C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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slr-35mm
The Contax RTS III, introduced in 1990, is the final and most capable body in the Contax Real Time System (RTS) line. It succeeded the RTS II and stands as the professional apex of the Contax/Yashica manual-focus SLR program. Its two headline technical achievements are a **1/8000s maximum shutter speed** — exceptional for 1990 and still fast by any standard — and a **vacuum film-flattening system** that holds the film plane against the pressure plate using a small pump to pull air from behind the film, reducing film plane deviation and yielding sharper results at wide apertures. The body is constructed from brass and aluminum alloy, is substantially heavier than the Aria or ST, and is built for professional working conditions.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
Contax's professional flagship: 1/8000s shutter, vacuum film flattening, and Carl Zeiss glass — peak C/Y-mount engineering.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Mount | Contax/Yashica (C/Y) |
| Years | 1990 – 2005 |
| Shutter | 30s – 1/8000s + B, electronic vertical metal |
| Flash sync | 1/250s |
| Meter | Center-weighted silicon |
| EV range | EV -2 – EV 21 |
| Modes | Manual, Aperture-priority |
| Viewfinder coverage | 0.97 |
| Weight | ~740 g |
| Battery | 4x AA |
| Vacuum system | Yes — active film-flattening |
The RTS line launched in 1975 with the original Contax RTS, a collaboration between Yashica and Carl Zeiss that was also the inaugural product for the C/Y lens mount. Porsche Design styled the original RTS body. The RTS II followed in 1982 with improved metering. The RTS III arrived in 1990 with a comprehensive specification upgrade: the 1/8000s shutter, the vacuum back system, a 97% viewfinder, and refined electronics.
Kyocera manufactured Contax cameras by this era (having acquired Yashica in 1983). The RTS III remained in the Contax catalog until Kyocera's announcement in April 2005 that it was exiting the camera business, ending Contax SLR production entirely after thirty years.
The RTS III makes the case that manual-focus SLR development had nowhere further to go by 1990. Its vacuum film flattening system addresses a genuine optical limitation: film curl and buckling in the gate can shift the focal plane by tens of microns, which matters at f/1.4 with a 50mm Zeiss Planar. The vacuum system largely eliminates this variable. For scientific, macro, and critical-sharpness applications, this is a meaningful feature rather than a marketing footnote.
The 1/250s flash sync at 1/8000s maximum is also notable; the ratio implies excellent shutter curtain engineering. Combined with Carl Zeiss T* glass — particularly the f/1.4 Planar and f/1.4 Distagon — the RTS III represented a legitimate professional alternative to the Nikon F4 and Canon EOS-1 of the same era, distinguished by its optical system rather than autofocus capability.
Historically, it is the last professional-tier manual-focus 35mm SLR from a major system camera manufacturer.
Full Contax/Yashica (C/Y) mount compatibility. The RTS III is typically paired with the top-tier Zeiss glass:
Motor Drive variant: the TLA 360 and TLA 480 flashes integrate with the TTL hot shoe for OTF (off-the-film) metering. The Contax Data Back RTS III mounts to replace the standard film door for imprinting.
The vacuum film-flattening system engages automatically when a roll is loaded and the camera is readied; a motor audibly runs briefly on film advance. This adds to battery consumption.
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Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
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