Contax RTS III Black

History

The RTS III arrived in 1990 as the successor to the RTS II, substantially upgraded in its shutter mechanism, metering range, and film-plane engineering. Kyocera, which had acquired Yashica in 1983, manufactured the body and marketed it under the Contax brand alongside Carl Zeiss T* lenses. The standard RTS III combined chrome trim with black body panels; the Black variant presented the full body in a uniform dark finish — a configuration that parallels similar all-black variants produced by Nikon (F3T, FA Black), Canon (F-1 Black), and Leica (R-series black chrome) during the same era for professional and photojournalist markets that preferred visual discretion.

The entire Contax SLR line, including all RTS III variants, was discontinued when Kyocera announced its exit from the camera business in April 2005.

Why It Matters

As a technical instrument, the Black edition differs from the standard RTS III in finish only. Both share the vacuum film-flattening mechanism, which addresses a genuine optical variable: film buckling and curl in the gate can shift the focal plane by tens of microns — a meaningful deviation when shooting wide-aperture Zeiss glass like the Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 at close distances. The vacuum system largely eliminates this variable, making the RTS III — in either finish — the more metrologically rigorous choice for scientific, macro, or exacting commercial work.

The Black edition carries additional value as a collector piece. Uniform all-black professional-grade SLRs from the film era are consistently sought by collectors, and the combination of the RTS III's technical pedigree with the rarer finish creates a premium above the standard body. For working photographers, the Black finish also reduces lens flare from body reflections in some shooting conditions.

Lenses & Accessories

Full Contax/Yashica (C/Y) mount compatibility. Typically paired with top-tier Zeiss glass:

• Carl Zeiss Planar T 50mm f/1.4* - canonical standard lens
• Carl Zeiss Distagon T 35mm f/1.4* - wide-angle workhorse
• Carl Zeiss Sonnar T 85mm f/1.4* - portrait standard
• Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar T 60mm f/2.8 and 100mm f/2.8* - macro options
• Carl Zeiss Tele-Tessar T 300mm f/4* and 200mm f/3.5

Compatible flashes: TLA 360 and TLA 480 with OTF TTL metering. The Contax Data Back RTS III replaces the film door for data imprinting. The vacuum film-flattening system activates automatically and adds measurably to battery consumption.

Sample Photographers / Notable Use

• The RTS III (both finishes) was used by professional magazine and commercial photographers in Japan and Europe in the 1990s where the Zeiss T* system maintained a strong presence.
• Specific documented Black-variant user attributions are sparse.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Contax RTS III
• Wikipedia: Contax - brand history, Kyocera acquisition, and 2005 discontinuation