Contax TVS Digital Review

The Carl Zeiss T* Vario-Sonnar 7.3-21.9mm zoom (equivalent to a 35-105mm lens in 35mm format) 3X optical and 4X digital zoom. This high quality optic is comprised of 6 elements in 6 groups with three aspheric surfaces and has a maximum aperture of F2.8 - F4.8. The latest technology in lens design is standard on the Vario-Sonnar. The T* anti-reflection coating is applied to each lens element, dramatically reducing flare and increasing contrast and sharpness in your photographs.

The focusing range is 0.6m to infinity in wide angle and telephoto. The dedicated macro mode covers from 0.15m to 0.6m. There are manual focus presets for 0.6m, 0.7m, 0.8m, 1m, 1.5m, 2m, 5m and infinity.

The TTL autofocus system can be set for Wide Area AF (default) or Spot AF. The lens retracts fully into the camera body when powered down and has an automatic protective barrier, no lens cap is required.

The eyelevel optical real-image zoom viewfinder has a field of view of approx. 83% of the captured image. It has a magnification factor of 0.35-0.99 and a diopter adjustment of -3 to +1 diopter. Two LEDs are used to indicate focus and flash status.

The built in flash has modes for Autoflash, Autoflash with red-eye Reduction, Fill-flash, Fill-flash, Night Portrait or Flash Cancel. The working range of the flash was not specified. There is flash compensation of -1 to +1 available.

Controls on top: Shutter release button, AFL button to lock the focus. The Mode Dial has positions for Movie record, Aperture priority, Program AE, Play and SETUP.

There's a small monochrome data LCD on the top that indicates flash status, focus mode, AFL status, exposure compensation, long time shutter, continuous drive mode, pictures remaining and battery condition.

This shows all possible displays and icons on the top data LCD.

On the back is a 1.6-inch color TFT LCD monitor with 84,960 (354x240) pixels which can be used as a live viewfinder or for image review or accessing the menu system. In the upper right are the zoom lens control buttons, in play mode they control the magnified view function. The POWER button turns the camera on/off. The 4-way selector lets you navigate through the menus and select images in play mode. Press in the center to accept selections. Around the 4-way selector are four more buttons. The REC REVIEW button lets you quickly review the last image captured. The D.MENU button calls up the Digital options menu. The C.MENU button calls up the Camera options menu. The "+/- WB ISO" button lets you change exposure compensation, white balance and ISO speed. Under the color LCD (left to right) is the Flash mode button, in play mode it allows you to attach a voice memo to a still image. The "flower" button toggles Macro focus or Manual focus mode. The DISPLAY button turns the color LCD ON/OFF, or controls the information overlayed on it.

The I/O ports are found behind a small flap on the side.

There is a USB port for downloading to the computer.

The A/V port sends monaural audio and video signal (selectable for NTSC or PAL) to a television.

On the bottom is the DC INput jack for the battery charger or AC power supply.

The TVS is equipped with a Secure Digital (SD) card slot and comes with a 16 MB SD card, it's compatible with any brand or capacity of SD or MultiMedia Card (MMC.)

Power is supplied by a BP-1500S 3.7v 1500mAh lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack. Contax claims 310 frames with the LCD off or 260 frames with the LCD on and 50% of the pictures use the flash. The continuous playback time is four hours and thirty minutes. The maximum charging time is six hours for a fully depleted battery pack.