And another new 35mm film SLR: Ihagee Elbaflex

[zuiko85]

Well, looks like at least some backers are catching on. Their KS page shows they lost 3 backers overnight.
I'm following this thing out of morbid curiosity.
Plus I have a really bad cold and am stuck at home.

 

[dmr]

After seeing the prices on the Kick Starter page, and reading through the specs, I've decided it's not worth getting. I've got plenty of Nikons to keep me happy for several years.

I saw this and it appeared interesting until I got to the part of the price point! OMG! I can get a couple of CLA'd original Nikon Fs with lenses for far less!

 

[Mistral75]

You are not the only ones to think so.

After 24 hours they had raised a bit more than $32,000 and sold 52 cameras and 5 lenses.

After almost one week they are down to $27,200 raised and 47 cameras and 2 lenses sold.

 

[rbiemer]

http://emulsive.org/articles/ihagee-elbaflex-from-conjecture-to-truth-with-stefan-immes


Quote from the article:
EM: UNDERSTOOD. SO IF I UNDERSTAND YOU, YOU’RE USING THE EXTERNAL SHELL FOR THE KIEV 19M BECAUSE YOU STILL HAVE ACCESS TO TOOLING AND CAN CREATE THEM BRAND NEW…AND WE’RE ESSENTIALLY SEEING A NEW CAMERA INSIDE? HAS THERE BEEN ANY TEMPTATION TO REACH FOR THE PARTS BIN?
SI: Hahaha, no no, no parts bin. The camera and parts are new; and the design (internal and external) has been refined

(sorry about the all caps but the page I've linked to has the interviewers questions in bold, larger text that the answers and this was how this part "copy and paste" ed.)

Rob

 

[Huss]

http://emulsive.org/articles/ihagee-elbaflex-from-conjecture-to-truth-with-stefan-immes


Quote from the article:
EM: UNDERSTOOD. SO IF I UNDERSTAND YOU, YOU’RE USING THE EXTERNAL SHELL FOR THE KIEV 19M BECAUSE YOU STILL HAVE ACCESS TO TOOLING AND CAN CREATE THEM BRAND NEW…AND WE’RE ESSENTIALLY SEEING A NEW CAMERA INSIDE? HAS THERE BEEN ANY TEMPTATION TO REACH FOR THE PARTS BIN?
SI: Hahaha, no no, no parts bin. The camera and parts are new; and the design (internal and external) has been refined

(sorry about the all caps but the page I've linked to has the interviewers questions in bold, larger text that the answers and this was how this part "copy and paste" ed.)

Rob

I guess this depends on what the meaning of 'new' is. I'm saying to them it means unused parts... I'm not buying newly designed parts for a minute. If that was the case, we would have a shutter with modern speed ranges, a light meter etc etc.
They've pretty much hollowed out the old camera with left over bits. I mean new parts.

 

[Mistral75]

I completely agree with Huss. Moreover, they used an old Kiev 19M for the photos of the press kit: they changed the grip, replaced the leatherette and photoshopped the brand and model names... with an exception. They have therefore no prototype of their Ihagee Ibaflex to show, which is against Kickstarter rules.

A proof of the above? This is one of the photos from the press kit:

Dropbox - Ihagee Press Kit

Another link

Not only are the 'Ihagee' and 'Elbaflex' logos obviously photoshopped (this is even more obvious on the original picture opened in a photo editing software)...

...but they forgot to photoshop the '19M' (from Kiev 19M) out of the reflection!!!

 

[santino]

Pretty awesome 😀
Thanks for the hint.

 

[Arbitrarium]

...but they forgot to photoshop the '19M' (from Kiev 19M) out of the reflection!!!

Amazing! Hahaha

 

[PRJ]

Kleptoflex

"Cause you be gittin' ripped off!

They might have German and Ukrainian engineers working on it (doubtful) but they shouldn't have farmed out the Photoshop to the Chinese.....

 

[Mistral75]

Being aware that their Kickstarter campaign is stalling, net SE just improved their offer in two different directions, in addition to redoubling of marketing efforts (see the link posted by rbiemer and similar articles on the web, written "after a conversation with Stefan Immes" who, by the way, is the CEO of net SE):

1. Two other mounts, M42 and Pentax K, will be available in addition to the standard Nikon F mount of the Kiev 19B.

2. Two versions of the camera will be available. The current one becomes Elbaflex Prime with a warranty extended to five years and a stripped version named Elbaflex Base will be proposed at $299.

 

[jarski]

cant help it but reading stuff like this makes me sceptical of anything-Kickstarter.

 

[Huss]

Being aware that their Kickstarter campaign is stalling, net SE just improved their offer in two different directions, in addition to redoubling of marketing efforts (see the link posted by rbiemer and similar articles on the web, written "after a conversation with Stefan Immes" who, by the way, is the CEO of net SE):

1. Two other mounts, M42 and Pentax K, will be available in addition to the standard Nikon F mount of the Kiev 19B.

2. Two versions of the camera will be available. The current one becomes Elbaflex Prime with a warranty extended to five years and a stripped version named Elbaflex Base will be proposed at $299.

The different warranty levels - that's pretty funny. And shows they have no confidence in the made in Ukraine mfg, even though it is now 'improved with new parts' and they touted how great the quality is.
The plot is starting to unravel.

FYI w/ re. to the leather options that are not available on the base camera. Leather covers from aki-ashahi/hugo studio etc cost about $25. And that is to the consumer, not wholesale. The leatherette is maybe $5 less.

 

[Huss]

7 days to go and they barely have passed the half way mark of their pledge funding.
I really hope they don't make it, and normally I would not wish this on someone but I feel that there is nothing honest about this campaign.
They have just obtained old stock Kiev 19Ms and are trying to pass them off at a ridiculous mark up to well meaning people who would be taken advantage of.

"Ihagee" claims new parts, new design, new production but mysteriously they do not show any photographs of any of that. Pretty much because all the new parts are are the name stickers, the wood grip, and the leatherette covers.

 

[ptpdprinter]

7 days to go and they barely have passed the half way mark of their pledge funding. I really hope they don't make it, and normally I would not wish this on someone but I feel that there is nothing honest about this campaign. They have just obtained old stock Kiev 19Ms and are trying to pass them off at a ridiculous mark up to well meaning people who would be taken advantage of.

Of the 58 current Elbaflex backers, only 43 are being fleeced for a camera. That's down from 47 when I checked a few days ago. Still, $25,000+ buys a lot of stickers and grips, so maybe they'll fulfill the orders anyway. What else are they going to do with a big box on NOS Kiev 19Ms?

Although the Reflex has passed its goal, the number of backers has gone down over the past week too, so it will be interesting to see where they finally end up.

 

[Tim Murphy]

7 days to go and they barely have passed the half way mark of their pledge funding.
I really hope they don't make it, and normally I would not wish this on someone but I feel that there is nothing honest about this campaign.
They have just obtained old stock Kiev 19Ms and are trying to pass them off at a ridiculous mark up to well meaning people who would be taken advantage of.

"Ihagee" claims new parts, new design, new production but mysteriously they do not show any photographs of any of that. Pretty much because all the new parts are are the name stickers, the wood grip, and the leatherette covers.

Dear Huss,

"If God did not want them sheared he would not have made them sheep," Calvera in the "The Magnificent Seven."

It's a movie from 1960 but no less true today.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg, PA 🙂

 

[Huss]

Dear Huss,

"If God did not want them sheared he would not have made them sheep," Calvera in the "The Magnificent Seven."

It's a movie from 1960 but no less true today.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg, PA 🙂

Dear Tim

Excellent quote!


Best regards
Huss

 

[Huss]

Although the Reflex has passed its goal, the number of backers has gone down over the past week too, so it will be interesting to see where they finally end up.

Yeh I've been watching that, hoping that they would meet their stretch goal of 150,000 UK as I want a new Minolta mount camera. But it seems unlikely as it has stalled for days now. It peaked a week ago at $184, 515 (I took note!) and now is $180,324.
At least they passed their initial goal by almost $50,000 but it still will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[Huss]

The more I think about this... Why would this 'new' Ihagee not have a built in light meter? Well, seeing that it seems that these guys have located a batch of new old stock Kiev 19Ms, the first question is why did this batch exist? The answer to that could be because they were defective models with non-working light meters.
So, take those, remove the non-working meters and claim that they intentionally do not have built in meters for that 'pure' experience. Sell at a huge mark up.

 

[rbiemer]

Well, I still think their stated plan would be a good one. BUT, after seeing what folks have been posting here and elsewhere, this just seems very cynical at best and dishonest at worst. I didn't back this -- frankly, I couldn't if I wanted to -- but was really hoping what they were proposing would actually happen. Ah, well.

Rob

 

[Mistral75]

The more I think about this... Why would this 'new' Ihagee not have a built in light meter? Well, seeing that it seems that these guys have located a batch of new old stock Kiev 19Ms, the first question is why did this batch exist? The answer to that could be because they were defective models with non-working light meters.
So, take those, remove the non-working meters and claim that they intentionally do not have built in meters for that 'pure' experience. Sell at a huge mark up.

There was a dodgy, cadmium sulphide light meter in Kiev 19M, probably even less reliable today than it was thirty years ago. I think the people behind this revamping project (= net SE) preferred to seal up the battery compartments rather than to service the original meters or to replace them by modern, reliable ones.