Battery finder: Which battery does your Contax camera take?
Start typing your camera model. The battery and charger appear below, with links to buy.
Contax bodies span several quite different power eras, and which one you have decides how easy the camera is to live with.
The RTS and RTS II take a 6V cell that is still made.1 The 137 bodies, the 167MT and the ST run on AA or AAA cells2, and the RTS III on six AAs or a 2CR5 lithium.3 The 139, 159MM, S2 and the original T use small button cells.4 Almost everything later moved to lithium — 2CR5, CR2 or CR123A.
Everything below comes from the camera’s own manual.
SLRs
SLR (film)
| Camera | Battery | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 137 MA Quartz | 4× AA Also at: Amazon | Four 1.5V AA cells, or 1.2V AA NiCd, run every function including the auto winder. The camera won't operate without them. |
| 137 MD Quartz | 4× AA Also at: Amazon | Four 1.5V AA cells, or 1.2V AA NiCd, run every function including the auto winder. The camera won't operate without them. |
| 139 Quartz | 2× SR44 (1.55V silver oxide) Also at: Amazon | Two 1.5V silver-oxide cells, listed as Eveready S76 or Mallory MS-76 — the size now sold as SR44. They run the exposure control and the shutter, so the camera won't work without them. |
| 159MM | 2× SR44 or LR44 Also at: Amazon | Two 1.55V silver-oxide SR44 or 1.5V alkaline LR44 cells run the electronic shutter and exposure control. When they fall below their rated output the camera won't function. |
| 167MT | 4× AAA Also at: Amazon | Four 1.5V AAA alkaline cells run everything — winding, shutter and displays — and the camera won't operate without them. AA cells go only in the optional Battery Holder P-5. |
| AX | 1× 2CR5 (6V lithium) Also at: Amazon | Manual is blunt: shutter, film wind and rewind are all battery-driven, and “the camera does not operate without battery.” |
| Aria | 2× CR2 (3V lithium) Also at: Amazon | Two 3V CR2 lithium cells. Once they drop below their working limit the camera no longer operates. |
| N1 | 1× 2CR5 (6V lithium) Also at: Amazon | One 6V 2CR5 lithium cell. When it runs flat the camera will not operate. |
| NX | 2× CR2 (3V lithium) Also at: Amazon | Two 3V CR2 lithium cells. When they run flat the camera will not operate. |
| RTS | 1× 4SR44 / 4LR44 (6V) Also at: Amazon | 6V battery — the same cell as a Mallory PX28 / Eveready 544. Still made as the silver-oxide 4SR44 or alkaline 4LR44 / A544, so this one is easy to feed. |
| RTS II | 1× 4SR44 / 4LR44 (6V) Also at: Amazon | Manual: “Use a 6.2-V silver oxide battery (Eveready 544, Ucar 544, Mallory PX28 or equivalent) or a 6-V alkaline-manganese battery (4LR44 or equivalent).” It runs the electronic shutter and exposure control; if it dies, the mechanical 1/50 sec setting still fires the camera. |
| RTS III | 6× AA, or 1× 2CR5 (6V lithium) Also at: Amazon | Manual: six 1.5V AA alkaline for general use, six 1.2V AA Ni-Cd (recommended for cold weather), or one 6V 2CR5 lithium (low self-discharge, so it also makes the better travel spare). Every mechanism — shutter, film winding and rewinding — is battery operated: it will not run without them. The cells supplied with the camera are test samples only. Separately, the dating back — standard equipment on this camera, not an accessory — carries its own CR2025 lithium cell. |
| RX | 1× 2CR5 (6V lithium) Also at: Amazon | A 6V 2CR5 lithium cell runs the shutter, winding and rewinding, and the camera does not operate without it. The standard data back carries its own CR2025. |
| RX II | 1× 2CR5 (6V lithium) Also at: Amazon | A 6V 2CR5 lithium cell runs the shutter, winding and rewinding, and the camera does not operate without it. The data back in the camera back carries its own CR2025. |
| S2 | 2× LR44 or SR44 Also at: Amazon | Meter only — the S2's shutter is fully mechanical, so it keeps shooting with flat cells. |
| ST | 4× AAA Also at: Amazon | Four 1.5V AAA alkaline; Rechargeable NiCd AAA also supported. |
Rangefinders
Medium format
Compacts
Compact (film)
| Camera | Battery | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| T | 2× LR44 or SR44 Also at: Amazon | Two 1.5V alkaline LR44 or 1.55V silver-oxide SR44 (type G13). |
| T VS | 1× CR123A (3V lithium) Also at: Amazon | One 3V CR123A (or DL123A) lithium cell. When it's exhausted the camera no longer operates. |
| T VS II | 1× CR123A (3V lithium) Also at: Amazon | One 3V CR123A (or DL123A) lithium cell. When it's exhausted the camera no longer operates. |
| T VS III | 1× CR123A (3V lithium) Also at: Amazon | One 3V CR123A (or DL123A) lithium cell. When it's exhausted the camera no longer operates. |
| T2 | 1× CR123A (3V lithium) Also at: Amazon | One 3V CR123A (or DL123A) lithium cell. When it's exhausted the camera stops working. |
| T3 | 1× CR2 (3V lithium) Also at: Amazon | Body: one 3V lithium CR2, which cannot be recharged. A T3 fitted with the Data Back carries a second cell of its own — a long-life CR2025 lithium. |
| Tix | 1× CR2 (3V lithium) Also at: Amazon | One 3V CR2 lithium cell. When it's exhausted the camera can no longer be operated. |
Things worth knowing
Which Contax cameras work without a battery
The S2’s shutter is fully mechanical, so its two LR44 or SR44 cells run the meter only.5 The RTS II is electronic, but if its battery dies Contax gives you a mechanical 1/50 sec setting to fall back on.6 Most of the other Contax bodies here need power to fire; the notes for each camera say what its manual states.
The AX won’t work at all without a battery
Its manual states plainly that the shutter, film wind and rewind are all battery-driven and the camera does not operate without a battery. It takes a 6V 2CR5 lithium.7
The compacts and the G1 and G2 still take easily-available batteries
The T takes two LR44 or SR448, the T2 and the three T VS models a single CR123A9, and the T3 and Tix a single CR2.10 The G1 and G2 rangefinders take two CR2s.11 All of them are current, cheap cells.
Still to verify
One Contax body isn’t here yet: the S2b. The only manual I can find for it is the S2’s, which never mentions the S2b, so I’m not going to assume the two take the same battery.
For what it’s worth, reference sources such as Camera-wiki say the S2b takes the same two LR44 or SR44 cells, and that they run only the meter, just as on the S2. The S2b’s main change is a center-weighted meter in place of the S2’s spot meter. But none of that comes from Contax’s own documentation, so the S2b stays off the chart until I find its manual or a Contax spec sheet.
This is a growing document that I keep updating as I verify more models. Every battery listed here comes from the camera’s own manual or the manufacturer’s spec sheet, not from memory or a forum post. If you spot something that needs correcting, please let me know.
Battery charts by brand
Cameras: Canon · Contax · Fujifilm · Leica · Mamiya · Minolta · Nikon · OM System and Olympus · Panasonic Lumix · Pentax · Ricoh · Sigma · Sony · Yashica
Action cameras: DJI Osmo · GoPro · Insta360
Notes & References:
- Sources: Contax RTS instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive); Contax RTS II instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive). [↩︎]
- Sources: Contax 137 MA Quartz instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive); Contax 137 MD Quartz instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive); Contax 167MT instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive); Contax ST instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive). [↩︎]
- Source: Contax RTS III instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive). [↩︎]
- Sources: Contax 139 Quartz instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive); Contax 159MM instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive); Contax S2 instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive); Contax T instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive). [↩︎]
- Source: Contax S2 instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive). [↩︎]
- Source: Contax RTS II instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive). [↩︎]
- Source: Contax AX instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive). [↩︎]
- Source: Contax T instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive). [↩︎]
- Sources: Contax T2 instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive); Contax T VS instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive); Contax T VS II instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive); Contax T VS III instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive). [↩︎]
- Sources: Contax T3 instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive); Contax Tix instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive). [↩︎]
- Sources: Contax G1 instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive); Contax G2 instructions (scanned copy hosted by the Butkus archive). [↩︎]
