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Review Contax Aria

John Un and others wrote: "the 167MT has a better build than Aria".

I would like to know what kind of experience or other argument that make you people write this. Or is it pure speculation/prejudice?

Jakob
 
It's just a personal favourite. My statement should be re-wrote as: If you can find a mint condition 167MT, it's worth to own. Otherwise, it's more safety to buy a new Aria. Although many people don't like its plastic feel, it nevertheless provides one extra option of metering--the matrix metering. Futher, the grasp will be OK when mounted with standard lens or other light-weighted lenses.

To my limited knowledge, a mint condition 167MT is quite rare, maybe many Contaxians like it and keep it(like me) rather than leave it.

Anyway, whichever model of Contax SLR you finally pick, you do enjoy the legendary of Carl Zeiss lenses. Good
 
...as you said John, it is a personal taste. In my case I would prefer the Aria. It is lighter and in my opinion looks better. I am not a fan of big LCD screens and the way you can change the camera settings of the 167MT. Additionally It is easier to handle with the info of the viewfinder at the side instead of at the top of the screen. Also the change of metering mode is very elegant on th Aria, without taking the camera from your eyes. BUT this very stiff On/Off switch on the Aria is getting on my nerves
happy.gif


Just my 2 cents...
 
Dirk wrote: "I would prefer the Aria. It is lighter and in my opinion looks better. I am not a fan of big LCD screens and the way you can change the camera settings of the 167MT"

I have to agree here. The 167MT to me always felt like a Yashica more than a Contax, and in my eyes it is the one Contax SLR model ever that did not have the right 'classic' user surface and way of handling that I love with Contax.

Not a word said about picture quality here. Just of my personal 'love' factors.

Jak
 
Hi, I have just purchased an Aria plus 85mm 2.8 lens.Its a lovely camera I used to own a 167 it was heavy and the Aria is getting more use due to its size and weight and ease of use.Do not be put off by the plastic body it is just as strong as a metal one.Metering appears spot on the matrix metering tells you if it is under exposing image compared to centre weighted.Easy to focus it is a photographers camera that you can take anywhere. Have had no problem with on off switch,controls easy to use plus you can leave the camera turned on and it will shut down after 16 secsYou hardly ever see these come up second hand so some one must like them. Marcus
 
> Hi Dirk,

I never had any stiffness trouble with my Aria. I did have a sloppy On/Off switch on my black G2, and it went back to Contax UK to get fixed. Maybe the Aria should go into the workshop for a check too. Good luck with it - it is NOT normal for an Aria in my experience. Albest, Robin
 
I own an Aria for three years now. I am not a pro and do not use the Aria on a daily basis, but use it in extreme conditions. I took the Aria to the Himalaya twice and used it up to 6300 meters with very low temperatures (up to minus 20 degrees celcius). My Aria has also seen the Mauritanian Sahara and Sinai Dessert (Egypt). It is a very good camera that does the job in a variety of conditions. Yes, you have to take care for the camera in these conditions. Keep sand and moisture away. People seem to forget that a camera is a machine and the photographer is the weak factor, not the Aria. When my slides are out of focus or to dark or to bright I can blame myself.

The matrix metering is not a Nikon alike, but it works very good in backlight. I only use it in specific situations.

I like the Aria very much and its weeknesses are minor ones (no mirror lock up, but the stiff AE lock is not a problem for me)

I am working on a website, it just gives you an idea in which conditions I have used the Aria. www.planet.nl/~melvinredeker

Melvin
 
I own an Aria and an RX. Yep, the matrix metering is way off on the Aria, but I have also found that my Aria and RX never agree on exposures (even though both have been recently serviced by kyocera), especially when aiming the camera at blue scenes and red scenes. On mainly green scenes, the meters agree. The differences can be up to 1.5 stops.

Does anyone else have this problem?
 
I must be lucky, no stiffness on the on/off switch, matrix metering just about "spot" on, and I love the "difference to centre weighted display" ... all in all, an excellent camera which I would recommend to anyone
 
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