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K
kerryjapan
Hi Folks, I need your experience and assistance. I am a Fuji S2 pro user(I also use the Contax 645), but my father owns an ND. I have been trying to help him out with some issues that he has been having but due to the distance (I live in Japan and he lives in the US) it's not always easy. Anyway, he is having problems with the ND in regards to Battery life. I know this is the one issue that is causing the ND owners some heartburn. I would like to know how many shot's you can typically take on a fresh set of fully charged batteries. Also, below is a message that I got from him this morning and somthing just doesn't seem correct....
Any help will be GREATLY appreciated. I'm afraid that he will become so frustrated with the camera that it will end up on e-Bay soon!
Best Regard and happy shooting!
"Hi Kerry,
I had an opportunity to test the 'Powerex' batteries. First let me say, that based on this initial test, these 2200 mAh batteries are inferior to the Panasonic 1900 mAh batteries.
The test: I mounted the 50mm lens, set the drive to "c", set the exposure ABC mode to +/- 1. The camera fired off the 3 exposures and then died. This result is exactly the same as with the Panasonic. However, and this is BIG, the batteries would not recover in the camera, as do the Panasonics. I had to remove the battery holder from the camera, let it sit for a few seconds, and then insert it back in the camera. After that maneuver, the batteries recovered.
I intend to repeat this test several times, using different lenses and under different lighting conditions. But, I'll bet right now, the results will be the same.
Love, Dad"
Any help will be GREATLY appreciated. I'm afraid that he will become so frustrated with the camera that it will end up on e-Bay soon!
Best Regard and happy shooting!
"Hi Kerry,
I had an opportunity to test the 'Powerex' batteries. First let me say, that based on this initial test, these 2200 mAh batteries are inferior to the Panasonic 1900 mAh batteries.
The test: I mounted the 50mm lens, set the drive to "c", set the exposure ABC mode to +/- 1. The camera fired off the 3 exposures and then died. This result is exactly the same as with the Panasonic. However, and this is BIG, the batteries would not recover in the camera, as do the Panasonics. I had to remove the battery holder from the camera, let it sit for a few seconds, and then insert it back in the camera. After that maneuver, the batteries recovered.
I intend to repeat this test several times, using different lenses and under different lighting conditions. But, I'll bet right now, the results will be the same.
Love, Dad"
> Austin, it gets even better. I received this big color brochure from > Contax in the shape of a 5x real life size image of the TVS Digital. > It talks about the upcoming Contax National Sales Week event. > > They talk about every current Contax system. No mention N Digital > anywhere. Seems that as far as Contax is concerned, the N Digital > never happened. You gotta love it! Fortunately, my ND feels otherwise
Good grief! You're kidding (I know you're not though). I was really hoping for the N-Digital to simply come down in price to the, say, $2k mark, then I'd be more than happy to get one. By that time, most of the lenses I want would be out, all the bugs worked out etc. and I'd be a happy c&er...and then they'd come out with a full frame 12M camera, which I could buy in a few more years for $2k after it had been around for a while...gut alas, poor N-Digital, we never really had enough time to get to know you!
Austin :-(
Good grief! You're kidding (I know you're not though). I was really hoping for the N-Digital to simply come down in price to the, say, $2k mark, then I'd be more than happy to get one. By that time, most of the lenses I want would be out, all the bugs worked out etc. and I'd be a happy c&er...and then they'd come out with a full frame 12M camera, which I could buy in a few more years for $2k after it had been around for a while...gut alas, poor N-Digital, we never really had enough time to get to know you!
Austin :-(
D
djg
Kerry,
There would appear to be something wrong with your dad's ND. The batteries should NOT die like that just because you shot three shots in a row! If you're shooting TIFFs, it may take a few seconds for the buffer to save (the red LED will be blinking while this happens), but the camera should not die! Can you get the file mode he was using (TIFF, RAW, JPEG 1, 2 or 3?
As far as the Powerex batteries, were they brand new? They usually take several charge-discharge cycles before they come up to full capacity. How are they getting charged - i.e. what charger is he using? The original charger that comes with the ND is not very good and pretty unreliable.
DJ
There would appear to be something wrong with your dad's ND. The batteries should NOT die like that just because you shot three shots in a row! If you're shooting TIFFs, it may take a few seconds for the buffer to save (the red LED will be blinking while this happens), but the camera should not die! Can you get the file mode he was using (TIFF, RAW, JPEG 1, 2 or 3?
As far as the Powerex batteries, were they brand new? They usually take several charge-discharge cycles before they come up to full capacity. How are they getting charged - i.e. what charger is he using? The original charger that comes with the ND is not very good and pretty unreliable.
DJ
D
djg
Austin,
Let's not despair! I thought Ziegler or someone from Contax had mentioned there were 2 new bodies in development. They probably figured why keep making the current ND if they're not going to sell but a handfull, and those that do sell would only bring complaining, whining customers. Let's wait a bit and see what percolates.
Hopeful DJ
Let's not despair! I thought Ziegler or someone from Contax had mentioned there were 2 new bodies in development. They probably figured why keep making the current ND if they're not going to sell but a handfull, and those that do sell would only bring complaining, whining customers. Let's wait a bit and see what percolates.
Hopeful DJ
C
chrizzlie
Austin, DJ,
let's not get paranoid about the ND disappearing.
Even if the ND would actually be discontinued, it is a technological milestone and therefore worth to be owned for everyone who also owns the lenses - at least from a collector's point of view. And even if the ND is discontinued, all ND owners hold a fine piece of camera in their hand.
It took me a while to explore the details of behaviour of this camera until it all fell into place and I found my personal way to use it.
The ND produces rock-solid results where I need it, when I need it (given I have a couple of fresh sets of batteries handy).
The ND serves me extremely well and I am looking forward to any new development like the two bodies mentioned above. I assume they'll come with a NX type 6MP and a N1+ type 10+ full frame somewhen in the future.
Even then, I still have my ND which is much more solid and ergonomic than a NX and gives me results I can easily blow up to 50x60cm (roughly 20x24") at finest color rendition and no one can tell it from a silver print from normal viewing distance.
So what's the issue? Technology advances and new products go to market... that's life!
I am very curious what comes next and, if I can afford to supplement my ND with a new 10+ MP body. If I can't, I'll still be happy with my ND.
However, we should not go ballistic on whether or not the ND is still available but try to focus on helping each other to improve with it.
Christian
let's not get paranoid about the ND disappearing.
Even if the ND would actually be discontinued, it is a technological milestone and therefore worth to be owned for everyone who also owns the lenses - at least from a collector's point of view. And even if the ND is discontinued, all ND owners hold a fine piece of camera in their hand.
It took me a while to explore the details of behaviour of this camera until it all fell into place and I found my personal way to use it.
The ND produces rock-solid results where I need it, when I need it (given I have a couple of fresh sets of batteries handy).
The ND serves me extremely well and I am looking forward to any new development like the two bodies mentioned above. I assume they'll come with a NX type 6MP and a N1+ type 10+ full frame somewhen in the future.
Even then, I still have my ND which is much more solid and ergonomic than a NX and gives me results I can easily blow up to 50x60cm (roughly 20x24") at finest color rendition and no one can tell it from a silver print from normal viewing distance.
So what's the issue? Technology advances and new products go to market... that's life!
I am very curious what comes next and, if I can afford to supplement my ND with a new 10+ MP body. If I can't, I'll still be happy with my ND.
However, we should not go ballistic on whether or not the ND is still available but try to focus on helping each other to improve with it.
Christian
WELL SAID, CHRISTIAN.
While I don't have an ND, I have a new TVS Digital as well as my N1 and TVS II. IMHO the TVS Digital is a great little camera. I am in the process of posting a bunch of pictures which I will let the group know about shortly. Yes, it does have its short comings, as all cameras do. But if you learn to work within the abilities of the camera and use them well, you can get great results.
I think there should be a new thread on this site called VENTING. I personally am getting a bit tired of all these interchanges on minutia such as the NX should somehow know which canister is loaded and go directly to that frame (probably without losing a mm of film length in the process). The VENTING thread could be used to discuss rant about the inequities of life and subjects that have, again IMHO, little value in the real life of photography, such as whether the 50mm 1.4 is better than the 50mm 1.7, or whatever it was. Unless someone is shooting for murals in Grand Central Terminal, it has no practical meaning.
There should be more discussions on how to get the most of of the equipment that we have. Plus I would love to see some info from users first-hand experience on digital scanning of slides, printing inks (pigment vs dye), papers, etc. and how to get the best results. As an ex&le, is it better to do color correction at the time of scanning ( I have a Nikon 4000dpi Coolscan), or leave it afterward in photoshop.
Enough said. Maybe this post should be the first one to go in the Venting thread.
Gary
While I don't have an ND, I have a new TVS Digital as well as my N1 and TVS II. IMHO the TVS Digital is a great little camera. I am in the process of posting a bunch of pictures which I will let the group know about shortly. Yes, it does have its short comings, as all cameras do. But if you learn to work within the abilities of the camera and use them well, you can get great results.
I think there should be a new thread on this site called VENTING. I personally am getting a bit tired of all these interchanges on minutia such as the NX should somehow know which canister is loaded and go directly to that frame (probably without losing a mm of film length in the process). The VENTING thread could be used to discuss rant about the inequities of life and subjects that have, again IMHO, little value in the real life of photography, such as whether the 50mm 1.4 is better than the 50mm 1.7, or whatever it was. Unless someone is shooting for murals in Grand Central Terminal, it has no practical meaning.
There should be more discussions on how to get the most of of the equipment that we have. Plus I would love to see some info from users first-hand experience on digital scanning of slides, printing inks (pigment vs dye), papers, etc. and how to get the best results. As an ex&le, is it better to do color correction at the time of scanning ( I have a Nikon 4000dpi Coolscan), or leave it afterward in photoshop.
Enough said. Maybe this post should be the first one to go in the Venting thread.
Gary
Kerry, tell your Dad to set the camera on J-Peg 1 and try shooting that way. The only time I use Tiff or RAW is if I have the leasure time to wait around for the buffer to download (like with studio still life work).
In a test I ran I found that there is almost no difference between Tiff and J-Peg, and I actually found the J-Peg color to be better. Once he opens the J-Peg file in PhotoShop (which uncompressed, is the same size as the Tiff), he can save it as a Tiff.
However, he shouldn't have to remove the batteries for them to recover. It sounds like either something is wrong, or he hasn't waited for the buffer to load...which takes a lot longer than the "few seconds" mentoned above.
If the camera dies shooting J-Peg 1s, then there is something wrong with the camera for sure.
Christian, I agree that we shouldn't worry about the ND disappearing from dealers shelves. What we should worry about is support disappearing from Contax. Those of us who do already own the camera have zero idea as to its' durability or longevity. And the camera is well worth keeping because it is capable of producing excellent images. Besides, who would you sell one to? The camera has been poisoned by its own poor performance in areas of expectations for a camera this expensive. The $1,500., 6 meg Canon 10D is a better performing camera. It focuses faster, loads faster, has better RAW performance, utilizes flash better, and goes all day on its battery power (and takes 5 seconds to change batteries). The Contax lenses, full frame sensor and CCD capture are the "artistic" reasons to own this camera. But we have to "suffer for our Art". And I mean SUFFER.
In a test I ran I found that there is almost no difference between Tiff and J-Peg, and I actually found the J-Peg color to be better. Once he opens the J-Peg file in PhotoShop (which uncompressed, is the same size as the Tiff), he can save it as a Tiff.
However, he shouldn't have to remove the batteries for them to recover. It sounds like either something is wrong, or he hasn't waited for the buffer to load...which takes a lot longer than the "few seconds" mentoned above.
If the camera dies shooting J-Peg 1s, then there is something wrong with the camera for sure.
Christian, I agree that we shouldn't worry about the ND disappearing from dealers shelves. What we should worry about is support disappearing from Contax. Those of us who do already own the camera have zero idea as to its' durability or longevity. And the camera is well worth keeping because it is capable of producing excellent images. Besides, who would you sell one to? The camera has been poisoned by its own poor performance in areas of expectations for a camera this expensive. The $1,500., 6 meg Canon 10D is a better performing camera. It focuses faster, loads faster, has better RAW performance, utilizes flash better, and goes all day on its battery power (and takes 5 seconds to change batteries). The Contax lenses, full frame sensor and CCD capture are the "artistic" reasons to own this camera. But we have to "suffer for our Art". And I mean SUFFER.
Gary, you said it ...you don't own a ND...so you have no idea as to the frustrations a lot of owners are having while learning its secrets.
Please remember that this is a $7,000. camera not an $800 P&S. Expectations are just a wee bit higher.
Since Contax is generally mute on the subject,
or reply with flip answers (as they have to Irakly and others), the only resource to "vent" your problems and find answers is this wonderful site...which BTW is the ND site, not the TVS, or N1, or Digital Printing site.
So forgive the directness, but it was here that I learned to get more out of the ND than I was capable of figuring out myself...or from anything Contax was willing to share.
Please remember that this is a $7,000. camera not an $800 P&S. Expectations are just a wee bit higher.
Since Contax is generally mute on the subject,
or reply with flip answers (as they have to Irakly and others), the only resource to "vent" your problems and find answers is this wonderful site...which BTW is the ND site, not the TVS, or N1, or Digital Printing site.
So forgive the directness, but it was here that I learned to get more out of the ND than I was capable of figuring out myself...or from anything Contax was willing to share.