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CONTAX DSLR Speculation

Marc,

B&H has the 580 in stock. And UPS delivered my three Canon lenses today (24-70/2.8L, 100/2 USM and 200/2.8L) but the 1Ds got rescheduled for delivery tomorrow - AARRGGHHH!
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Don't these people understand???
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Wow... check out the difference in white balance and colour tone in those two pics. I dont know which one is better technically, but I have to say I think the Contax lens has produced a far better looking picture to my eye!

Cool looking house too Marc.
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I think the color from the CONTAX is definitely more pleasing and more 3-dimensional to my eyes. It will be good to see a N to EOS adaptor available.

Ken
 
That's interesting. I think that if you saw the Canon picture on its own, you would think it was great but when you see the Contax one beside it, I haave to say that to my eye it is the more pleasing of the two. It is warmer and friendlier - less clinical although the Canon shot is brighter. The window on the upper right comes out better too. In fact I think the detail is better generally in the Contax lens shot.
Thanks again Marc. That's very revealing and poses further food for thought. I wouldn't have realized that the difference, in warmth particularly, would be so large.
Which is the more accurate in relation to showing what your house is really like though as accuracy/realism
is an important consideration?
John.
 
The overall sharper (corner to corner) is far superior for the Contax Zoom. The contrast and tone is very pleasing. Though vignetting is more obvious from the s&le. True for my C645 35mm lens.

To my eyes, Zeiss lenses stand out in many way. When I studied photography at college, one could point out the images from Carl Zeiss lenses every time (well almost.)

As great as many Canon lenses are available, I still hesitate to dive into their lens collection like I did with Contax. There are something missing to my eyes. I am too new to Canon to make a statement. (I know I need to learn how to shoot to squeeze all the juice out of the Canon lenses. The images I took with Canon never give me a wow factor like the Zeiss lenses did. But there are not many option out there at this point. I rather to have a great dSLR that can perform in many way, such as hi-ISO, fast AF, good image processor, fast startup, durable, etc. Canon has them all (for my requirement.)

I will keep my eye on the Leica R digital module. At this point, I don't want to spend all my $ into the top Canon body and lenses. I may spread my funds into other options like Leica, or digital back for my C645.

Only if Kyocera produce a higher pixel ND2 with better battery and better image processor, I would not has such a headache in this digital domain.
 
Perhaps Marc has focused on different planes for the two shots. I see the far end of the kitchen and foyer is less sharp on the Zeiss render than the Canon's and vice versa. However, being partial to Zeiss lenses, I find the color palette in the Contax shot more attractive even though for some reason the Canon shows more sharpness overall.
 
It's all an imperfect test at best. Color could just be a shift in light between each shot. Not a very controlled situation. Maybe I'll try a studio shot next ... where the strobes are repeatable.

The main thing is the possibility that the N lenses could live on.
 
Sure, Marc, NOW you tell me
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. I do believe that when the maker of a current CZ-EOS adapter was broached the subject he said there wasn't enough clearance to insert an adapter in between because of the N optical path's characteristics. Which would explain why Marc was able to rest the N lens flange on the EOS lens mount and make the shots. The scary thing is that it's an "almost fits" situation that makes you want to put some silicone sealer around the juncture to make them stay there! I just tried it on mine and I couldn't believe it, just as I had a hard time picturing it when Marc described what he did. They literally snug up to each other, like they want to join in unholy matrimony (there's a wedding we'd like you to shoot, Marc
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). Sigh.

That 24-70/2.8L is a bit of a monster, but then it is a fixed 2.8. Anybody remember the Vivitar 2.8 35-80 (I think) varifocal? An even bigger monster, if I recall. The 100/2, on the other hand, is a honey size-wise. This week-end I'll see what the real story is. Right now it's RTFM time with times out for tinkering.

I do have to say that although the 1Ds2 is a very noticeable inch or so taller than the ND, I find it anatomically more comfortable to hold. It really fits the contours of my hand, whereas the ND feels more squarish and a tad less natural. Not that I noticed until now - it's amazing how investing a wad on something can change your perspective on something else
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. On the other hand, I really don't like that the control wheel by the shutter makes a fairly loud clicking sound - what's with that? Marc, did you notice that? Hopefully some use will wear it down.

OK, the is the Contax forum and I personally hate it when somebody who owns A gets a competing product B and yaps about B in the A forum, so I'm going to shut up.

But first I'll say that I'll always love Contax.

DJ
 
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