fotografz Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Evidently the ill fated Contax ND will no longer be available from Contax. (a discussion is currently raging on the Contaxinfo forum). It is somewhat on topic because Leica should carefully study the Kyocera/Contax marketing blunders as they move forward with the Digital R. The ND actually is/was a good camera that was late and priced to high. Most of all Kyocera/Contax failed to control expectations, and the camera was compared to other offerings like the Canons. In fact, it is/was the only full frame CCD digital out there. With the CCD and the specific way they set it up, the ND produces images with greatest D-Max and tonal gradations of any digital I've used...including the 11 meg Canon 1Ds. The B&W conversions are the cloestest to film I've yet to see (IMO). Oh well....are you listening Leica?<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travis1 Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 First of Marc, cool shot. Then, so why is the ND phased out since it has such cool features? Too expensive the only reason? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diego_k. Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Where is th contaxinfo forum? I wat to be up to date when new lenses for the G systema arrive, hopefully in this decade ;)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografz Posted June 7, 2003 Author Share Posted June 7, 2003 Travis, It's features were never communicated. But it's flaws were hyped everywhere. Contax did nothing to counter the bad PR, and stonewalled their customers. When I first got the camera I was furious with the almost unusable RAW developer. As it turned out, the J-PEG large is just as good as the RAW and TIFF choices. They selected a poor power source (since mitigated due to much higher capacity batteries having come on the market). So a group of Contax die-hards helped each other via the net and figured out how to really take advantage of positives while basically overcoming the negatives. Then there was the price...$6,900., about $6,100. on the street. (I paid considerably less via an adjustment credit.) Diego, the address is: www.contaxinfo.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick_jelliffe Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Marc, have you used the Contax AX? Is the film plane autofocus measureably slower than with traditional designs? Are manual focus lenses useable on the ND? Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografz Posted June 7, 2003 Author Share Posted June 7, 2003 Patrick, see your e-mail. This is a Leica site so I've answered you privately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanford Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Be very careful signing up for the contaxinfo and leicainfo forums. You may find yourself receiving dozens of e-mail a day and no way to make it stop, even if you request "no e-mail". I finally had the list them as spam with my e-mail carrier to have them blocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlegaspi Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 i think one of the many reasons why it failed is the amount of noise for ISO's beyond 100, making the camera almost unuseable at speeds higher than ISO100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leikonic Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 I had the same innundation of e-mail after signing up to leicainfo. I was tempted to add it to the spam list BUT, you can eliminate this problem by logging on and selecting "edit profile". View "Profile Editor Options", select "E-mail Notification" which allows one to "Select those topics/subtopics for which you wish to receive an automatic e-mail message from this Leica User Forum." The default has all of the 15 topic notifications selected. De-select!? all those that you do not wish to receive and then sit back and enjoy the lack of e-mail from leicainfo. I selected only Leica Threadmount and I haven't received an e-mail in weeks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanford Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 David - tried that and it didn't work. There is no live person there to contact either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay_. Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 <<Leica should carefully study the Kyocera/Contax marketing blunders as they move forward with the Digital R.>>The ND actually is/was a good camera that was late and priced to high.>> Wishful thinking considering Leica's been making one marketing blunder after another with the R system since 1965. "Late and priced too high" *is* Leica's marketing strategy especially with the R system. <<Most of all Kyocera/Contax failed to control expectations, and the camera was compared to other offerings like the Canons>> If the digital R has anything less than a full-frame 12-megapixel sensor it's as good as stillborn. This is because to justify their purchases R users might insist that their R glass makes better images on film than Canon and tell anyone who doubts that claim that their standards are low; but nobody can stand up and say that an R lens on a 6-8-10MP camera with a 1.3x mag factor will produce a better quality image than the same lens with an adaptor on a 1Ds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerry_szarek Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Marc, look on the bright side in couple of years you will have a genuine collectors item. On a more serious topic, be sure to save ALL the software you currently have. The RAW conversion software will not be supported, so it is imperative that your operating system, photo imaging and conversion software be maintained, that is unless you are using JPEG. BTW it's pouring cats and dogs here in NewEngland. Gerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_brown4 Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Canon and all the full-frame gurus are off the path and will pay a price in time. Fact is, a full frame 35mm sensor is a bad idea (high cost, low production yield and overly larger lenses). Nikon has it right with 2/3 (or smaller) sensors and proper DX-type lenses. Dissagree it you will, but time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger_michel Posted June 8, 2003 Share Posted June 8, 2003 on a related note, i got the tvs digital per your advice. it is truly killer. (i should say that the t3 may be my favorite all time camera -- object appeal aside). is this the camera HCB would have used?? maybe. my only gripes are that i wish one of the custom modes allowed you to lock the screen off until canceled AND i wish there was a greater range of MF focus points (like 3 or 4 meters). other than that, just great. amazing resolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cameron_sawyer Posted June 8, 2003 Share Posted June 8, 2003 Some of us don't actually give a s*** about Contax, but are completely fascinated by the SHOT. Please tell us more. Wow! I'm guessing that you were using some f 1.4 lens, wide open, rather long exposure, while he popped the flash? Tell us, please, how you did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografz Posted June 8, 2003 Author Share Posted June 8, 2003 Hi Cameron. It's a self portrait taken in a mirror. Camera set on ISO 160, TTL flash with a Contax TLA 280. It reads correctly because I flipped it in PhotoShop. The lens is a Hasselblad 110/2F @ f/2. All Contax 645 lenses and all Hasselblad lenses can be used on the N cameras. The Contax ones retain all AE and AF functions and do not require stop down metering. The Hasselblad lenses have to be stopped down for metering, but retain in viewfinder focus confirmation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patricks Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Marc, I hope you sold your digital Contax in time... With that kind of product blunder, I think pros/amateurs will think twice before buying into another digital Contax. That poor business strategy kinda reminds me of Konica and their Hexar RF line... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean_devino Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I know this topic is old news but would anyone have a idea on what a Contax N digital would be worth today? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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