DPR Forum

Welcome to the Friendly Aisles!
DPRF is a photography forum with people from all over the world freely sharing their knowledge and love of photography. Everybody is welcome, from beginners to the experienced professional. Whether it is Medium Format, fullframe, APS-C, MFT or smaller formats. Digital or film. DPRF is a forum for everybody and for every format.
Enjoy this modern, easy to use software. Look also at our Reviews & Gallery!

Reality check - Contax in the press

At the risk of speaking out of turn..If Peter thinks contax cameras are not up to snuff, and this goes for the T3 as well, why does he post here? I am just not sure..is he trying to convert others, maybe antagonize??? I would like to see useful, productive discussions, no name calling or insulting.

Joel Stern



Peter said to Dirk (for no apparent reason that I can tell)
"It is clear you never do anything comparable to press work. That is fine. The N is fine for slower working speeds. To imply everyone will be mindless shooters blowing through roll after roll of film if they use anything thing other than a N is silly and wrong. Even you pointed out with a Canon or Nikon (slower) more shots per rolls will be in focus than from a Contax. I will admit with a Contax you may be able to market those out of foucs images in some 'modern' galleries of your local art school. A body cap pin hole is cheaper.

View the film War Photographer sometime. You will learn something about Canon's AF accuracy. Also you will see that the AF is the only thing James Nachtwey relies upon for making his images. He hand meters and then adjusts in his head from there when light changes rapidly. All AF slr's, on the market, metering can and will get fooled. So that is no surprise. So he trusts the AF focus and sets the exposure manually.....

He is a real photojournalist (the best IMO) and uses the freedom the Canon fast and accurate AF affords him. His images would be different without it. He is a great photographer and over 25 years you see no matter what he shot with the images are great. He now chooses Canon above others, why? That answer it simple.

As for build quality. I have not heard a working pro complain their L lenses couldn't hold up. It is surprising since the company that is Contax does a lot of buisness in ceramics and plastics. And why they won't use this technology to their benefit is puzzling.

Nachtwey switched from Nikon to Canon when he recognized Canon's superior AF. Nikon and Canon glass is about equal. They offer different characteristics/signatures.

How do I know all this. I know the lab Nachtwey used in NYC to print his retrospective. They also continue to process his film.

So if you don't need the better speed of Nikon or Canon lenses (the fastest available) and prefer heavier, slower, and more expensive lenses you will be pleased with the N lenses.

As I said above someday Contax may get it right."
 
happy.gif


"To imply everyone will be mindless shooters blowing through roll after roll of film if they
use anything thing other than a N is silly and wrong."

Hi Peter,

I surely did not mean or express it this way. My only concern was and is - therefore this thread about the German press articles - that people get the impression they could not make great pictures anymore just because the AF is 10 milliseconds slower then maybe the market-leader in AF speed.

I do not think that it is helpful to list now photographers who are using this or that brandname. Every photographer might have his own reasons - either because of real advantages while using the system or just because they get payed for announcing it.

Furthermore it would be interesting to compare, whether it is really visible if one AF should focus "more accurate" then another. I would be surprised if I would see it, just because the DOF makes it almost impossible in 99% of the cases to see with our own eyes whether the exact focus point was 1mm at, before or after the choosen point.

If people are so concerned about the 100% correct focus point, why not using then the Focus-bracket function of the N1?

Anyway, I do not see myself as the extended marketing arm of Contax. All what I can tell is what I have learned in my hobby-photography life. I do not think that it makes sense to continue a Nikon vs. Canon vs. Contax debate.

I appreciate any criticism about Contax cameras, because this is the only way a manufactureer can improve their products. I just know that this is a very good system and for what I want to do - and in my opinion 95% of the rest of the world- this system is just great. I just do not need more.

And I do not need to know which professional photographer is using a Contax system, because this would not influence my buying decision. My pictures are not getting better, just because xyz is using my system.

just my 2 cents

dirk
 
Dirk,

Amen! I hope that this site doesn't deteriorate into the "brand wars" as I've seen happen on so many forums, and I appreciate your efforts to guide contributors away from that path.

Surely for 99.9% of photographers out here, the human element is the limiting factor so long as the equipment meets basic criteria.

Happy shooting.

Ron
 
We come to this forum because we either use Contax or are looking into the possibility of buying one. To seek advice and to help others not to be converted. If I were interested in anything else I will look for it myself thankyou.
Keep smiling Dirk.
Phil.
 
Back
Top