Marc Williams N1 Digital posting. I can't agree more. Contax has reduced the price due to the recent Kodak and Canon announcements. I am one of the early users, and have a lot of time on this camera. It is excellent at an ASA of 100, very good at an ASA of 200, and useless at the highest levels. At ASA 400, the camera is about as good as a 3 megapixel camera at one fourth the cost. I sympathize with any manufacturer trying to keep up with changing technology. The situation we are all in is not like the good old days when a Leica or Contax held its value as new models were introduced. When the next best megapixel camera comes out, you may as well throw out your camera, because it loses near its entire value. Making the lenses custom to the body is worse yet. After an investment of 10-15K, it is painful to see it ready for the dumpster. Perhaps the 645 format is the best compromise, keeping the sensor separate from the camera and lenses. The problem is, it is entirely more acceptable to chuck a 1K or less camera, but 10K, no way. To have Contax throw this price reduction in our faces is an insult to Contax's valued loyal customers- the people that trusted Contax and purchased the camera as it was introduced. And we all know it is a result of it being significantly behind the times only one year after it was introduced. And as I spend my day job in high technology electronics research and development, I know we are all aware of the time it takes to design any product. Contax was fully aware that a 10+ megapixel camera was just around the corner. The camera was rushed to market to take advantage of its most loyal customers. I would never buy from Contax again. To make restitution, I would hope that when Conatx introduces their next camera, hopefully in the 14-16 megapixal range, they offer a very high trade-in on the N1. Only in this way would I consider to buy from Contax again. In fact, I am so engaged, I would buy an inferior camera, and more than likely at a lower cost. For years, Contax customers paid a dear premium for the name, quality, and reputation. It seems Contax does not care about this anymore, so why should we. It's starting to sound like baseball players and owners, no loyalty, no quality, just business.
David Reinfeld