 GMT
Posted: Jul 31, 2019 20:40:35 GMT
Hello peterr,
You make a perfectly good case - the mirror damper would be superfluous for such use.
However, the Fundus name seems to have appeared from nowhere and simply became accepted. It usually (but not always) has stencilled in white on its base-plate: SCIENTIFIC/MEDICAL though I also have one with only SCIENTIFIC on it and two more with no additional stencilling. I also have one with a gold base-plate marked: DEMONSTRATOR I have never seen them advertised in any brochure and so am still curious as to how they ended up being used in laboratories around the world. They are of course quite distinct from the Contax CGCM or M35W bodies, of which there are countless variants, which tended to be paired with microscopes or oscilloscopes and were based on the 137MD (as shown below). 
Contax 137MD Variants res
The truly weird-looking Contax M35W with its D-5 Data Back from its 137 heritage. 
Contax M 35 W rear top
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on Aug 1, 2019 3:00:58 GMT
Posted: Aug 1, 2019 3:00:58 GMT
I've got the Nikon version of this.
PF
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on Aug 1, 2019 22:34:55 GMT
Last Edit: Aug 1, 2019 22:36:14 GMT by lumiworx
Nice to see more of the oddballs, biggles3 ... I've only seen a first version RTS in either a demonstrator model, or the Scientific/Medical flavors, and wonder if they were ever produced in the II or III models as well. The baseplate view of a demo and S/M versions, with the obvious 'bump' on the front...  I also acquired a DataPhot on a standard RTS I that I think might be the earliest version of these backs. The serial number is 0029, and from the USPO documents on the Patent, it shows it was applied for in Aug., of 1973, and approved in July of 1974. The actual patent application shows a drawing of this back on a camera, and then installed on what looks like it might be an opticians apparatus that @peterr mentioned. It certainly doesn't appear to be a standard microscope or an oscilloscope setup.  |
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on Aug 4, 2019 11:15:31 GMT
Posted: Aug 4, 2019 11:15:31 GMT
Hi lumiworx,
The demonstrator plates were only made for the Contax RTS, they were abandoned by the time the RTSII appeared. That being said, I do have gold-plated 139 base-plate which was given to me by a chap from Photax, the UK distributor back in the 1970s and 80s, though it is not marked for demonstrator-only use. I did see a RTSII being sold with the gold demonstrator base-plate some years ago through a dealer's shop but the serial number was a give-away as it was for an RTS so it was being sold under false pretences...
I too have a Zeiss DataPhot, attached to an RTSII, though mine is cream coloured. The presence of a timer indicates that it was a multi-purpose accessory, being used in ophthalmology, metallurgy, chemistry and other lab uses where periodic remote observations and data recording would be needed. The timer would be redundant for most ophthalmological uses. The Zeiss instruments to which the cameras were attached powered the unit (and in the case of many CGCMs, the camera too); it made perfect sense given the collaboration between Yashica and Zeiss to use Contax cameras as the base for the DataPhot and other scientific variations of cameras and backs. When it comes to medical use, both Yashica and Contax cameras were used to provide a surprising variety of bespoke bodies and backs.
I'll bet that there are a few odd-balls out there we have yet to see.... |
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on Aug 14, 2019 15:48:01 GMT
Posted: Aug 14, 2019 15:48:01 GMT
Rare find, do you have any other hobby, besides Contax, Zeiss & Yashica, biggles?  Great Stuff for sure. Need to dedust my RTS. |
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on Aug 16, 2019 9:04:09 GMT
Posted: Aug 16, 2019 9:04:09 GMT
There is a whole world of cameras and accessories that escapes me completely, I thought that I knew a little about the Yashica products, but more I read this forumm and check your collections more I realize that I know nothing.
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on Aug 16, 2019 20:37:12 GMT
Posted: Aug 16, 2019 20:37:12 GMT
There is a whole world of cameras and accessories that escapes me completely, I thought that I knew a little about the Yashica products, but more I read this forumm and check your collections more I realize that I know nothing. I get that same feeling... That's what makes a Forum like this one so wonderful; we all exchange our knowledge and in that sharing, we're all enriched. And every so often, someone comes along with a revelation about Yashica that starts a whole new series of threads and messages... It's just great fun - and we get to take piccies with the gear! |
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on Aug 16, 2019 22:54:43 GMT
Posted: Aug 16, 2019 22:54:43 GMT
Long live Contax, Yashica & Zeiss! I'd bring back the CONTAX Brand to the market, with latest tech & style, if i'd being a billionaire...sadly, i am not. |
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on May 17, 2020 7:30:40 GMT
Posted: May 17, 2020 7:30:40 GMT
Graham, you must have spent 10.000s into Contax/Yashica Gear. My RTS is working fine. But i do like the RTS II way more, it's being advanced into 19 Points. |
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on May 17, 2020 13:35:01 GMT
Posted: May 17, 2020 13:35:01 GMT
Graham, you must have spent 10.000s into Contax/Yashica Gear. My RTS is working fine. But i do like the RTS II way more, it's being advanced into 19 Points. You are of course quite correct when you say that the RTSII is a better camera than the RTS.
BUT the RTS was my first purchase into C/Y territory back in the mid-1970s and my first book could not have been produced without it and its motor, bulk-back and bag of Zeiss glass. I have an emotional attachment to the camera which time and age can't erase.
So, even though your are right and the RTSII is superior to its predecessor, my heart will always be with the original camera - the one that gave birth to the Contax Real Time System.
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on May 17, 2020 19:30:33 GMT
Posted: May 17, 2020 19:30:33 GMT
I have a similar attachment to the 137MA for similar reasons  And possibly for completely different and maybe illogical reasons, the FX-3 Super 2000. Doubt I will ever sell this one and will hopefully outlast me. |
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on Jun 13, 2020 15:08:08 GMT
Posted: Jun 13, 2020 15:08:08 GMT
I've started with the Yashica FX3, and with Contax, it was the 139Q. I had the RTS as my 2nd Contax Camera, and RTS II as my 3rd. But i am emotionally attached to the RTS II, and any kind of Contax Gear.
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on Jun 13, 2020 16:43:21 GMT
Posted: Jun 13, 2020 16:43:21 GMT
I also knew of a couple that were set up for remote observation on sections of the border between East and West Germany using the Zeiss 500 f4.5 Mirotar.
Mirotar lenses were used on the eastern side of the border as well. |
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Great Stuff for sure. Need to dedust my RTS.
