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New Contax ND

C

Contaxcam

IN REPLY TO POST BY: Edward Karaa (Edwardkaraa)

<<BTW, I have sent an email to Contax asking if they will replace ND in the near future, and they replied that they hope to have a new model out by next summer!!!!!!! Do you believe that? Usually they advertize for their models 2 years in advance, and now they have a model coming next summer and nobody has heard about it?>>

MY REPLY:

This sounds pretty interesting; I wonder when the first pictures become available on Kyocera's webpage (or any other website for that matter). Perhaps you could forward the message to the forum.

Thanks!

Regards, Vincent
 
Vincent,

The message was just a senstence: we hope to have a replacement by next summer. It doesn't commit them in anything, and honestly I don't believe they are talking about this summer. Maybe summer 2005? :) Otherwise we would have heard about it. There is no doubt in my mind that Contax has to release a DSLR sometime, otherwise they are out of business.

Regards,
Edward
 
Edward,

You're right, let's save this thread to 2005 :)! Let's hope they come up with something real nice this time. I can wait a little while longer. Meanwhile I will have my N1 gear to enjoy!

Best regards and a happy New Year celebration there in Bangkok!

Vincent
 
I am running out of patience, so I hope it happens this summer. If it doesn't look like it's going to happen by this Fall, I am going to have to switch to Canon, and I will get their 10D or whatever replaces the 10D. That would be sad, because if I am going to start investing in Canon equipment I will probably never go back to Contax/Zeiss.
 
Bobby,

I did that already and bought a 300D. It was a rash thing to do though, because if you're used to Zeiss quality, you'll be disappointed by Canon optics, unless you're planning to invest heavily in L lenses, which are higher priced than the Zeiss, and not as sharp. There is no return policy in Thailand, otherwise I would have returned the 300D.

I would buy a Nikon instead.

Regards,
Edward
 
Thanks, Vincent, for your good wishes. Actually I will be heading in a few moments to Chinatown to take a few pics of the celebrations. Hopefully Contax will come up with a good package, not too expensive, in the league of the NX, which will enable us to use Zeiss lenses without investing heavily in a camera body which will ineviatbly become obsolete in 2 years time.

Best regards,
Edward
 
Edward said, "unless you're planning to invest heavily in L lenses, which are higher priced than the Zeiss, and not as sharp. I would buy a Nikon instead".

Based on price comparisons of which lenses, and what performance data?

IMO, Zeiss glass has its own unique characteristics that make it attractive. Price isn't one of them. N lens choices is also not one of them.

Certain Canon L lenses have received very high ratings from 3rd party performance testing, and a few of them the highest ratings in their class. My intense practical use of Canon L glass concurs with those tests.

I have also owned and extensively shot with Nikon film and digital cameras. Fine equipment, but demonstrably lagging Canon in Digital innovation and certainly no where near Zeiss in lens characteristics... unless you prefer the Nikon look... in which case why Contax at all?

Also comparing the $800. Canon 300D to a $4,500. Contax is pitting an orange against a bushel of apples.

In a few short months, Canon allegedly will launch the 1D replacement: 8 meg., 36 shot buffer even at 5 frames a second, less noise at higher ISOs (1200), and so on. Price at launch is rumored to be mid $3,000s settling to low $3,000. once the initial demand is supplied. The only drawback is that it will retain the 1.3X lens factor.

Contax should have tweaked the full frame ND, and made running changes to keep in the consideration set. 8 meg, better power source (a real rechargeable battery like Nikon and Canon), RAW developer that is usable, bigger buffer, and a bit faster focusing. Nothing earth shaking, but enough to keep me in the Contax fold (along with a lot of others I know).
 
I was under the impression that something was going to be announced at the PMA show in a few weeks time. However, I went onto the website for the show and it appears Contax don't even have a stand (as of yesterday). There is one for Kyocera Optics, but I'm not sure that is the same thing.

Oh well, I can carry on saving!! :)

Rgds, Saras
 
Marc,

I certainly do not have your experience, but according to my limited knowledge, I believe Canon L lenses are primarily fast expensive lenses for sports but not necessarily outstanding quality wise. Contax has very sharp and contrasty lenses with some weaknesses in terms of distortion (on some models) and not as fast as the Canons'. Canon also offers cheap amateur lenses but for the most part too low in quality. If you look at today's market prices you see that Contax N lenses fall somewhere between Canon's L and normal lenses, with probably the better overall quality but lacking in speed.

As for the Nikons, They have traditionally better quality than Canon for similar price ranges. They are behind Canon in digital innovation, true, but ages ahead of Contax.

I find Nikon a better choice if you cannot afford a Canon 1Ds and a few L lenses, but that's a matter of personal preference.

I am sure you could find some particular cases that prove me wrong, if you wanted to, since generalizations can sometimes be like a double-edged sword!

Regards,
Edward
 
Hi Edward,

There are some very good lenses of a wide variety of focal lengths in the Canon L lineup; in fact there are some very good lenses in their regular EF lineup. I use both Canon and C/Y systems and the only area where the Zeiss glass consistently trounces the Canon stuff is at the wide end. The 24/1.4L is a decent enough performer and (from the charts) the 24/2.8 looks like a good'un, so I doubt the ageing 25mm Distagon can do much to better them for sharpness. Beyond that though it's pretty much all downhill for Canon. The 20/2.8 EF is mediocre (no comparison to the 21mm Distagon) and the wide zoom are, well, wide zooms. I suppose the 14/2.8L might be a nice option for a 10D, giving an effective 22mm focal length, but boy is it expensive and soft as baby do-do at the edges if you use it on a full-frame body.

Fortunately for 10D/300D shooters, the 35/2 EF lens is not only cheap and compact, but also one of the best performers in the Canon range. I can't imagine why anybody who owns a part-frame Canon digital body wouldn't pick one of these up as a standard lens, it's sensational. It has a soft spot right in the corners, but that's no concern on a 10D or even in 90% of full-frame shots you're likely to take with it. The 35/1.4L is also supposed to be a great lens although it's much bigger and more expensive of course.

The long L lenses (identifiable by their distintive white bodies) which are aimed at sports and nature photographers are indeed expensive, but are of outstanding quality. I don't own anything longer than 200mm, but I can vouch for the 70-200/2.8L zoom which is the equal of many primes, and the 200/1.8L which is just the most beautiful lens ever. I might jump for a 300/4L sometime, as that lens is relatively cheap and compact and very, very sharp.

Other Canon optics worth looking at:

50/1.8 - cheap and sharp!
50/1.4 - many people prefer the bokeh of this lens to the Zeiss 50/1.4
85/1.8 - punchy in the centre even wide open and giving nice bokeh, this is a great portrait lens. Quite different in character to the Zeiss 85/1.4, I wouldn't like to be without either of them
100/2 - reputedly even better than the 85/1.8 (just as sharp in the centre but doesn't go off at the edges)
135/2L - an all-time great and a relative bargain

I'm not going to get into the Nikon/Canon thing, because I don't have enough experience of Nikon to comment. What I will say is that if you want optimum performance at full aperture in dim available light conditions, just bypass all the SLRs and invest in Leica M, there's nothing else to touch it.

TTFN

-= mike =-
 
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