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New Zeiss Ikon with Biogon


lucien1

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"One thing that may make commercial sense = Full frame digital rangefinder with M mount and a new range of classic Zeiss made M mount primes to go with it. Oh and with a body price less than the Epson RD-1 AND made in Germany. Now that would get you all going mental!!"

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Would not make any commercial sense because to be priced below the RD-1 and have those specs, they would be selling at a loss.

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That was my point. I am describing virtually impossible cameras (impossible at real world prices) which is why the 'real thing' is likely to be much more boring.

 

Yes Sheldon. Cosina/V has seen to it that 'another kid on the block' is going to go precisely nowhere. The rebadged CV Bessa R3 variant theory sounds most likely. Maybe the Rollei badged R2 didn't sell too well because fewer people recognise the Rollei 'name' whereas Zeiss is everywhere thanks to the Sony/Zeiss relationship.

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Gerry, I was referencing his full-frame remarks. An APS sensor size D-RF would be possible for less than the Bessa RD-1, but im not sure if I would agree with numbers as low as you. However, competition is good, so whatever kind of digital RF (if digital at all) it may be, I would be happy.
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It has to be a film camera.

 

the only way you can forget about colour cast is to use Tri-X or other B&W film.

 

Although the extrusion on the side can be the hinge of a LCD, most of the LCD hinges are very narrow to facilitate rotation. This one is the width of a roll of film.

 

It will be great if the G 21mm is available in M-mount.

 

Whatever the Zeiss camera, the lens offering means more competition for Leica. The going gets tougher and tougher.

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Trevor, I'm not sure if Rollei sells its rangefinder in germany, at least I haven't seen one anywhere and I realy searched for it.

 

My local dealer is on the Rollei list, but hasen't seen one.

It's equaly hard to find a real live Bessa R2 in germany. Seems to be all SE-Asia camera country here :-)

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"the going gets tougher"

 

i'm not so sure about that. more companies making M mount RF gear may or may not be a bad thing for leica. it may bring more attention to the whole sector and suck more people in. i think, on balance, CV has been good for leica, especially since it provided, in essence, an entry level product that, for many people, was a segue to leica. this may be a slihgtly different situation, but i still think it may generate excitement around the RF world (as the hexar did), and ultimately draw more customers to leica. in any event, it is likely to produce more goodies in the short term.

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The hinge (left) cries out both "film" and "Bessa/Cosina-based" to me. However that's a MUCH longer based rangefinder than the Bessas have. Also the frame lever on the front implies auto-indexing of framelines - whereas previous Cosinas have used a manual lever on the top. Think this RF and viewfinder will turn up in a new "Voigtlander" body?

 

Given how close the viewfinder is to the corner - must be bottom-rewind a la Leica M5/CL (?)

 

This could be a "real" product with some legs to it - or a run-of-2000 commemorative.

 

If it's really M-mount - do we get to spend 18 months arguing over whether the back-focus is precisely the same as an M? 8^)

 

Guess we'll know for sure in 10 days...

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At first I thought this camera had to be digital. It seemed like exactly the sort of thing

Zeiss, with their Sony connections, would go for. But I'm more & more convinced it's a film

camera, almost surely a Zeiss-branded version of the upcoming Bessa R3A. As such I find

it interesting but hardly compelling. I own enough 35mm RFs already. But the lenses are

another matter. I'm plenty happy at the prospect of Zeiss making M mount versions of the

terrific G lenses! The camera itself becomes an afterthought.

 

-Dave-

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That's funny that you bring up the Sony connection. If it is digital I wonder if it could use the new Sony CMOS 12mp chip from the Nikon d2x? That way it is way above the Epson RD1 in price/performance and CV gets the film version. If I remember right, Stephen Gandy says there are two cameras coming out, maybe a low end R2 replacement and the film version of the Zeiss digital as a high end model.

 

Pure speculation. You should see what I put on LittleGreenFootballs.com

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I buy the G1 (Contax, of course) because of the lens. I sold the system because of the body (to be specific, the viewfinder + the noise). For years, I guess how many G-lens will sell in the M-mount. I will be one of the guys to buy all of them from 21 to 90, with the $ less than a couple of leica lens.

 

I will keep my M6, but sell the 50 cron.

 

By the way, considered the layout of the camera, the Ikon will be film rather than digital (I do hope that I am wrong).

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If it's made by Bessa, how come the 3A, shown on the other thread, looks so

different? Would be very expensive for Cosina to produce an entirely different

model, rather than re-badge an existing one. <p>

I think this will be more of a challenge for Leica, if it's seen as a more

specifically-Zeiss product.

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Some magazines, published in the last few days in Japan, are already carrying photos and

reviews of Bessa R2A/R3A even before official annoucement. From what I can see, its

finder arrangement is similar to R-D1 and not quite like this one. A going theory is that

this Zeiss Ikon was more likely based on Hexar RF for M mount lenses. I believe the finder

has been newly developed to accomodate Zeiss' 1:2 picture size format. My far-fetched

speculation is that KonicaMinolta, having streamlined their film camera production lines in

recent years, asked Cosina to collaborate in the area of manufacturing, all under Carl

Zeiss' direction. The 28mm lens looks more like the Rollei 35RF lenses with M mounts, not

G series lenses, to me. Or, has Cosina solely struck a deal with Carl Zeiss to make Zeiss

Ikon branded cameras from here on? Rumors are abundant in Tokyo as well.

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