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Quick
Guide to What's
Important
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First
35mm SLR to accept Carl Zeiss autofocusing
lenses
Five-point
AF system with center cross sensor and
outer sensors on diagonal lines
Active
AF sensor manually selectable with unique
joy stick control
First
AF SLR to offer autofocus bracketing
Twenty
Custom Functions
Body
made of new crack-resistant carbon-fiber
reinforced nylon
Unique
optional remote LCD viewfinder
Accepts
Contax 645 AF lenses with optional adapter
Not
compatible with Carl Zeiss MM-mount manual
focus lenses
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The
year was 1982, and the place was the massive international
photo trade show held biannually in Cologne, Germany.
Behind closed doors, the editors of this magazine
were treated to a glimpse of the future: a prototype
35mm SLR that, with a small, high-torque, relatively
quiet motor in its housing, could automatically
focus the image. Clearly, a revolution was in
the wings. The camera, dubbed the "137 AF," predated
the first mass-produced autofocus SLRs by three
years and wasn't made by Minolta, Canon, or Nikon,
the three camera makers that have since made major
reputations with autofocus pro-level 35mm SLRs.
That first, fully operational 35mm autofocus SLR
was a Contax. Now, nearly 20 years later, Contax
is finally bringing a 35mm auto-focus SLR and
lenses to market. Why the delay, and was the Contax
N1 worth the wait? Let's see.
There's
a two-word answer to the first question: Carl
Zeiss. The great German optics maker, and traditional
Contax lens supplier, caused the delay. The problem?
The relatively loose tolerances that Zeiss felt
was needed by other manufacturers for such an
autofocus system would lack the precision required
to carry the Zeiss name. Not to be left out of
the autofocus party, Contax, in a bout of engineering
brilliance, went to the unusual extreme of designing
the Contax AX, a 35mm SLR that autofocuses using
manual-focus Zeiss lenses. How? By shifting the
film plane!
In
the ensuing years, internal-focusing lens designs,
higher-torque, lens-housed focusing motors,
and space-age lubricants have all contributed
to making Zeiss precision and autofocus lenses
compatible. Seven AF lenses for the Contax 645
AF were introduced in 1999 and produced highly
successful test bench results. Now Carl Zeiss
has brought forth four 35mm AF lenses in a unique
N mount, and Kyocera, maker of the Contax, after
20 years of champing at the bit, has finally
unveiled the first true successor to the 137
AF, the Contax N1. Yes, we had seen and handled
a preproduction N1 and reported on it, but now
we have a pristine, full-production camera ready
for testing.
Removing
the N1 from its box, and bayonetting on the
Zeiss 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 Vario Sonnar (the 50mm
f/1.4 Planar wasn't available for testing),
our first impression was that Contax had apparently
set out to make the best 35mm AF SLR possible—regardless
of size and weight. The N1 (like its Contax
stable mates, the AX and RTS III) is a brute.
Heavier than even the Contax 645 AF (28 vs.
22 ounces, body only), the N1 has an aluminum-alloy
mirror box and a carbon fiber-impregnated nylon
body that, unlike most polycarbonate bodies,
is claimed to be unbreakable if crushed, for
example, by a 350-pound NFL lineman. (Ordinary
fiberglass-impregnated polycarbonate bodies
have been known to crack and break in similar
circumstances.) The N1 stands 4 5/8 inches high,
easily among the tallest AF SLRs without a motordrive
booster. With our test zoom attached, the package
comes to 3 1/8 pounds, comparable to some 645
medium-format rigs. Your hands tell you that
physically the N1 will probably last a lifetime.
Check
out our...
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