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Have Zeiss lost the plot again

Joseph,

I can nor compare the mirror performance with the Contax model you mentioned. My opinion is that the mirror is well d&ened. I do not see a difference with shots taken with and without the mirror lock function.
 
Joseph,
I do remember the change over from 35mm rangefinder to SLR in the amateur market.The camera shops used to be full of rangefinders such as Yashica Electros (see link:http://www.yashica-guy.com/document/chrono.html), Canons, Minoltas and Ricoh's.
Poor Yashica. I had several of their compacts having changed from an Ilford Sportsman. I see from the link site that they manufactured the 1960 Polaroid Land 120. How are the mighty fallen. The "compact" rangefinders in the shops around this time were the new automated ones. "They were very good too but then the SLR began to become affordable and although Nikon and Pentax ruled the roost with adverts by David Bailey, I found I could afford a Praktica in about 1968. I stayed with Praktica for many years until I returned to Yashica with an FX3 in 1984 which was the beginning of my expensive affair with Contax.
After subsequently buying a 139, I have only deviated from Contax once since then when I sold everything to buy a Mamiya medium format outfit. But withdrawal symptoms meant that I needed to rebuild a Contax outfit.
I often wish that I had kept all my cameras and lenses over the years but lack of funds meant that, like most people, I had to sell them to fund new purchases.I do however still have my first camera which is an Agfa Clack. Very occasionally I use it as it takes 120 film.
Sorry if this is more like a note of personal nostalgia but in retrospect it was an interesting time although when the transition was happening, I don't think I really noticed it as such.
The compact market never faded away. Just as today when there are myriads of small digital cameras, there were many constantly improving compacts available and they made excellent photographic companions.
Leica rangefinders apart, the SLR became the camera to aspire to for "serious" photography just as the DSLR is now although it's possible that the DSLR may be superseded by cameras like your R1 and that would be a real transition and revolution.
Thanks Marc for the well researched and interesting post on the development of the SLR. I hadn't heard of the Soviet GOMZ Sport; fascinating stuff.
John
 
Except for those exotic and legendary CY lenses, I would think generally the Zeiss N lenses would be better than Zeiss CY because they are newer in design, such as internal focusing, better glass material, blah, blah, blah listed in the Contax N and 645 website before. I do find the N and C645 lenses have very good contrast, color, distortion and flare control in general. The C645 120mm APO is my favorite lens.

Some people claim that the CY 50mm/1.7 is better than the CY 50mm/1.4, unless for those 50mm/1.4 has najar star aperture blades.

Having said that, I would not expect bigger improvement on the new ZF/ZS 50mm/1.4. only time will tell.
 
They did not make any change to 50 1.4 at the time of introducing the N system, so I do not expect them to make any change to 50 1.4 this time when they introduce the ZF.

Albert, you should be pleased, the era of expensive Contax lenses might come to an end soon.

N 85 1.4 is a lot more complicated than C-Y 85 1.4.
I suppose they made a new design because of the autofocus mechanism. The design of C-Y 85 1.4 has a focusing too heavy to convert to autofocus, am I right ? As the new ZF is a manual focus, you expect them to apply the design of C-Y 85 1.4.

I sold my C-Y 85 1.4 today for USD560 in ebay. I brought it second hand with USD460. Good deal, isn't it ? I don't use this lens much now because I have 85 1.2. I tried the trick of putting cardboard cutting to reduce light from entering the lens. It does improve the clarity and contrast at f2 and f2.8 but the final image is still not as pleasing as those from 85 1.2. Clarity is not everything , there is certainly something missing in this lens. I think it could be the problem of astigmatism.

I am expecting a great deal from the new ZM 85 f2. It is expensive, but I learn that it is difficult to expect much from cheaper version like C-Y 85 1.4. I would expect it to have a good f2 just like the Leica 90 f2 ASPH R or M. The colour from this lens should be more pleasing than Leica, well, just a point that I could have different opinion to others.
 
> [John, funny how we have both gone down pretty much the same path in many respects. I have and still enjoy at Yashica 35 Electro GSN, have multiple Mamiya medium format bodies and lenses, a G-1 system and a whole bunch of Yashica and Contax SLRS and Zeiss lenses. I enjoy shooting with all of them, but realistically, it's probably time for me to get a DSLR. I'm giving serious thought to the Olympus E-500 since I already have some Olympus digicams that use the same media cards, and there are adapters if I want to use my C-Y Zeiss glass with this camera, albeit with a 2x crop factor. Even if I go this route I think I will still shoot film too.] >
 
Hi Tom,
That is interesting. I wish I had kept my Yashica Electro. I had thought of looking for one now.
I feel much the same about graduating to digital but am swithering. The Olympus appeals to me too but I thought I'd wait and see what new models come out as I believe there is to be an upgraded one, maybe an update of the E 1.
I'd also wondered as Marc suggested about staying with film while it's available and looking for a better scanner.
John
 
Hi John,
I'd enjoy both film and digital - why choose between them? With the new emulsions being created by Fuji there's plenty of life in film to be had. I've got a Canon 8400F scanner which works superbly with 645 and 35 film through its adaptors although I do have a dedicated 35mm scanner.

I love the immediacy of digital and always fear the inevitable occasion when a lab cocks up my slides but to me, still, film quality conveys something, when combined with CZ optics, that digital has not quite matched. But I do love my trusty old Mamiya ProTL and the E-1 and their respective lenses.
Graham
 
> [John, the scanner idea appeals to me as well, probably just to be contrary I will keep shooting film even when I get a DSLR this year. I just love the "feel" of my sturdy film cameras way too much, and its not like I am having to make a living with them except those we use for investigations, for which a film camera still remains the best choice. I'm not too worried about film becoming unavailable in my lifetime since I note that even today there are places that still sell and process Super-8 movie film, even though they haven't really be in use for decades. I can't imagine that 35mm and medium format film wouldn't be available for the next 20-30 years, although I suppose I could be wrong about that! As time goes on, I probably will not be able to have as many choices in film, but I am certain there will still be "food" around for my fim cameras for as long as I am shooting them.

By the way, my latest Electro was purchased in great shape at auction for $16. I ordered up a battery adapter from Yashica Guy with a battery for another $16 and replaced the light seals myself. It was a fun project briging this little gem back to life, and I enjoy shooting with it a lot.] >
 
Hopefully not in my lifetime either Tom : -)

I'm in LA supervising a TV commercial shoot, and have the Leica DMR and M7 with me. I have used the digital camera to help the client visualize what the location will look like with good lens and wide apertures ... BUT, for all my own work it has been the M7, 50/1.4 ASPH and B&W FILM. I love the liberating feel of shooting and moving on. The camera is small but so solid that all you feel is confidence. I always feel confident that I got the shot with this camera without looking at a LCD screen.
 
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