dermot_conlan4

Well it's a great lens to be sure but a huge honker too. With an 82mm front

element you'll need to get the dediacted hood and ring to attach it to help

prevent flare one of it's biggest disadvantage's in my humble opinion. Note I'm

an outdoor shooter using polarizers etc....sort no flame's. The front element

rotates making using polars a pain, also you need to budget around $100-

150 for the hood as those crazy Canon digital people have stole all our CZ

lenses and driven the prices out of this world. See I gave you all the down

sides BUT the upside is the results are great, I have a poster in circulation on

the web made with this lens to 22" x 28" it holds up pretty good...so buy with

confidence but beware I warned you.

 

Try this link the image on the left titled "Adventure -Hiker is with the 28-85/RX

and velveeta.

 

http://www.art.com/asp/display_artist-asp/_/crid--8966/Dermot_Conlan.htm

No one here can tell you what will work for you but waht works for them hence

my mantra, RENT. You can rent the 501cm for a weekend and go and shoot

in the street. This will cost you around $50 and give you some idea in real

terms. It takes several years working with a body for it to become second

nature and remember that Oly does have AF and built in metering going to an

all manual system will take some getting used to.

Looks nice but can you imagine the price? It's pretty amazing to think that Fuji

and Linhof 617are getting more expensive when more and more people are

moving to digital and using stitching programs to make panos, where is the

market for this camera? Fotoman has the right idea price wise but I guess it's

rough around the edges.

From my experience that range is too long. I recently did a job from a tiny

chopper (don't know the name) with zero room to manover. Used my 17-40L

lens on a Canon 1d11, manual focus at infinity 400 iso at the highest shutter

speed possible 1/4000-1/6400sec, Everything you touch or that touches you

causes virabtions but I found the longer I was up the the better my technique

became. This was the only time I have used and was glad to have the speed

of the 8.5 frames a sec. A chopper is great as it can hover in position and it's

easier to direct the pilot into position for a shot. One thing I did not expect was

the noise level, make sure the headset you have is on and volume turned up

full.

Rent the RZ for the weekend...side by side with the Hassey it's huge. I went

from the 645Pro to the RZ to the Hassey and back to 645. Lost a lot of money

learned a few things but most important thing I learned the more you shoot the

better you get . It has very little to do with the gear, if you cannot make great

image's with the Pro I doubt the RZ will be any better. Use what you have and

rent what you want... and remember it's a buyers market right now in used MF.

My one and only visit to the North Rim.

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/3858792

Also be aware whoever grades the gear over there has a serious eye

problem.

My experience using the Flextight Photo (base model a few yeares back). You

get a list of settings for various neg films like Agfa, Kodak and Fuji so if you

are scanning a NPH neg you put in this supplied pre set and it's supposed to

get you in the ballpark. In my experience this is a nice idea but does not work

very well and you end up having to create your own custom settings. On the

other hand with chrome film it excells...the only porblem I have is with reds it

seems to oversaturate but you get four settings you can choose before you

scan to counter this. Scanning is an art and takes time I feel the Imacon paid

for itself in under 18 months. I was paying up to $100 for good scans so 30-50

scans later.....Things may have changed with newer models and neg film but

I'd definitely check it out, you can rent some time in some of the larger cities

like NYC and Boston. Talk to Rich Pinto @ photovillage NYC they often have

demo models or refurbs for sale....and you can rent time in their store.

You are on the MF forum so you'll get answers biased towards MF. My advice

as always is to take several weekends to rent various MF systems, if you are

in the US you can rent after 12 noon on Friday for the weekend for a one day

rental fee. MF is vastly different form your digital set up you need to see if it's

for you and which camera system is for you before plunking down cash....the

used market is great for buyers but it sucks if you are selling.

I think you'd be crazy to spend $8k on a Canon 1Ds Mk11 unless you can

recoup some of the money in sales, even a lot of pros cannot justify it, many

use what you have a 20D...if you concetrate on your craft you can make great

landscapes with any camera.

You also need a good scanner or the link is broken in the chain, flatbeds are

OK but a dedicated MF film scanner is needed to get all the information from

your original.

Of course this is my opinion and I'm sure someone here will tell you they

make great scans form an Epson flatbed but it's like buting a Contax camera

and putting a Tamron lens on it.

In two years time something else will be in a "different league", it's amazing

Canon has taken over the mantle form Hasselblad who for years pushed the

square format and overpriced lenses. People are lining up to drop $3300 on a

camera body...think about about how absurd that is? Keeep your Mamiya it's

worth just about nothing on the used market just like that $2500 Canon D30

from how many years ago?

Amazon like a ton of other places I called does not have it in stock, says order

now available soon. Why not wait a few weeks till it's widely available you

may get a better price...put that $3300 in an ING account and make a few

bucks while you wait.

Here's an e-mail I received Sept 8th part of Zeiss newsletter, who knows what

it means.

 

 

Issue No. 22

September 2005

 

How about the Future of the Contax Brand?

 

Under the brand name CONTAX, Kyocera has marketed excellent cameras

with Carl Zeiss lenses for many years. The Carl Zeiss camera lens division

regrets that Kyocera has decided to discontinue these activities, as published

in Kyocera's press release of April 12, 2005.

 

However, the contract between Carl Zeiss and Kyocera concerning the

exclusive use of the CONTAX brand name by Kyocera still exists. Since this

existing contract is supposed to be in effect for several more years, Carl Zeiss

cannot give any statements on future development, at present. back

 

subscribe Newsletter

II've used pretty much everything out there from Mamiya RZ to Pentax 67,

Hasselblad, Mamiya 7ii and finally setteled on a Pentax 645N...cheap and

sharp lenses, a range of zooms noone else can match, primes from 35mm to

600mm, a great metering system and look at the used lens prices (in the U.S)

sometimes less than Nikon and Canon. I've tried to find faults with it but I can't

it just suits me. Not having interchangble backs was never a big deal for me I

usually carry a 120 and use a 220 when traveling . There are plans for a

digital model in '06. Rent a system on Friday afternoon and use it for the

weekend, you pay one day rate.

Forget the 67 move it's too costly, your best bet is to use what you have until

you make some sales. Use the money from sales to finance future

purchases...digital needs for stock are around 12MP plus you need a better

computer, software, cards, readers, portable storage etc....the files of most

major Stock Agencies are full of great landscapes, yeah it hurts to hear it but

it's true. The Grand Canyon ain't changing much over the nest 20 years, but

what does change constantly and what Agencies need are people "Lifestyle"

shots are the best sellers always have been and always will be. If you are

going to shoot for Stock you need to start including people in your landscapes

otherwise you'll end up with the odd sale here and there. I've been down this

road and this has been my experience.

Three lenses is a tough one for me, which of those 645 lenses do you use

most.? You can find out if the 40 or 50 suits by renting for a weekend...on Fri

afternoons you get rental until Monday AM for one day charge. I liked the 50

CF/FLE the 100mm and my fav the 250SA, Zeiss really excels on the long

end.

I live 30 miles form the Cape and have been shooting a personal project there

for the last two years .....it does take a long time to get into it, I wondederd

what all the hype was about, it took me over a year to really begin to see. The

summer is tthe worst time in my opinion to visit. It;s clogged with tourists the

locals are pissed off by now, and there's a build up of haze after a hot and

humid summer.

None of this helps you of course...let me know what you like to shoot and I can

point you in some direction, I've discovered a lot of places over the past few

years.

Use 200 where possible, 80 rolls quickly becomes 40 a huge space saver. As

stated above Sharpie with film log, after ten days in the field you'll never

remember what's on each roll. If in a counrty offering FedEx organize weekly

or bi-weekly shipments to your lab...lots of pros do this regurlarly. Have the

lab adopt your numbering system and as long as you keep the log clearly

written and detailed (you could update it at night) you should be fine. Your lab

can also keep you updated on your exposure consistancy or of any other

problems., via e-mail (internet cafe).

You gear needs a good home, a dealer will only give you 40c on the dollar,

sell it here or on fedmiranda.com yourself...Sell me your 21mm it's at an all

time high price wise...mabye in a year the price will have dropped....I'll even

give you more than you paid for it!!!

Check out www.danheller.com according to Dan a huge ammount of the work

there was produced using this lens. Do you want to photograph test charts

and read reviews till it drives you nuts or go out and make images.

My only trip was to the North Rim with a RZ67, carried 50, 110, 180 and 360mm.Used the 180/360mm 90% of the time...it ain't callled the Grand Canyon for nothing. The 50 made everything too small the images lacked any imapct...the 110 noraml was used last day only and did give me my one of my best image's (see rainbow over mt hayden on my website). You'll wish you had a 250mm or longer for the blad.

There's no magic bullet out there you pick your poison and go with it...John

Shaw is all digital D2X and Jack Dykinga shoots 4x5 both making a living

having work published every day. I've used nearly every Medium Format

system out there and have my work publised to poster size regularly

22x28....when I show these posters shot with Mamiya RZ, Hassey and Pentax

645N nobody can pick which system was used, the printing process seems to

be the limiting factor. I ended up keeping my Pentax 645N with lenses from

35mm to 300 plus 1.4, I know I can get publishable results forn it , because I

have and I can print fine prints to 20x24...but I don't get much of a call for this

 

I have recently been working with Canons 1D yeah only 4.1MP but I've made

some 13x19 prints that really stunned me...what I could do with 11 or 12 MP.

I 've found most publishers are looking for an image, if you have it they will

buy it, if it's a choice between 35mm and 645 image of course they'll pick the

larger image. ...they never ask what type of camera I used, I used to make

70mm dupes to submit now I make 8x10 print's on my Epson 2200 and submit

those....no squinting or computer required.

 

Noone can make this decision for you but you...I think you'll find it's more

about the image than the gear.

The world of Contax has always been a compromise...the Aria has a lot of the updated

features you would want three metering modes, bright viewfinder, it's small but also costs

$450 in th used market. The RX is a much smoother camera, heavier and has a rather dim

viewfinder by todays standards because of the DOF indicator. Thw ST is robust has a

ceramic pressure plate but has anoisey, whiney motor.

Add the 45mm tessar pancke lens to the Aria and it's a tiny package easy to carry...I

thought this would be great for a carry around but I tended to fiddle too much with the

controls fumbling for the focus on the 45....but I'm sure someone out there has this set up

and loves it.

If you could find a shop carrying used Contax gear and handle a body or those lenses (tiny

in comapsion to todays monster zooms) it would help.

Sell privately or you'll loose your shirt...these guys are paying 30 cents on the

dollar.

Jim let me ask you why a Zeiss 200 f4 over a Canon EF200 f2.8? The Canon

is a very very good lens, Contax made some great lenses the 200 is not one

of them. The longer Cotanx primes 180/200/300 do not match up to Canon's...

Interesting....I had my CF250 SA for sale for almost a year at an attractive

price of $1700 but no one was interested until a few weeks ago. I don't think

the optics were changed just the databus, more flocking to cut down on

internal flare and the spring. Combined with the 6093T pro hood and mirror

lock up it was one fine lens.