Contax RTS

In the 1970's, Contax cameras had ceased production but the desire to build a high-quality system using Zeiss lenses remained. Contax joined in a license agreement with Kyocera (Kyoto Ceramics) of Japan, who already manufactured the Yashica line of camera equipment. The result was a new line of 35mm SLR cameras using a lens mount shared by both Contax and Yashica camera bodies. The body, manafactured in Japan, would accept lenses made and labelled by either Yashica or Zeiss, either in Germany or in Japan under Zeiss license. In theory, Zeiss lenses are for use on Contax bodies, while Yashica lenses are for Yashica bodies. In practice, both lenses can be freely intermixed.

The first camera of this line was the Contax RTS. The success of this line led to other later cameras, includeing the Contax 645 AF and the rangefinder Contax G1-G2