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Contax N1

the N1 is very nearly a pro body but still lacks > some things i.e. a proper Mirror Lock-up.

Robin
What were the other non-pro things about the N1 (other than the lack of 100% finder)?

Any other cameras I should look into? RTSIII? Why and why not?

Kevin
 
> Kevin, Glad to be of help. I think you are right in going for the N1 versus the RTS111, although I still have hankerings for an RX and a line of smaller, lighter MM lenses. I had an Aria kit, and foolishly changed it for a lot of Canon stuff I lost money on later. The N1, whether we like it or not, represents the way COntax is going, and AF is the way I have to go since my eyes went south. The N1 is as manual as you could want, with the AF there when you really need it. What a blessing. The sheer heft of the camera is reassuring, although I have a hard time carrying the basic setup of N1, P-9 grip and 24-85 with hood fitted in a bag smaller than a monster pack ! Still, I still have the G2s for travel and going light. Have fun with your N1, as I am having. Robin
 
> Hi again, Kevin Non-pro things on the N1 ? Well, the AF is definitely not the King of Speed, motor wind is relatively slow (3.5 fps), lenses are pretty slow, few in number and very expensive - the average pro starter kit these days includes two bodies, 17-35 f2.8, a middle-range zoom with fast aperture i.e. 24-85 f2.8 (I WISH !) and at least a 70-200 f2.8 with an extender or two, and then a 300 f4 at least. Then add a sophisticated flash system with at least two units and some slaves, and bring it all down to Canon or Nikon prices, and straightaway you have eliminated the poor old N1 system. Other than that, I certainly don't want to spend more money than I already have, -but the thought of new N1 lenses in that lovely glass somewhere in my future makes me dream that I am once again young and looking forward to a bright future in photojournalism. After all, I began my career with Leica gear, when everyone else was using Nikons, so I guess history does repeat itself somehow. Albest, Robin
 
I just received my first slides back from the lab and 50 - 70 percent of them have a fine horizontal line (scratch). I questioned the lab and they said it must be the film plate on the camera, they even ran another test roll and some of those also had the scratch. I was wondering if anyone else has heard of this with the N1 and if there is maybe a quick fix instead of sending the camera back. Thanks, Roger
 
Don't believe the lab. I doubt it's the camera back especially if it's new. I work in the Photofinishing industry for one of Fuji's largest processing facilities. I am the Mgr. of the service department and I am responsible for all of the wet equipment as well as the Printers and film splicers. We do over 40,000 rolls in an evening. We also do the slides for the pros at the US Open Tennis matches, so quality is extemely important. Fuji's new phrase is "0 DEFECTS". I deal with eliminating equipment scratches on film processors, splicers and slide mounters everyday. Our film processors run over 100' per minute and anyone of the rollers having grit or bearing problems can cause fine scratches on your fragile slides. I don't know if you went to a one hour lab or a large processing facility, but I recommend you try another lab and you should get different results.
 
Hi guys,


I am about to piss off some of you.

I totally disagree that we as Contax users should accept the inferior AF technology that Contax places on their cameras. The fact that the lenses are trully legendary does not let them of the hook for a mediocre AF system. The Contax AX, I agree because of its unique ability to focus with non-auto focus lenses may be alot slower than the Nikon/Canon series. But when Contax redesigned their cameras and their lenses completely....AF speed should have been at the top of the list. After all Contax expected its users to start buying a completly new line of camera with its unique mount for what .....a marginal improvement over the AX speed.
I love Contax and love the Zeiss lenses. I currently own the Canon EOS system for its lightning fast responsive AF that always gets the shot. Maybe the image is not as contrasty as the Contax image but less than perfect image is better than no image. If the Contax system would focus like the Canon/Nikon I would bet that 2/3 of Nikon/Canon users would switch to Contax.
Contax wake up......one day Canon/Nikon might reach the quality of the Zeiss lenses then what???
We as loyal Contax users should not be made to compromise getting Zeiss quality instead of AF speed. We deserve both.....

Adrian
 
scratches on the film does happened sometime on the N1 back. I had the same experience with my N1 and it turn out the scratches cause by dust on the back! all u need to do is to blow the back every time when u load the film and this will significancely reduce the chance to damage the file. I think when they made N1, they try to make sure the file lay as flat as possible on the plate and as a result the file are very tight on the plate....and as a result, a small among of dust will damage the file....

Ben
 
Hi Adrian,

I looked in your profile and it seems that you do not have used the N1 yet. As a N1-user I can assure you, that the Af speed and accuracy of the N1 is totally sufficient although not as fast as the Top SLRs from Nikon et al.

But this was discussed in depth in this thread and in the other N1-press thread. So please red these comments first. Many complaints in the internet of the AF spedd are coming from people who tried the N1 for 5 minutes in the store, but not by using it for a couple of months.

Just as a renminder: Since the AF speed is at least as fast as a Minolta Maxxum 9xi or a Nikon F4 I wonder why nobody complaint about the AF speed of these 2 cameras at that time?

dirk
 
I have been looking to update my 10 year old Canon EOS system for some time.

I shoot a G2 on alot of assignments and I love it. Great glass and beautiful images. Stupid manual focusing system - why not use a propoer rangefinder focusing system like Leica and combine this with autofocus - this would make a truly great little camera.

I have been very interested in the N1 and the possibility of the N digital alongside it, but after quite a lot of research, some testing and general head scratching, I just feel that there are too many warts on the contax N system to put it at the top of my lsist ahead of canon or nikon. I would be interested to know if people agree. and if anyone can really persuade me to go for Contax...Here are the pros and cons as I see them:

Pros
- N1 body is well built feels great and is very user frinedly, like Canon. Nikons I have always found too fiddly.
- Zeiss glass
- AF focusing speed of 24-85 is fine as is 70-300, if nt as quick as it could be.
- detachable vertical grip is good (always an issue for me with the Nikon F5 and a big plus for Canon EOS - IMHO)
- 645 thing is a good idea...

Cons
- from what I have read on this forum the 15-35 lens does not sound as good as it should be and certainly does not sound as good as canon or nikon's offerings
- range of lenses available is a issue
- lens speed is a major issue for all reportage shooters . Contax need to wake up to this and produce a pro series of lenses which open to f2.8 all the way through)
- TTL flash system does not seem to be a patch on Nikon or Canon from what I have read. Certainly if the TTL system in the G2 is anything to go by - not a great comparisson I'll grant you as the TLA-200 is a very compact, unsophisticated unit.
- N dig seems to still be in development. Power issues, ISO issues and now Canon and Nikon are bringing out machines with full frame 11mb and 14mb chips, contax now lags behind after only being ahead of the game for a month or two.
- film plates which scratch the film on the N1? Honestly!!!
- support and availabilty. My local pro shopin toulouse in France used to work with Contax but they stopped doing so because there was a lack of demand...I don't know any pro store which rents out contax kit apart from in London.

Best

Andy Johnstone
 
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