Contax 139 Quartz

Overview

The Contax 139 Quartz is the Yashica/Kyocera-era Contax brand's compact mid-range volume body — Yashica's "Contax for everybody" play that broadened the C/Y system's market reach beyond the more expensive Contax RTS. Introduced in 1979 and produced until 1987, the 139 Quartz sold approximately 200,000 units — making it the highest-volume Yashica/Kyocera-era Contax body and the most commonly-encountered C/Y camera on the used market today.^[1] The "Quartz" suffix refers to the camera's quartz-timed electronic shutter — a meaningful technical refinement over the original RTS's non-quartz electronic timing.

For 35mm SLR photographers building a C/Y kit on the cheapest body cost, the 139 Quartz is the answer — used bodies trade in the $80–200 range, less than half the price of an RTS or a fraction of the RTS II / RTS III flagship-line price. The trade-off vs. the flagship RTS series: smaller body footprint with less professional accessory support (no integrated motor drive option, fewer interchangeable focusing screens), single AE mode (aperture-priority only, no shutter-priority or program), and 1/1000 top shutter speed vs. RTS II's 1/2000.

For the photographer who values the Carl Zeiss T lens system* above the body's flagship features, the 139 Quartz delivers full T* lens compatibility at the lowest body cost in the C/Y system. A 139 Quartz body + 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* runs roughly $200–400 used — among the best price-per-optical-quality ratios in 35mm SLR ownership.

Construction and build

• Body weight — moderate; ~520-540 g typical (per practitioner reviews; not authoritatively specified in Camera-Wiki).
• Body dimensions — compact (smaller than RTS series).
• Shutter — quartz-timed electronically-controlled vertical metal focal-plane shutter; speeds 11 seconds to 1/1000 second in auto mode, 1 second to 1/1000 second in manual mode, plus B.^[1] Quartz timing is the headline technical feature.
• X-flash sync — 1/100 s (improved over the RTS's 1/60 s typical sync).
• Materials — die-cast metal body with leatherette covering. Same C/Y mount as flagship Contax bodies.
• Power — 2× SR44 silver-oxide button cells. Standard battery setup.

Distinguishing features

The 139 Quartz's defining elements:^[1]

• Quartz timing — the camera's name. Quartz-timed electronic shutter offers more precise timing accuracy than the original RTS's non-quartz electronic timing.
• Manufactured by Yashica in Japan under licence to Zeiss — the cluster's distinctively Yashica-engineered body, leveraging Yashica's volume manufacturing scale.
• Center-weighted SPD (silicon photodiode) metering — range 0 to 18 EV (at f/1.4). Adequate for typical photographic conditions; less sophisticated than later C/Y bodies' multi-pattern metering (matrix metering arrived on the 167MT in 1987 and the Aria in 1998).
• Aperture-priority AE + manual exposure modes. No shutter-priority or program AE.
• TTL flash with TLA20 / TLA30 flash units — improved flash workflow over the RTS, which lacks TLA-series TTL flash compatibility.
• AE lock — exposes-and-holds metered shutter speed. The original RTS lacked this; the 139 Quartz introduced it to the C/Y line.
• Exposure compensation — adjustable ±2 EV.
• Viewfinder focusing aid — matte field with horizontal split-image rangefinder surrounded by microprism collar. Standard 1980s SLR viewfinder design.

The Contax/Yashica (C/Y) mount and Carl Zeiss T* lens system

Same C/Y bayonet mount as every other Yashica/Kyocera-era Contax 35mm SLR. The 139 Quartz's full Carl Zeiss T* lens compatibility is its principal value proposition over Yashica-branded bodies of the same era — every T* Distagon, Planar, Sonnar, and Tessar mounts and operates with full functionality.

For working photographers who valued the T* lens lineage but didn't need the RTS's professional features, the 139 Quartz was the rational choice — and the 200,000-unit production volume reflects that.

Working notes

• Battery dependency — the body needs 2× SR44 batteries for the quartz-timed shutter and the meter. Without batteries, the shutter is non-functional.
• Vertical metal shutter is more durable than the RTS's cloth shutter and less prone to pinholes; long-term reliability is generally better than RTS bodies.
• Center-weighted metering only — for tricky lighting situations (backlit subjects, high-contrast scenes), use exposure compensation deliberately or meter selectively.
• Self-timer — present, ~10-second delay.
• Common service items on a 35–45-year-old body: light seals (foam strips around the back deteriorate), shutter timing accuracy verification, prism silvering (rare), AE meter calibration. Contax / Yashica specialist CLA: $150–300 typically (less than RTS-series CLA due to the simpler mechanism).

Used market and reliability

• 139 Quartz body only — working condition: $80–200 (US 2026 pricing). The cheapest C/Y entry.
• 139 Quartz body + 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* — working condition: $200–400.
• 139 Quartz kit (body + 28mm + 50mm + 135mm Carl Zeiss T)* — working condition: $500–900. The kit value is in the lenses; the body itself is inexpensive.

The 200,000-unit production volume keeps the 139 Quartz the most-readily-available C/Y body. Buying a clean working body from a Contax-experienced specialist dealer (KEH, eBay specialty sellers) typically runs $50–100 above private-market pricing in exchange for warranty and verified function.

Common buying-checklist items: shutter timing accuracy, AE meter operation across the ISO range, light seal condition, viewfinder cleanliness (the focusing screen can develop fogging / discoloration over decades), battery contact corrosion (clean with isopropyl alcohol if present).

Related cameras

• Contax RTS — the contemporary flagship (1975–1982); larger and more professional-featured but at higher price
• Contax RTS II — the 1982 successor flagship
• Contax RTS III — the 1990 technological flagship
• Contax Aria — the 1998 compact final manual-focus C/Y body
• See [[contax-rts-aria-cluster-deepened]] for the broader Contax SLR comparison

External references

• Contax 139 Quartz (Camera-Wiki) — community-edited reference for body specifications and production history
• Contax (Wikipedia) — brand history