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Contax Aria vs Contax ST

B

brodafidela

Member
Hello
I going to change my 139Q. But I've got a problem do decide between Aria and ST. I'm very interested in your opinion about theese two bodys.
 
Hello corben,

You did not state your specific problem but I have owned both the ST and the Aria. Both are fine 35mm cameras. I recently sold my ST and kept the Aria. My final decision came down to weight. I own a 645 therefore, I had no need for another heavy body. The Aria fills in nicely the gap between my Yashica T4 Contax T2 and 645 (that's just the contax portion of my gear). My only disatisfation with the ST was the loud shutter noise it makes. Could wake the dead : ) just kidding, but it is loud. I find the Aria to be a fantastic light weight street camera. The Aria does not balance as well with heavy, long German lenses as the ST so I try to restrict the Aria to light weight lenses or German made 50mm 1.4 or 85 1.4 but 85 is pushing it. The Aria combined with a light weight lens works best.

Personally, I would not take the Aria into extremely harsh/demanding environments as I do not beleive it as suitable as the ST. But that is just my opinion. For extremely harsh conditions I use a different brand all together. However, since this is a contax discusion I will go no further except to mention that although I would not risk using the Aria in extremely harsh climates I am fairly certain that with proper precautions the Aria would at least survive, although a bit more worse for wear. The ST is, in my opinion, more suitable for demanding environments. I hope this helped.
 
(I will probably post this in the durability thread as well.)
Recent experience that may be relevant: During a recent cross-country ski outing my Aria fell out of my parka pocket, and I didn't notice for about 5 minutes (it's so light!). I found it lying in the snow, with the shutter release corner buried and the rest of the camera sticking out. I brushed off the snow and got it inside about 10 minutes later. Although the snow was quite wet, I naively didn't think five minutes was enough time to do any damage...and when I turned it on after a little bit of time to dry off, it quickly ran through three frames without having pressed the release (I had it on C). I stopped it by turning back off. This happened each time I turned it on for another 24 hours. By then it had tried out and turning it on only turned it on. Clearly some snow had melted and gotten into the release circuit where it was shorting something or completing a circuit. Clearly there is no seal there. Whether the ST has one, I don't know, but I was frankly shocked at the apparent fragility of the Aria, which I otherwise love, in this case.
 
heh (now I see,I putm my question in wrong topic -contax RXII). S happens

Thanks a lot, for your opinions. I've heard, about sound of ST's shutter (like John Deere's farmer tractors). I'ts no poroblem. Generally, I prefer heavier bodys but mayby it's time to try another category. The thing, which I'm afraid a lot is "fragility" of the Aria body's, especially electronics parts (My 139Q is pretty old and not so complicated- but absolutelly unfailing). I come from Poland - there's no contax serice as good as in States or Western Europe. So, do you think, is the aria more damaged than ST or another contax bodies ?
 
One more questinon.
How about the movement of the inside mirror in aria body? It's very importand in the final sharpness of fotos. Aria has a light plastic body.
 
Hello corben_dallas,

you come from Poland and you are afraid about Contax service in Poland in case of Aria failure. When I purchased my Aria in November last year, our Kyocera agent informed me, that in case of Aria failure he does not send the body to Japan for service, but rather tranfer it to Austria to the regional Contax repair service (he said, it's very good) by car. So, in case of any failure, you can use this sevice insead of sending Aria to Japan or USA, maybe you can even do the same like our Kyocera agent. :) (I came from Czech Republic).
Cheers,
Karel
PS: Aria is great small camera, I hope I will also have some chance to hold RX/RXII.
PPS: AFAIK this Contax service in Austia should be in Wien, but its better to check this somewhere...
 
Hello corben,

you wrote: ``Aria has a light plastic body.''. FYI: before my Aria purchase last year I was also afraid about various such comments on the inet forums/contaxinfo.com, but when Aria first arived, I've found my mistake (of afraid), since the body itself is very solid and it weights nearly as my old Zenit 11/12XP whole metals russian cameras. I would recommend you to read Dirk's review of this camera.
Cheers,
Karel
 
Hi

I have had 139q and 159mm, (and 137ma, 167mt, RTS RTS2 and s2b), and now I have an Aria, and the Aria in my opinion the most versatile of them all. As far as robustness, I have no concern with my recommandation of this body. Its light, easy to use and works smooth in all conditions.
I think its very Contax in the way it works.

It might have a problem with the heaviest of lenses, but I have used it with 80-200 with no problems, you just carry the lens with your left hand and the camera with the right.

Repairs:

I can recommend the danish repairman as trusty, orderly and cheap.

Jacon Foto Service
Vordingborgvej 24C
DK-4773 Stensved
Tlf.: +45 55 38 57 75

And he has a great postage-service too.

Regards

Ole

http://www.photos4u.dk






Jacon Foto Service
Vordingborgvej 24C
DK-4773 Stensved
Tlf.: +45 55 38 57 75
 
I like the Aria so much that I have two of them. It is my primary travel kit. The only niggle I have about the Aria is that the black finish is easily marred. I am extremely careful with equipment, yet I've had to use touch-up paint on both bodies to cover small areas where the finish has simply rubbed off or come off from casual contact with something or other. I sure wish the Aria came in a chrome (real chrome plating) version.
 
Hi,
in my opinion the ST is one of the best cameras ever built by Contax. It is a rock-solid camera which was designed for professional use, while the Aria can be regarded as an amateur-camera. Compared to the Aria or the RX/RXII an ST offers top shutter speed to 1/6000 second and flash sync at 1/200 second, a ceramic pressure plate and the possibility to attach the battery holder p-7, which allows the use of AA-size batteries and which has a second shutter release for vertical control shooting. Nowadays you can get a used ST at quite a low price and much cheaper than a new Aria, so I think it is a much better choice, unless you are looking for a very light camera.
Best regards
Georg
 
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