Contax 645 6x4.5 SLR Medium-Format Camera

This is a bate and switch. The listing says it is the whole camera system, but in reality it is just for the body alone. You still need to purchase the view finder, lens, and film back.

If you are looking for image quality, there is no better SLR that money can buy. This is state of the art 1990's technology and at 2 frames per second is still the fastest frame rate that exists in a medium format camera.Most modern 35mm SLR cameras will eclipse the frame rate of a Contax 645, doing 7-10 frames a second or in some cases, even more at up to 30 frames per second, but the compromise one makes for speed is image size and image size equals quality. Just as an APSC sensor has a hard time competing with a "full frame" sensor on a 35mm, the 35mm sensor has an even larger disadvantage against a 645 negative/sensor. The 35mm negative is tiny compared to the relatively huge amount of real estate on a 645--nearly 4 times more sensor size (or negative size, if you're still shooting film) on a 645 than a "full frame" 35mm SLR. So just as most pro fashion photographers, portrait photographers and wedding photographers have decided, I have opted for quality over quantity. For the short time I tried a digital 35mm SLR I found myself digging through hundreds of shots, spending most of my time trying to sort the "good" ones out of the pile of 30 fps shots taken with the very-common "spray and pray" technique. And even when I had the discipline to be judicious with the shutter on the 35mm SLR, the negatives (or raw files if you are using a digital SLR) simply can't compete with the resolution and quality of a negative that is over 3 times the size of a full frame 35mm.So frames per second is a feature that more often than not, proves to be a gimmick that doesn't result in getting more and better images. For sports and wildlife photography I still use a medium format Contax 645--2 frames per second is plenty to "get the shot" and every image is one that is capable of being enlarged to a 30x40 inch print without issue--sometimes even billboard size images can be made from a 645 negative. I've simply never seen a full frame image be able to compete with medium format on image quality, even when the final print is as modest as an 8x10.The lenses available for the Contax 645 are somewhat limited when compared to modern 35mm SLR cameras, but there are still a wide gamut of extremely high quality glass out there, especially if you go beyond the Contax brand and use an adapter to use Hasselblad c or cf medium format lenses--nearly all of which are made by Zeiss, with most of the lenses made since the 80's having the lengendary Zeiss T* coating on the glass.Contax makes everything from a 35mm to a 350mm x 1.4x with mutar adapter ~~ 490mm. With the MAM-1 adapter one can use the Hasselblad 30mm (which is equilateral to a ~18mm superwide on a 35mm equivalent basis). The 80mm f/2 kit lens is unreal and offers bokeh and depth of field isolation akin to the Leica Noctilux (I have one I shoot with constantly and at 10x the price the Noctilux is hardly 10x better--honestly it is a toss up and f/2 in medium format offers a DOF closer to f/1 in 35mm equivalent).With a digital back on the Contax 645, getting tack-sharp photos that are 9000 pixels wide is simple and the resolving power of the Zeiss glass makes magazine cover quality images without any issue.The 120mm f/4 Contax Makro planar is the gem of the Contax lenses--nothing is sharper. Equivalent to roughly 85mm on a 35mm equivalent basis, it is my portrait lens of choice. F/4 is close to f/2 on a 35mm equivalent basis and the DOF isolation and tack-sharp subject is magic. I usually stop down to f/8 because the DOF is so razor thin on this lens.I've used the Contax 645 professionally for years with everything from film to the phase one IQ250 digital back and achromatic+ digital back that has an unbelievably large medium format sensor, no bayer filter, no need for an anti-aliasing filter and sensitivity into the IR non-visible light spectrum, allowing me to do infrared photography without any modification to the Contax 645.The Contax is as large as any DSLR, lighter than most, has image quality that is beyond anything possible with even the most expensive and newest 35mm DSLRs available as of January 2016, and still competitive with the $80,000 phase one 645 camera that is being sold new today. Only now has phase adapted some of the features that Contax was using 30 years ago--removable prism viewfinder, thumb-button autofocus actuated only when one hits the thumb-activated focus button, allowing focus on the critical feature in the frame and subsequent re-framing of the composition without autofocus taking over and changing the desired point-of-focus without having to mess with AF-lock switches, etc. The new phase one XF system has the same style battery grip, flash bracket, overhead viewfinder and other accessories that Contax was using 30 years ago.The other shortcoming of the Contax is that they simply aren't made anymore--no manufacturer support. And no new digital backs are available from phase. The IQ3 series backs will not fit the Contax mount--phase one is done supporting Contax. The IQ 2 series backs are the last generation of digital back phase is making to fit the Contax mount. But there are plentiful leaf aptus, iq2 backs and prior generation of digital backs that are "out there" for the Contax 645.The last shortcoming of the Contax 645 is that they are not leaf shutter--the Mamiya 645 (now known as the phase 645) is capable of using both traditional shutter operated lenses and leaf-shutter lenses capable of syncing at 1/1600 of a second with special equipment and 1/500 of a second with any traditional strobe setup. Leaf shutters are *fast* and even my Mamiya 7ii from the 80s has a leaf shutter and can flash sync at 1/500 of a second.

I’m sure the camera is a fine product, but the seller was dishonest in his description. The description said it came with an 88mm lens, and 52 rolls of film, but it was just the body. Immediately returned product - maybe the seller will deign to charge a comparable price for just the body and update the description?

... and yes, I also work with Hasselblads and Mamiyas.I am fortunate enough to have bagged the complete kit on Ebay: unused, and with all the original packaging.