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End Of The Line for Contax T3 and TVS

nickser

Well-Known Member
<font face="verdana,arial,helvetica"><font color="ff0000"><font size="+1">It is with deep regret that I have been informed by Kyocera on 22/12/04 of the following departures from the Contax line up:

RX2 body
Aria/D body
T3 black
TVS3/black
Distagon 35mm/F2.8MM
Distagon 35mm/F1.4(J)MM
Distagon 25mm/F2.8(J)MM
Makro-Planar 60mm/F2.8(C)MM
F-Distagon 16mm/F2.8AE

http://www.kyocera.co.jp/prdct/optical/news/discontinue1222.html

More news will be posted as soon as I can get a statement.

One pair of gloomy Kyocera/Contax Kids.

Bob and Paul
 
Well, that's the first news we have heard from Kyocera on the film front in a very long time. How they expect people to stick with them is beyond me.

If their silence on the N system status is any indication I am sure there will be more to come in '05.
 
By the way... I actually own a T3 and it's a terrific camera. Too bad it won't be out there to compete with the Leica CM any longer.
 
> Really these are very sad news, especially when I bought a new Aria and a RXII in January, 2004. I had already read in a french magazine (don't remember if it was reponses photo or Chasseur d'images) that the Aria was being axed. The magazine said that the RTS3 dinosaur (I don't agree with the dinosaur but that was what it said) and a confidential RXII would be soldiering on (those were photokina news) but sadly, the reality means the end of the line for fine film cameras and fine glass.

But maybe not all is lost. The recent agreement between Zeiss and Cosina "might?" mean a new line of SLR and rangefinder cameras. The Zeiss Ikon is a fine ex&le of that. When will we be seeing a new S2? Let's ask it for the new year.

At least I expect Kyocera to support its products for some time yet.

A very sad Contax user/owner.

P.S. If I knew it was going to happen I would not have bought a Vario-Sonnar 28-70, a Planar 50/1.4, I would not have sent my old 50/1.4 to OBerkochen to be overhauled, I would not have bought the Aria and RXII and two more S2s as backups and I would have invested in a Nikon FM3a and F3 HP system instead. Seems that Nikon prefers to support the classic users more than Kyocera.

>
 
Well, I wouldn't condemn the gear you currently own. It won't perform any less brilliantly after this news. Being primarily mechanical lenses means there will always be someone out there who will maintain and repair them. Most Leica owners don't even deal with Leica for out of warranty repairs, because there are a host of expert repair sources that are even better than the factory source. Same with Hasselblad.

Be happy you could get such nice gear before it disappeared. Comparing Nikon to Contax is like comparing a shiny Apple to sucking on a Lemon ... because that's the face you would be making every time you looked at a print from the Nikon glass ; -)

Me? I hope everyone panics and sells their Contax/Zeiss stuff really cheaply. I want a Contax 21/2.8 for my Canon 1DsMKII really badly. Anyone got one for sale? Wouldn't mind a RX, 35/1.4, 85/1.4 and 135/2 to go along with it either.
 
It is sad news but I shall stick with my Aria, RX, T2 and G2 with associated lenses for the forseeable future because I love them. I dare say that Kyocera will continue support for some time too. If I go digital I hope that I will be able to afford to buy an additional outfit rather than sell what I have.
This appears to be some sort of rationalisation by Kyocera. I suppose that the T3 and TVS are non digital and the Aria and RX are non auto focus and non digital and therefore could be seen as old fashioned and out of step with current market trends which presumably sell more. It seems to be only the black T3 and TVS being axed; they must be stopping production of the slower sellers perhaps. The discontinuing of the lenses is harder to explain. Maybe they won't work as well as others on digital?...
It might be possible to view this news as hopeful at the same time as being sad because it might mean that Kyocera are planning new up to date launches, giving us what we want. I prefer to take that attitude than the other which is that they are withdrawing support for Contax.
Happy New Year to everyone,
John
 
> Both of you are right. Zeiss will continue to support their lenses for sure, and my mechanical S2s will be able to be repaired for a long time (at least the shutter is a copal compatible with Nikon and some parts ow the winding mechanism are the same as the Nikon FM10 and Yashica FX3. If the electronics go wrong, there's always the meter at hand.

But what worries me are my Aria and RX electronics. Long gone are the days of the RTS simplicity. Now with all these motors and circuit boards, as soon as supplies dry up it is no longer possible to retool a printed circuit board, so I expect that Kyocera support the contax products for some time yet.

Happy New Year to everyone! And let's expect 2005 brings some good news for us traditional amateur photographers >
 
I guess there are two ways of looking at this - on the one hand it is sad to see such fine cameras come off the market, but on the other hand, there may be something new around the corner.

My guess is there is something new coming, and my reasoning is this; the Contax brand name is probably worth quite a bit. So if you are not going to develop anything, why keep the rights to the name - just sell those rights. So I believe in 2005, we will see the signs of a new Contax - it may not be with Kyocera, but I'm sure the best is yet to come.

Happy New Year to you all - and Happy Shooting!!

Cheers, Saras
 
Yes, as Robert suggested- Zeiss and Cosina? Quite a mouthwatering thought: maybe back to basics or maybe digital.
John
 
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