I have had 167mt, RX, G1, G2, and RTS III bodies in the Contax
line-up (the G-series of course being the autofocus
rangefinders). I loved them all, with the RX probably being my
favorite. I now have an RTS III, which is an incredibly
sophisticated camera for something from the late 80s (1/8000th
top shutter speed, 1/250th flash sync, TTL flash metering for
non-dedicated strobes (I know, wow!), and perhaps most famously,
the vacuum film plane. This is NOT the camera for someone who
values battery-free operation - it needs 6 AA batteries and
without them is pretty much dead in the water. But you get all
that goodness mentioned above, plus a 97% viewfinder (97% of the
film area is visible in the finder - very important when
shooting things like copy slides or macro work where composition
is critical). Back in the day they were $2200. Now, one in
pristine condition will run you $800, or if you're patient, you
can find one with a few cosmetic blemishes but in good working
order for <$500. And to top it off, if som