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New strategies

dirk

DPRF-Founder
Administrator
Hi

according to different sources, a new "strategy" (whatever this will be) will be announced from Kyocera within the next 2 months. As you might know, the business year ends for Kyocera end of March. So some insiders told us that news would be available until then.

But since we heard these kind of pre-announced "we expect news" messages many times over the past 3 years, I would take it with a grain of salt.

There is also no information whether this will be good news or bad news for whatever kind of Contax system
happy.gif


So at the end of the day nothing to be excited about
 
Considering that the entire manual focus line was quietly nixed (note that the only announcement exists on Kyceora's Japanese website, nothing is listed anywhere else), I suspect that the next big news will be - end of N-mount line.
 
Well, if they cut the N line they are eliminating the only "alternative" SLR system with stellar optics that a normal human could afford. The Leica SLR line has some excellent lenses, but cost twice as much. If they EVER do that, I hope we hear about it soon enough to get a spare N-1 (I already have 2 NDs ; -)

All they needed to do was improve the N-1's AF sensor and that camera could've stood shoulder to shoulder with anything out there.

I'm hunting down some Contax Manual glass for use on my Canon 1DsMKII as fast as I can ... specifically want the 28-85/3.5-4.5 for that application. I hated the Canon 24-70/2.8, and sold it ... leaving me without that zoom range for general wedding work.

The darn Zeiss 21/2.8 has already been gobbled up by Canon shooters, and is really hard to find.
 
I heard from the dutch Contax importer that they are working on a the 645, making it more competitive with the Hasselblad. About de N-line he couldn't say anything. He said that Kyocera has only a small development department. They were busy with the small Kyocera/contax digitals.
 
Mathijs, I do so hope that is true about the C645. That is a far more important issue for me than any of the 35mm stuff.

That camera with a digital back and Zeiss glass is my bread and butter. I have a fortune in lenses and adapters. If Kyocera abandoned that system I would be a very unhappy photographer.
 
There was a Prototype model of the Contax 645 Mark II at the photokina. For whatever reason, they changed their mind and did not want to show it anymore. We were not allowed to publish this, but since the dealers are now talking already about it, we do not need anymore to be silent.

The problem is, that there were so many promises and always in the last second, it was changed and not announced.

A Contax ND2 (cheaper than the current ND) was already scheduled to be shown last Year (2004) in spring. Because of the announcement of the Canon 300D in the summer of 2003, everything was canceled again.

Then we were told, it would be postboned to photokina 2004. As you all know, it ended up in a digital P&S.

Then the discussion came up to go back to the old C/Y system and to leave the N-System. You see, it is always a back and forth. At the end of the day, absolutely nothing happened, except that the sales numbers are continiously falling because of the lack of any signal into the market.

What Kyocera needs is a REAL decision maker, who understands the business with end-consumers and the photo-market. This person then has to make VERY FAST decisions and communicate them accordingly to the public.

Nobody will buy Contax products anymore, if he can not see clearly the committment of Kyocera to that brand. And this committment has to communicated and prooven with new lenses and new bodies. Contax buyers want camera-systems, not a handfull camera-parts.

In this market niche, the buyer has different expectations then a Canon or Nikon client. I doubt, that they understood this in the past.

So the reality is not "show me the money and I give you new products", the reality is "no committment, no sales".
 
What on earth would stall an announcement of a upgraded Contax 645? The camera is fabulous and only lags the H1 in AF ability.... requiring the same solution Hasselblad employed: a more sensitive AF sensor which already exists! The lenses are still the best 645 glass out there. Every digital back maker has a C645 version. A 22 meg full frame sensor is already here, and nothing in the 35mm digital world can come close to a full 645 sized 22 meg file. Prices on these full frame digital backs will drop like a stone in the next year or two, like the 16 meg ones did.

The managers at Kyocera are truly asleep at the wheel ... with the Contax brand heading straight toward a bridge abutment.

Consider this a pre-order for a Contax 645II, and send it to Kyocera.
 
New strategies for me is don't have any hi-hope from Kyocera, Keep all my N and C645 gears, and buy Contax MM lenses for my Canon dSRL.

I need some information, how are the following MM lenes? I am thinking to get some of those but no experience on them. Are they better than Canon with all things considered (for event shooting)?

1. 85mm/1.4
2. 28-70mm
3. 35-135mm
4. 35mm/1.4
 
Albert,
I think the best zoom lens out there is the 35-70/3.4 I like this lens so much that I am going to get a second one.
 
THe 28-70 is ok but it does distort at 28. Yet, it still has that CZ look.
The 35-135 is a great lens and I would say it is as sharp as any of my primes. It is a very heavy lens but it is well built. I used to use mine all the time but as I get older I have been using it occasionally in favor of the 50 and the 35 2.8 (also a great great lens)primes.
 
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