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 137 MA Quartz was introduced in 1982 as a direct evolution of the 137 MD Quartz. Where the MD was constrained to aperture-priority automation, the MA added full manual exposure control, addressing the chief complaint against its predecessor. Produced by Kyocera under the Contax brand, it retained the integrated quartz-controlled motor drive, electronic vertical-metal focal-plane shutter, and full compatibility with the Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens mount and its Carl Zeiss T* optics. The body dimensions and weight are nearly identical to the 137 MD, and the two cameras share a family resemblance in both layout and electronics architecture.
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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About this camera
The 137 MD's successor, adding manual exposure to an integrated-motor Zeiss-mount SLR.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Mount | Contax/Yashica (C/Y) |
| Years | 1982 – ~1986 |
| Shutter | 4s – 1/1000s + B, electronic vertical metal |
| Flash sync | 1/100s |
| Meter | Center-weighted silicon |
| EV range | ~EV 1 – EV 18 |
| Modes | Manual + aperture-priority |
| Weight | ~630 g |
| Battery | 4x AA |
| Motor | Built-in, ~2 fps |
Kyocera (which acquired Yashica in 1983, though the transition was underway from 1983 onward) released the 137 MA approximately two years after the 137 MD. The "MA" suffix denoted multi-mode automatic: the body now offered both aperture-priority AE and full manual exposure selection. The quartz oscillator timing circuit carried over unchanged, as did the built-in motor drive that was central to the 137 series identity. The 137 MA occupied the same segment of the Contax lineup - above the 139 Quartz, below the professional RTS - but now with a feature set that made it competitive against Canon's AE-1 Program and Nikon's FG. Production appears to have ended around 1986, though exact dates are not well-documented.
The 137 MA corrected the most significant limitation of the 137 MD without otherwise disturbing what worked. For photographers who wanted Zeiss glass, a built-in motor, and the option to override automation - all in a single body - the MA was the answer the 137 line had been building toward. The quartz shutter timing remained a technical selling point: long exposures were metered and held more accurately than in contemporaries with analog electronic timing circuits.
The 1/1000s maximum shutter speed looks modest against the Nikon FM2's 1/4000s, and the 1/100s flash sync is slow for a professional-tier body. These constraints reflect the trade-offs inherent in the integrated vertical-metal shutter design of the era. For Contax collectors, the 137 MA tends to be overshadowed by the RTS line, making it relatively affordable while offering genuine Zeiss mount capability.
Full Contax/Yashica (C/Y) mount compatibility. Signature pairings:
The integrated motor eliminates any need for a winder or external motor drive. A dedicated databack was available. The Contax TLA flash family provided TTL metering integration.
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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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