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Contax N-Digital - the ultimate Contax Fan-Test....

Marc, Thank you for the info. With only one set of lenses, I will be able to carry a complete 645 and N digital setup into my backpack when I am doing landscape and nature photography.
 
Australian Pro Photo just published a lovely review of N Digital - so lovely that they used one of the images as their cover shot (August edition). More incredible still, the image was taken from a fine jpeg, and not from a RAW or TIFF file. If the fine JPEG can produce a commercial A4 cover - what can TIFF and RAW produce?!

Yes, there are a couple of short commings (as with almost every camera made) but overall it gets the big thumbs up!

Looking forward to trying one out.

cheers, Ivan.
 
Is the review available anywhere online ? or the images for that matter ... i am giving the contax still very serious thought mainly because of the full-frame sensor, although i am currently fondling a d100 which screams "let me be yours" in my face.
 
There is no comparison between the Contax N Digital and the D-100. The D-100 is a toy next to the Contax. I've kept one Nikon D1-X in my kit for situations in need of faster AF speed and flash work, but that's about the only reason. I'd get a D1-X before a D-100.
 
AVAILABILITY in GERMANY
Have just learned from German Kyocera/Yashica/CONTAX sales in Hamburg that the N-Digital shall go on sale locally subsequent to final corrective mesures with respect to three items publicised widely. Market release is estimated to coincide with FOTOKINA 2002 in September. In Europe, the model is currently on (official) sale in France and UK sofar, however.
 
On the SLR forum there are some comments about digital backs and a digital G and what would be the best chip for the wide angles. I don't understand the technology well enough to understand the pro's and con's.

I hear about the small chip, 2/3" chip and full chip. What are the distinctions. In terms of size what are we talking about? What are the dimensions of the various chips. How do they compare?

Rollei (heresy) is coming out with a 5 million pixel 2/3" chip fixed zoom (non-interchangeable)in the $1800 range that looks powerful on paper.

Will any of this make any difference to someone interested in printing 16x20's. When does overkill happen? Where does one actually see a difference in the printed photograph at 8x10, 16x20, for ex&le?

I worry about paying for a Ferrari to drive in traffic.
 
Hi Stan,

if you read the very first posting in this thread, you get alraedy a basic overview about the pro and cons of the fullsize vs. the 2/3 chip size.

There will be no digital G this year. But there will be a digital "surprise" probably at the photokina
happy.gif


dirk
 
I have posted the message below on the 645 forum but did not receive any answers yet. Maybe someone on this forum has used the Contax 645 with the Kodak DCS Pro Back 645C and the N digital and could answer.

I have never used the Kodak DCS Pro Back 645C but if you already own a Contax 645 with all the lenses and considering the very high price and size of the Contax N Digital for a 6 megapixel SLR what would be the technical reasons for you to acquire a N digital instead of a Kodak DCS Pro Back 645C.With the DCS pro back 645C you get 16 megapixel instead of 6 megapixel and you end up with only one type of camera body and one set of lenses. Certainly the 645 is a bit larger and heavier compare to the N digital but it is still very easy to handle. The price of the Kodak DCS Pro Back 645C is about twice the price of the N Digital but I would assume that the quality of the results should be theoretically far more than twice better.
 
The Kodak DCS Pro Back vs the N digital:
I can not speak for the Kodak back, but I have used my N Digital for about 3 weeks. I have made enlargements up to 12x18inches from just jpeg1 files, and those enlangements were as fine in detail or better that film. I don't know if you would notice any difference with the 16 meg.files. At some point more is not necessarily better. Also could you not use your lenses on the N Digital with the contax adapter?
 
Wallace, good feedback regarding the quality of your 12 x 18 enlargements. I am certain that the results from the N digital would let you do very good enlargements in this size range. I also agree with you that more is not necessarily better. However, because I mainly do nature and landscape photography I do not always have the chance to frame the images at the exact right size and having enough image resolution to crop and keep good picture quality is very useful and this is also what I appreciate of the 645 format vs the 35mm.
 
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