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Contax RX

'secret'

>Be sure to contact contax before the 30 days are up to ensure they will honor the warranty. It could be very well that the camera has been t&ered with and the warranty is void.<

Sound advice. The chap with the problem was actually Juan Gea-Banacloche, but he's already been in touch with Contax who say they'll repair or replace. This certainly shows the value of doing a little research before doing business with some dealers.

Alex
 
Very true, Alex. I'm always distressed to hear these stories.

To check US high-tech retailers, the site-of-choice for customer feedback is Reseller Ratings. In the Internet Age, I don't understand how scumballs like Smile Photo are going to survive (shed crocodile tear now).

It is amazing that Gea-Banacloche got USA-warranty merchandise in the first place: the usual tactic is to substitute broken grey-market product with NO warranty. In such a case, returning the product to the "dealer" would simply allow them to employ more delaying tactics ("lost" in the mail, etc) until the credit card grace period expires. Then you're REALLY screwed. Always prefer to ship repair merchandise to Contax home base.

I buy mail-order for 100% of my photo and computer equipment, but the famous words of Ronald Reagan apply: "Trust, but verify." If it's good enough for nukes, it's good enough for cameras!

Since we are forbidden from recommending retailers on this site, one should research the matter on the following CONSUMER sites: resellerratings.com, photo.net, and dpreview.com.
 
Today I received an extremely nice call from Laurie McGinnis, the chief of Contax service in NJ (more people have written highly of her on this forum). They will send me a new camera if they find one (they are out of stok); otherwise they will send mine back (it had not been t&ered with, a small spring had dislodged from somewhere, the problem was not a big deal and it is fully functional again).

Her own advice was to contact Contax directly in a situation like this one. According to her, going through the dealer will, in practice, take more time (and maybe expense; Contax will ship the camera free of charge). [Several other manufacturers of electronic equipment (I have noticed this with Sony and Epson products) specifically advise to send THEM a defective digital camera or printer and not to go through the dealer].

Originally my post was to ask if anyone had had the lens-release button problem (has anyone?). Anyway, I appreciate all the advice regarding how to deal with dealers. Interestingly, in this particular case both Smile Photo and Contax had the same recommendation.

Different credit cards have different protection services for consumers; I called the one I used for this transaction and they have a 60 day period to ask for credit (through a credit card dispute) and 90 day purchase price protection and return protection. I am glad to know this information, although I hope I will not need them this time.

Kudos to Contax service and Ms. McGinnis for their prompt efficiency.(Although the little spring dislodging before starting to use the camera seriously is not very reasussing...)

Juan
 
Hum -- if contax usa no longer has the RX I wonder if they will discontinue it or if they will begin to carry the RX II ?
 
The RX has been discontinued for several months (since June 2002). I guessed that was the reason you could find good deals from old inventory sitting on the shelf (and, hopefully, not defective).

Juan
 
I have a Sunpak auto 144 D Thyristor from my Pentax MZ-M system and I wondering if it will work with my new RX. I rarely if ever use flash so I am mostly just curious.

Thanks,

Chris
 
I have a Hoya linear Pola filter for my RX, but I read in the manual that only circular pola filters can be used, because of the light measurement system. I thought circular pola filters are only required for AF cameras? Can I use my linear pola filter or do I have to buy a circular pola filter?
 
Well apart from the fact that the RX is "kind of" an AF camera, All Contaxes from the 159MM on should be used with circular polarizers only for maximum precision. However the 159 and 167 are relativly exact even with linear ones. The RX is more pesky here.

Mike
 
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>> I have a Hoya linear Pola filter for my RX, but I read in the manual > that only circular pola filters can be used, because of the light > measurement system. I thought circular pola filters are only > required for AF cameras? Can I use my linear pola filter or do I have to buy > a circular pola filter?>>>>>>>

Your manual gives the answer. The metering system would be affected. Some cameras have a means to divert some of the light to the meter, and the linear filter would have an effect. You could meter without the filter and guess at the compensation. Seems easier to buy a circular polarizer.
 
Thank you, Dieter, thank you, Paul!

Thank you so much! After your information about the shutter release times and noise Aria vs. RX, I bought and received my new Aria few days ago - transport, shutter and mirror are for me surprising very quiet and fast. May be the Aria I saw and heard earlier or the lens (apreture?)had a problem or was damaged. And thank you, Paul (Matthews), you are of course right, our (my) reaction time is the problem, not the cameras.

Good luck to all,

Valentin
 
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