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.
View profile →slr-35mm
The Contax 137 MD Quartz, introduced in 1980, was one of the first 35mm SLRs to incorporate a motor drive as a permanent, non-removable part of the body rather than as a detachable accessory. Produced by Yashica under the Contax brand following the 1975 joint venture with Carl Zeiss, the 137 MD Quartz offered aperture-priority automatic exposure controlled by a quartz-oscillator timing circuit - an innovation that lent precision to longer exposures and consistent frame timing. It accepts the full Contax/Yashica (C/Y) lens mount, giving access to Carl Zeiss T* optics. The built-in motor advances film at approximately two frames per second and handles auto-rewind.
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.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
Develop 35mm film
Labs in our directory that process 35mm film.
Before you buy used
About this camera
Contax's 1980 integrated motor-drive SLR - aperture-priority automation with quartz-controlled film advance.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Mount | Contax/Yashica (C/Y) |
| Years | 1980 – ~1986 |
| Shutter | 4s – 1/1000s + B, electronic vertical metal |
| Flash sync | 1/100s |
| Meter | Center-weighted silicon |
| EV range | ~EV 1 – EV 18 |
| Modes | Aperture-priority only |
| Weight | ~620 g |
| Battery | 4x AA |
| Motor | Built-in, ~2 fps |
Yashica and Zeiss launched the C/Y mount system in 1975 with the Contax RTS, a manual-exposure body styled by Porsche Design. As the market shifted toward automation, Kyocera (which absorbed Yashica in 1983) introduced the 137 MD Quartz in 1980 to compete with integrated-motor designs like the Minolta XD-S and the Canon A-1-era offerings. The "Quartz" suffix marked the oscillator-controlled timing; the "MD" indicated the built-in motor drive. The camera sat above the 139 Quartz in the lineup but below the RTS. It was superseded around 1982-1986 by the 137 MA, which added manual exposure capability while retaining the motor.
The 137 MD Quartz occupies an interesting position in SLR history: it prioritized convenience (integrated motor, automatic exposure) at a time when serious photographers still expected manual control. Its quartz timing was a genuine technical differentiator, ensuring frame-to-frame consistency independent of battery charge variation - an issue that plagued simpler electronic shutters of the era. For Contax collectors, it represents the brand's attempt to compete directly with Canon and Minolta's automated mid-1980s offerings while keeping the Zeiss optical chain intact.
The aperture-priority-only limitation is its chief criticism; photographers who wanted to control shutter speed for action work had to reach for the RTS or later the 137 MA. Nevertheless, for the portrait and landscape shooter buying into the Zeiss system, the AE-only design was workable.
Full Contax/Yashica (C/Y) mount compatibility. Signature pairings:
The built-in motor eliminates the need for an external winder. A dedicated databack was available for date/time imprinting. The Contax TLA flash system provided TTL metering with compatible flashguns.
BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
View profile →C41
Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
View profile →Contax 137 MD Quartz
Image coming soon