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Contax ND

Oh, by the way, the State of Michigan, where I live and received the camera, has a Lemon Law...and I think it applies here.
 
> Marc,

I tried finding where you posted your s&le. Would you please let us know? Your experience with the ND is so different then mine. If you want, e-mail me a jpg (raw original w/o your modifications, and let me try to print it in my digital darkroom.). I know you shot your stuff in RAW mode, and I shoot all my stuff in the hi-res jpg. Perhaps the problem has something to do with a Contax problem with the Raw imaging manipulation software. Just take the Raw file and save as a JPG. then try your adjustments in Photoshop. My e-mail address is: coyote@outbackcoyote.com

Thanks,

michael.

>
 
Marc, Lemon law applies, if I am not mistaken, only if your camera (or car, or whatever) has been sent for repair at least three times and the problem had not been resolved.
sad.gif
Although, we can always try.
 
Marc, please give me one of your wedding shots in RAW format, apparently, something is wrong.
 
are we ready for the open letter to contax!! i am surprised you even used this camera with flash!! absolutely unpredictable and worse than p&s. marc regarding your comments on the slowness of the camera in poor lighting, this is also true on the N1. both feel good in hand but only for none moving subjects in good light. the 85 1.4 is a great lens and it is bolted on my camera permanently as this is the only lens, i can get good shots with. one other note, i started to play with a canon 1ds and this is what the ND should have been.



I think contax need s to hear from every and each of us enough to fix the problems and remedy the situation
 
Hey Guys:

This will be my last post on this forum. I will hate to leave this forum and share the wonderful wealth of knowledge that its users have, but, fortunately for me I just became a Contax ND EX-USER.

That’s right!!! I went back to New York and my dealer took the camera back with its lenses and accessories for a full refund. I bought thru him the AMAZING Canon EOS 1DS, a 24-70 L f2.8 and a 70-200 L IS f2.8 + 1.4X Extender and the speedlite 550EX. What can I tell you?? The camera is amazing and the lenses superb, but most important of all, it works flawlessly out of the box, the battery is amazing and the custom and personal functions extremely detailed and well explained, the software well presented and functional, but I won’t go about explaining the features of this camera since they are very well expressed in hundreds of reviews.

What I would like to tell you is that the right way for us to approach problems with equipment is thru our dealers. I have been buying and selling equipment from my dealer for ages and he understands that a happy customer is a returning customer. As he very well said, Contax won’t listen to me, but they will listen to him.

(....)

I know from him, that some members of this forum are/where his clients; Ken Pops, Marc Williams (G2 Black). It is not an indiscretion, but he monitors this forum constantly at my suggestion, since he could not believe the problems this piece of junk has.

Marc, I am truly sorry for your experience, but unless you are a lawyer, a lawsuit is not worth it. It will cost you more money than you spent and it will be like beating a dead horse. On the other hand, go to your dealer and ask for a full refund/store credit. He can return the camera to Contax for a full refund and he will understand your frustration and provide a solution for you. He will understand that you are his bread and butter and that he has to take care of you. If he does not, then take your business to a reputable dealer like him, who is used to dealing with professionals and advanced amateurs.

With these thoughts I leave this forum as an active user. If any one wants to contact me, please do so at mla@attglobal.net.

And remember, great glass is only useful if you have working equipment to use it.

Best regards to all,

Martin.
 
Dear Friends,

After a year of N-Digital frenzy, utter disappointment over a totally chaotic launch and haunting customer accounts at the mercy of CONTAX personel, not to mention prevailing flaws in the system:
I bought a CANON 1Ds and am delivered fom the utter nonsense CONTAX/YASHICA/KYOCERA managed to make of a promising ZEISS concept.
Handling and performance of the 1Ds is superb as are the EF L Lenses along with it. Try e.g. the 2.8 70-200 IS USM and compare it to the mechanical performance of the comparable CONTAX N Zoom lenses and you will find yourself appalled by the anachronisticly slack and clumsy way the CONTAX lens works. Compare loughable CONTAX power supply to extremely enduring Canon charges!
Canon convices with a sovereign and extremely professional stance on catering to the (professional) customer. They promise and D E L i V E R!
That without fail and without silly hick hacks, false anouncements, constant backtrackings and inadequate response from unskilled personel, conspicuous with pseudo wisdom!!!
The Canon camera even comes at c. the same end user price CONTAX dares ask for their current, already to a great extent obsolete, "state-of-the-art". In contrast to CONTAX, perfect DOCUMENTATIN has been available long before launching too.
Optical Zeiss Quality may be unsurpassed, but what use is a shining jewel on the wrinkled neck of an old lady, who happens to be, nevertheless, up to some notable tricks, yet ?
I confess that during the time of waiting and (litterally) yearning for CONTAX N-DIGITAL, I had totally parted with the Idea of ever needing any other system again, let alone Canon. I had even sold most of my Canon Pro Equipment, in the meantime!
Now I am grateful to personel in Hamburg, having repeatedly given me contradictory and incorrect replies, or the internationally utterly unprofessional internet-presence, especially in UK. THANK You Contax/YASHICA/KYOCERA for discouraging me of making a decidetly wrong choice!
I believe CANON ought to be canonized for their superbe contribution to our lives!
Good bye CONTAX!

TINO ZAHEDI
 
To Tino and Martin,

I hope and trust you will enjoy your EOS 1Ds, although I find it amusing that someone would come and gloat over not getting a camera without using one.

I for one, however, will be sticking to and enjoying my ND. Sure, the power consumption could be better, as the CCD sensor gobbles up significantly more than the CMOS does, and the AF is definitely not as quick. And the less said about the software, the better.

On the other hand, I have not experienced the moire problems that Marc has when shooting RAW, and shoot JPEG pretty much all the time anyway, mostly at 64 - 200 ISO.

The various tests I've done with my TLA-280 flash have been fine. I noticed the maximum aperture gets controlled fairly extensively by the camera when fairly close to the subject - at about three feet I couldn't open wider than f11, and got a good exposure shooting through cloth for a softer light.

What I do prefer is how the ND handles over the EOS D1s. I much prefer the controls and placements, and the experience they provide. That is something Contax has excelled in from the begining and it hasn't changed. And of course the lenses.

I am lucky that my other demands are narrower than yours, and can thus enjoy these aspects that are more important to me than if I were a professional dependent on day-in and day-out reliability and speed under adverse conditions. The camera is beautifully built, just not absolutely weather sealed.

Tino, I have no idea what Contax lenses you used, but my Contax lenses are about as far as they could be from, as you put it,
"anachronisticly slack and clumsy". Beautifully engineered and built, silky smooth and precise is more like it. I have a feeling if you looked closely at those lenses you talked about, they probably read "Contex" instead of "Contax". But to each their own.

I am happy for you, and hopefully you will be happy and understanding that some people actually could love this camera for many reasons in spite of its warts, some of which will be addressed as the software and firmware evolve. Perhaps we're not all quite as photographically gifted and technologically clever as you are, and can thus enjoy it.

Good bye, Tino and Martin. I hope you enjoy your 1Ds as much as I enjoy my ND, which is to say, a lot.

DJ
 
Marc,

Are you getting moire patterns all over the place, or in certain subject matter only? I have not been able to detect any in a few RAW shots I tried. Here's a JPEG from one, shot with TLA 280 flash with cloth cover to soften the light from the head-on angle. The subtly contrasting layers on the mahogany top came through beautifully. If it's under certain circumstances, let me know so I can try and replicate it.

DJ
62475.jpg
 
DJ,
I totally appreciate your perspective. Yet I must take issue with a few of your statements to Tino and Martin. You say to them don't judge a camera without using it, but proceed to tout a preference for the ND over the EOS-1Ds. How many months have you been testing the 1Ds? Were you chosen as a Beta tester by Canon? It couldn't be that you've extensively used it, since the camera only hit the shelves this week. I have handled the Canon (at the PhotoPlus show in NYC last October), along with the Kodak 14m. The controls are a no brainer, and nothing gets in the way of creatively shooting, not to mention all the other well documented advantages.

Unfortunately, like Tino, I had also dumped my entire Canon Pro system to get the ND and a few lenses. A huge and costly mistake at a time when the economy makes it terribly hard to recoup such losses. My mistake for trusting a company that had always delivered the highest quality in the past. Who would have guessed it? Unfortunately I did not.

I fear I waited to long while trying to "fix/learn" the camera and waiting for the software upgrade. So I am probably stuck with a $6,500. paperweight.

However, I have also contacted my dealer to try and return the camera, and am even willing to take other Contax gear in exchange ( the 645 zoom and 55mm, for my 645 for ex&le). And I plan to keep my N1 because I want to take advantage of the 85/1.4 and 50/1.4. I'll just shoot film and scan the best shots at 4000 dpi.

Like everyone here, I love the Zeiss look.
I've invested heavily in that look for years and years. However, this camera is a DOG, and those defending it are either honestly unaware of what is really possible from a good digital camera, or "whistling past the graveyard" IMO.

By the way I tried to create a s&le of the RAW to Tiff Moire, but it's impossible to show it on the web due to all the conversions necessary. Sorry.
 
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