Irakly,
So it would appear. When did you get yours? As far as my N Digital goes, the body has to be very recent, as it came with the 1.07 and 1.08 updates and a CD-ROM with Raw Dev 2.0. And I just received the rebate, two weeks after!
I think also, we are entering a new paradigm in photography and we will have to make some adjustments in how we think and approach certain aspects.
QUICK BIO
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Let me state up-front that I am a technical person (system architect) - I replace my motherboard, not my PC
. I have owned and extensively used (non-professionally) many camera systems throughout the years (I'm 53): Olympus OM-1, Contax RTS I II & III, 139, 137MD, Nikon F4, Mamiya RB-67, Bronica GS-1, Fuji GX-680, Linhof Technikardan 23s. I used to do all my darkroom work, film (VPS, NSP, Reala [my favorite!] and paper (Kodak & Fuji, my favorite the Fuji Superglossy/triacetate backing like original Cibachromes) in a Jobo ATL-3 toward the latter period. I shoot mostly travel stuff. I love light, texture and compositional challenges. About 5 years ago I ran out of energy ...
Current equipment: N Digital, 24-85mm and 70-300mm Zeiss, Kodak 8500 printer.
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END BIO
I've actually been sitting here scratching my head after reading Martin's posts. This camera has some teething problems, but right now I wouldn't change it for anything currently on the market, and even looking at the upcoming bodies from Kodak, Nikon and Canon, I'd rather have the ND with the Zeiss lenses (I shoot mostly with the zooms nowadays). Keep in mind my check doesn't depend on this camera
.
I can get a beautiful 20x30 with lots of detail (try that with an RTS III and Reala - the grain will be noticeable). The new ones coming up will definitely be sharper at that size with 12+ megapixels, but I don't think there will be noticeable improvement in tonal reproduction, which is already outstanding, and a 14x20 will probably be very close. Then you have to contend with the twice-as-large file sizes. Of course this will all be moot again in 9 months
.
DESIGN PROBLEMS
I see three basic design misses with the ND: small buffer, undisplayable RAW and the display is not easily viewed in normal daylight. I would also like to see the ISO always displayed in one of the panels.
SHUTTER LAG
I have NO shutter lag, but I have the display turned off during shooting, as suggested in the manual. And if I'm shooting consecutive frames, I wouldn't pause to look between shots anyway. Just pressing a handy button brings it up when needed.
Now the smallish buffer will hamstring getting continuous shots especially in RAW or TIFF. This is one aspect where not reading the fine print between the lines would get you. But for anything other than fast action photography, I don't see a problem. If you do need to shoot quick sequences on the spot, switching to JPEG2 may be a very viable option if not planning on 16x20 prints, just to get the shots.
The fact this was not labeled RTS D was for a reason
.
POWER
The power seems reasonable to me once you get a decent charger (now THAT was a stupid product selection blunder - save $15 on a $6500 product and lose $$$$$$ in marketing image). And I have two spare 1800 mAH sets (no additional holders at the time). With the original batteries, I got 140 shots in 40 degree weather, and they're still being set in.
AUTOFOCUS
Again this seems reasonable given the type of lens being used, as someone mentioned in a previous post. And the focus management controls are excellent to me.
ISO RATINGS
The few shots I've taken at 200 look fine for 200 to me - I have no compunctions about using it except for critical work. The 400 gets less latitude and noticeable noise, clearly the bleeding edge. I'd use it only if I really had to.
CUSTOM SETTINGS
New technology is about options. You need to try the various tone curves, chroma and edge settings. Shoot tests where you photograph a highly-textured medium toned subject in bright light, put the ND on manual and shoot + and - 1 ev steps from -5 through +5 of metered. Look at what happens in each transition. This is your film - get to know it. But this isn't new in concept, just in execution, and the fact that you don't need to slave for two-three hours in the darkroom to see the results. I do believe we've become spoiled
.
CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT
Generally speaking, this has never been a strong point for Contax
(with exceptions, of course). The stuff sells itsef (used to anyway
), and they felt complacent. Time to wake up ...
THE REST
To these comments, I need to add the remainder - the excellent build quality, the fact that for me the ergonomics of this body are almost perfect- better than the Nikon or EOS, but this is highly subjective - control placement, how it feels and handles which is very important to me. I like the two instant switchable modes.
And my two lenses, 24-85 and 70-300, work beautifully with it. I'm drooling for that 85/1.4 Marc keeps rubbing in our face - at some point after I recoop my wallet.
Right now I'm ecstatic that I can get noticeably nicer pictures than with my old RTS III, with less than one hundredth the hassle, and totally enjoy the process. If I don't think about the price, of course. On the other hand, I paid $6500, less $1150 makes it $5350. The EOS-1D goes for $5500 at B&H, and they're taking orders for the 1Ds at $8000. I feel pretty good right about now. Hope you all manage to do likewise.
A Happy Thanksgiving to All,
DJ
