OT: If you get $600, would you get a 50mm planar or an iphone?

xabi said:
...So if you've $600 to spend, what would you get? a planar or an iphone?
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Hi,

nothing of both.
I would grab my old Siemens ME35 and my old M6 and spend the money on a nice foto-weekend for film, food and fun. :):)

Regards, Axel
 
Ok, here's what you do, instead of getting a planar, get its Russian copy, the Helios, which is just as good, but cheaper, then use the money left to get film... huh? iPhone? what's that?
 
matt fury said:
As was said earlier, a lot of my friends also are shocked at how much I spend on camera equipment, so I think it's funny how many people here are totally confounded by the prospect of a $600 phone.
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That is a good point.. Heck I spent $700 on a Ricoh GRD, judging by the specs alone, this camera should be worth $300.
 
i f I didn`t already have enough 50`s, I would get the Planar. Since I do, I would save the money.

I don`t have a cell and don`t intend to EVER get one unless it is invisable and walks behind me quietly.
 
Axel100 said:
Hi,

nothing of both.
I would grab my old Siemens ME35 and my old M6 and spend the money on a nice foto-weekend for film, food and fun. :):)

Regards, Axel
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I'm with you there Axel, I'm even more cheapskate, I'd grab my Fed and 8year old Phillips phone!! The phone would probably be switched off though, the last thing I want when out in the country for a walk taking pictures, is for a damned phone to ring!!!! I get really mad when I'm out for a meal and someones bloody phone starts gurgling out some trash music. It takes all my self control not to go over and stick the thing up a place where the sun don't shine:bang: And why do they have to speak so loudly when they are on them???
 
I liked the Violin lessons the best, and if you wanna double your money fold it over and put it back in your pocket, casinos are not a good % shot.

My H103 is pretty good.

Noel
 
A particular phone, even the iphone = relic w/in 12 months

A 50mm Planar = still taking pictures for a long, long time
 
I wouldn't be shocked if v2 of the iPhone came out around Christmas time. My advice is to wait. The next version will be better -- remember the earlier vs. later ipods?
Also, does the AT&T network work that well where you live? It doesn't do very well at my house. I used to be with them, and would often go out into the backyard just to use my cell phone. (Reception was much better when I used a ladder to get on the roof.)
 
I read last night that the materials in the i-phone cost about $200. So why is it selling for $499? Somebody is trying to make a big return on investment, and that somebody is not the customer.

BTW, I have never been a telephone addict. I neither need nor want one.
 
What kind of question is this! How many of my nephew's crappy iPods have I had to replace, and how much is it costing them to load the silly things?

The lens. ANY lens. Duh.

- John
 
dll927 said:
I read last night that the materials in the i-phone cost about $200. So why is it selling for $499? Somebody is trying to make a big return on investment, and that somebody is not the customer.
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When Motorola released the RAZR, its price was barely below that of the iPhone. Care to wager what the profit margin on that bad boy was?

That $200 figure for manufacturing an iPhone, assuming it's accurate, would tell me it's a somewhat lower profit margin for Apple (who nonetheless will make a handsome buck from all this) than might be typical for some mid/high-end phones. There have always been crazy-pricey cell phones, even more expensive than Apple's; my fave is Moto's non-US market descendant of the Star Tac: brought beautifully up-to-date, but with the same svelte form-factor, and, last time I checked, a a cool US$150 above the most-expensive iPhone, although it's undoubtedly dropped by now. I think both phones are great, but I don't need either.

Also, when you're "given" a phone (or get one at a near-giveaway price) when you sign a service contract, whether you're aware of it or not, you're paying a lot more for it than you think you are.

BTW, I have never been a telephone addict. I neither need nor want one.
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I don't "live" on the phone either, at home or on the run. I like my calls short and sweet. But it's a useful tool. I also buy my cell phones used...there's a big-enough supply of lightly-used phones floating around not to bother paying through the nose for a new one, plain or fancy. (I went slightly fancy this time 'round, because I wanted built-iin Bluetooth to use with a cordless earset.)


- Barrett
 
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I've had a planar (50mm f2) since late last July and, although I haven't used it much I love it for its excellent qualities. I'm more than happy with my basic Samsung cellphone (Sprint) and can get service at my upstate summer home which my son with his upscale Razr (Verizon) can't. I tried internet service on my phone for a month (free) and discontinued it as I have internet service on computers wherever I go. Although I love classical music I have never wanted an i-pod, or for that matter any of the portable music devices that have been available over the years starting with portable cassette players. I like to sit back and blast away Brahms through a good audio system.
Kurt M.
 
My son manages a Cingular/ATT store in Manhattan. I would stay away from the I-phone for awhile. He's had a lot of complaints from customers who have purchased it from him. Incidentally, the morning it went on sale there were 160 people on line waiting for his store to open. His store only received an allotment of 40 phones to sell that day. Cingular actually hired an armed security guard to protect him and the employees if any problems developed. A lot of customers went home very unhappy that day.
 
I've had a planar (50mm f2) since late last July and, although I haven't used it much I love it for its excellent qualities. I'm more than happy with my basic Samsung cellphone (Sprint) and can get service at my upstate summer home which my son with his upscale Razr (Verizon) can't. I tried internet service on my phone for a month (free) and discontinued it as I have internet service on computers wherever I go. Although I love classical music I have never wanted an i-pod, or for that matter any of the portable music devices that have been available over the years starting with portable cassette players. I like to sit back and blast away Brahms through a good audio system.
Kurt M.
 
I'm not sure I'd buy the lens over the iPhone either. I certainly wouldn't buy a $500 phone, but I might pick up an R2A or R2M if I had a spare $600.
 
Others have said it already, but it bears repeating -- the Planar design is not likely to be improved upon and moreover, I would doubt Zeiss will be coming out with a revised version anytime soon (or ever). So it will hold its value.

The iPhone, even if you need all that it does, will be superseded in a matter of months. So if you want one (and when version 2.0 comes out, you won't anyway), wait and save lots of money by doing so.

Barrett, please tell me you're not one of those people with the Bluetooth in your ear at all times! Drives me absolutely nuts, I have to say.
 
KoNickon said:
Barrett, please tell me you're not one of those people with the Bluetooth in your ear at all times! Drives me absolutely nuts, I have to say.
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Mostly when I'm on the bike...people with one hand on the bar and one hand on the phone drive me just about as nuts as people doing that in cars (and I don't care if they do it all the time in Amsterdam). So, no, I don't look like the Borg when I'm just walking. ;)


- Barrett
 
I'd side with the Planar, though would prefer a good Sonnar...

The iPhone simply won't do what I need a phone to do- tether my Mac to the Internet at speed. I get T-1 speeds over my phone for when I'm in the field.

When the iPhone does that, I might change my answer, as I'm starting to float in 40mm lenses...
 
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