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Should I buy a Contax N1 and 24-85 zoom

Arlen,

I also use the 120mm lens the most for portrait and still life. Lately, I have been shooting mostly with the 45-90 zoom with the TLA360 on the Custom Bracket. I found that this combination is good for my editorial work. Just bring one outfit and shoot away. I have the 35mm lens but have not have much chance to use it. The 80mm lens now is almost exclusively used on the N1/ND for portrait shots.

I found that the 120mm give a very rich deep color on the N1 when I shoot chrome. The 80mm lens is perfect for people and table top since it has much less distorsion. The slides really pop with the 80mm lens.

For some reason, the 24-85 zoom look really crisp & bright in the N1 viewfinder comparing to the lenses on the C645.

Al.
 
Hello Al and All,
After our few discussions I dedided to go ahead and buy the N1, with the 24-85 since the Nam1 doesn't seem to be "in stock" anywhere. I ordered them on 3/13/04, from a US based web page that offered the N1 for approximately $930US and the 24-85 for approximately $750US. They offered to deliver 2nd day for approximately $75US.

After reading another thread, ont his site, regarding price switching tactics by internet companies,I half expected a call from them - Just "calling customers back" after noticing the request for 2nd day delivery, advising that the order was not available at this "grey market price" in that time frame.

Sure enough, I got that call from the North Eastern US company that offered those prices and that delivery time. They said they never said the offered "grey market" camera and lens were in stock. They did have them available as a set for only a few hundred US dollars more.

"Just a word to the Wise"

Arlen
 
Colin,

The company which in my opinion was not up front with me about the offered N1 and 24-85mm lens was Tristatecamera.com.

I will call their customer service line in the morning to be sure that my order is cancelled. Perhabs they will be able to explain the situation better. I'll keep you posted.

I requested the quick delivery so that I would have the camera in time for rugby matches the next two weekends - one of them the Texas division one, second side ch&ionship. Yes, this is Texas and we like Rugby. Of course we like a lot of things we can't comprehend.

I did find the Nam1 available on Adorama and will use my c645 lenses with an N1 from B&H.

Arlen
 
Arlen,

Have you thought of looking on ebay? I found a unused N1 and 24-85mm for $800. They do come up every now and then - you may have to be a little patient. But the saving could be substantial.

Cheers, Saras
 
Arlen,

B&H is one of the best place to shop. Buy gear brand new with 3 year US warrenty worth the money. Unless you are on a tight budget and afford to take the risk of the gear may not work perfectly. I had my N1 and the zoom serviced (minor adjustments) by Kyocera two years after my purchase.

I did a lot of purchases thru eBay. 95% of time are okay as I usually got stuff in "New in box" condition.

On other note, I am not sure if the N system is the best choice for sport photography that you are planning to shoot.

Albert.
 
I used Contax 167 Mt and 28mm, 50mm, 35mm, and 28-85mm zoom for a while. They always gave very sharp and crisp, and vivid images. After someone taking the photogears and selling lenses, I purchased Contax n1 and 50mm, 24-85mm lenses.
These new line gears also gave me very impressive images,especially 24-85mm.
When I compare Leica lenses 35mm elmarit R (3cam) , 50mm summicron R (3 cam), and 90mm elmarit R (3cam), the quality of Contax is not much greater than those from Leica, but still very fine and its own characteristic image that Contax only has.

Brief Review for the some of my previous gears:
contax Distagon T* 28mm F2.8 MM
Most impressive lens so far. Make me stick to Contax

contax Distagon T* 35mm F2.8 MM
Very sharp and very detail image

contax Planar T* 50mm F1.4 MM
excellent color redation and superior images

contax Vario-Sonnar T* 28-85mm F3.3-4 MM
So far the finest zoom lens that I have ever had
But still behind than prime contax lenses

Contax 167MT:
very good, but need some improvement in focusing and metering

Contax N1: ***still keep ***
Very good in all aspects, but need brighter view finder

contax Planar N 50mm: *** stil keep ***
Quite good with same quality with Contax 50mm MM.

contax Vario-Sonnar N 24-85mm: *** still keep ***
quite sharp and impressive image, but slightly behind than 28-85mm lens

Leica R-E: *** still keep ***
quite good image and i am fully satisfied with it

leica Elmarit 35mm F2.8 R (3 cam): *** still keep ***
very sharp and excellent color rendering

leica Elmarit 90mm F2.8 R (3 cam)
one of the sharpest lens for portrait, but not much impressive

leica Summicron 50mm F2.0 R (3cam)
very sharp and quite impressive image
hopefully get it again soon

Minolta 600 Si:
best amateur camera that I have ever had.
never disappointed with me

Minolta Dynax 7:
finest AF camera so far to me. It has brighter viewfinder and excellent tering and focusing system

Minolta MF 28-135mm F4-4.5
Like tank, but provide excelent images all the time

Minolta AF 24-50mm F4
tack sharp, one of the best for landscape images

Minolta AF 100-300 mm F4.5-5.6 APO
excellent zoom lens and provide quite impressive animal images

Minolta AF 50mm F1.4
best Minolta lens in its natural colorand quite enough sharpness

Minolta 50mm F2.8 Ex
one of the sharpest lens that I have ever used
Very fine, but not impression in color rendation

Minolta AF 20mm F2.8
very sharp, but not good impression in color rendation

Sigam 20mm F1.8 EX DG
quite impressive, but not sharp at corner and low F

Nikon FE2
Excellent and the best manual camera that I ever used

Nikon 28mm F2.8 AIS:
very good and impressive

Nikon AIS 50mm F1.8:
very sharp and most impressive among Nikon lenses that I used

Nikon 75-150mm AIS E lens:
very sharp, but one ring system

Tokina AF 20-35mm II
cheap, but verysharp images and better than
Sigma 20mm and Minolta 20mm in color.

Sigma AF 50mm F2.8 Macro EX
Very sharp and natural images, but slight shallow impression than Minolta 50mm F2.8

Tamron AF 90mm F2.8 Macro SP
Very sharp and fine detail image for portrait
one of the best lens for portrait and macro image

Yashica T4 Super (35mm F3.5) *** still keep ***
quite good and impressive images consistently.
My wife and me are still it.

Yashica T4 Zoom (28-70mm)
sharp and excellent images, but far behind Contax system.

Olympus Stylus 80 (38-80mm)
sharp image , but poor color rendation

Ricoh GR1s (28mm F2.8): *** Still keep ***
The best PS camera that I have ever had. It gives always noble and balanced images

Leica Z2x (35-70mm)
the images are very crisp and pleasant in its price and high quality color rendation

Leica Mini (35mm F3.5)
good and sharp PS camera, but metering is not good at all.

Rollei Prego 90 (28-90mm)
quite sharp and delver excellent images, but poor performance in corner in spite such excellent images in the center

Pentax Zx:
very economic and hany, but quite good camera
one of the best for beginner
Pentax F 50mm F1.7:
Very sharp image and cheap, but not so impressive in color

pentax FA 35mm F2.0 AL:
produce very sharp and excellent color rendation
very similar performance to Minolta 50mm F1.4
 
Al,

I ordered the N1 and 24-85 from B&H this morning after calling Tristate's customer service line. They showed no concern about their methods or my cancelled order.

I don't shoot the rugby matches to sell any of the pictures. I do a few minimum action shots and then individual shots of the players along with the team shot at the end. I have used the 645 for this and had good results - it just takes a lot of anticipation.

I'm looking forward to working with the N1. I handled one, with the 24-85, at Houston's Camera Exchange recently and darn near paid their price right then. It was an impressive feel after using the cannon digital (G5)for the past few months. Yes, I know - apples and oranges, but it just felt like a mercedes to a pinto driver.

Robert, thanks for the reseller rating URL. It's on my faviorite's list.

Regards,
Arlen
 
Congratulations on yoour purchase, Arlen. I'm also using an N1 with the 24-85 lens. I moved to Contax from a Nikon system that I started shortly after finishing grad school. Wow! The lenses are so much nicer, and the camera really is amazing. And I have had no problems catching shots of my son playing soccer. But, then again, he's only 7 years old, so the action isn't exactly blindingly fast.
 
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