Contax GD?

[Michael Brandt]

Hi, just wondering if anyone else has heard the rumor that Nikon has bought the license to start building a Contax G Digital system? This is probably a rumor because I heard it through my assistant who heard it from this other guy who...

In any case, one can always dream.

thanks

Michael

www.michaelbrandt.net

Leica M8, Contax G1, Contax G2, Contax 645, P45+, Sinar P2, Canon 7, Olympus 35rc, Canon 1ds Mark II, Fuji GX680III, Nikon Multiphot, Hasselblad 500cm, Horizon 202, Widepan Pro II, Seitz Roundshot 35/35s, Fuji FP-1, Olympus xa & xa4, Ricoh GRs & GRD, Fuji GA645w, Linhof Technika IV, and so on.

 

[pvdhaar]

What's up with all these rumours?

This is like shark baiting, isn't it.. Throw a bucket of pig blood in the water and wait till you see all them sharks coming and going into a frenzy.. but there's nothing to feast on.

Same way, I fear there's nothing beyond the M8 for us RFF'ers to digest for the coming years..

 

[furcafe]

Sounds like a rumor based upon the rumored Nikon DRF. Though I suppose it is possible that some technology might be passed around amongst the various contract manufacturers who work for the Japanese camera companies (e.g., whoever made the G2 for Kyocera clearly also made the Hexar RF for Konica). A Contax GD would have been sweet (albeit it probably would have been flawed like the M8, only w/different flaws, of course).

I believe the Carl Zeiss Foundation is the true owner of the "Contax" brand name, though Kyocera (for whatever reason) is still the current license holder (originally inherited/transferred from Yashica).

 

[mfunnell]

whoever made the G2 for Kyocera clearly also made the Hexar RF for Konica

Well, its clear (when I examine my G2 and HRFs) that the same chassis was used. But each has a different shutter, different electronics, a very different viewfinder etc. It could have been the same outfit making both, or different manufacturers may have sourced the same part, or a variant thereof, from the same supplier then loaded it with different components. I have no real knowledge here: I'm just going by speculation from a side-by-side comparison.

...Mike

P.S. and while I haven't looked closely enough, the X-pan looks to my eye to be built on a stretched version of the same or a similar body

 

[sepiareverb]

The M8 sure sounds like a Contax G.

 

[furcafe]

You're right, that's was just my opinion & I'm certainly not an engineer or anything. I have both the G2 & the Hexar RF & the shutter appears to be essentially the same (from Copal & is pretty close to that used in the M8), & then you can see they use the same mechanism for opening/closing the back. I'm also not sure there's really that much of a difference in the electronics, but I've never disassembled either & again, am no expert.

Well, its clear (when I examine my G2 and HRFs) that the same chassis was used. But each has a different shutter, different electronics, a very different viewfinder etc. It could have been the same outfit making both, or different manufacturers may have sourced the same part, or a variant thereof, from the same supplier then loaded it with different components. I have no real knowledge here: I'm just going by speculation from a side-by-side comparison.

...Mike

P.S. and while I haven't looked closely enough, the X-pan looks to my eye to be built on a stretched version of the same or a similar body

 

[jaap]

Hi, just wondering if anyone else has heard the rumor that Nikon has bought the license to start building a Contax G Digital system? This is probably a rumor because I heard it through my assistant who heard it from this other guy who...

In any case, one can always dream.

thanks

Michael

www.michaelbrandt.net

Leica M8, Contax G1, Contax G2, Contax 645, P45+, Sinar P2, Canon 7, Olympus 35rc, Canon 1ds Mark II, Fuji GX680III, Nikon Multiphot, Hasselblad 500cm, Horizon 202, Widepan Pro II, Seitz Roundshot 35/35s, Fuji FP-1, Olympus xa & xa4, Ricoh GRs & GRD, Fuji GA645w, Linhof Technika IV, and so on.

Let's hope it's a rumor and stays a rumor. Cause I don,t like little sensors in a original film camera

 

[Michael Brandt]

I have the M8 and both Contax G1 and G2. If Contax did come out with a digital body that was on par, quality wise, with the M8, I'd drop the M8 pretty quickly. I not putting down Leica, but for me, the Contax G1 is one of the best, most well thought out cameras I've every owned. (and I've owned my share.)

MFunnel - I think the Horseman stereo camera is based on the X-pan body.

Sepiareverb - I like your skeleton icon.

"I fear there's nothing beyond the M8 for us RFF'ers to digest for the coming years.."
-Peter, I really hope your wrong about that, in fact that was one of the reasons why I bought the M8 was to support the concept of a digital rangefinder...if Leica didn't turn a strong enough profit on the M8, why would they bother investing in future models?

Cheers everyone!

Michael

 

[pvdhaar]

"I fear there's nothing beyond the M8 for us RFF'ers to digest for the coming years.."
-Peter, I really hope your wrong about that, in fact that was one of the reasons why I bought the M8 was to support the concept of a digital rangefinder...if Leica didn't turn a strong enough profit on the M8, why would they bother investing in future models?

You shouldn't take my words as a statement that there will be no M8 update. What I meant is that I doubt another company will step in with an alternative offering in M-Mount.

The development cost is considerable, the risk of bad reception in the field is too. Look what happened with the Konica RF rangefinder, that camera is a gem. But because you could have a Leica-like camera at non-Leica prices, that made a lot of people very angry. So there came a lot of bull**** about flanges and whatnots why it couldn't be as good. And even to this day, not a week goes by in which a question about focus accuracy of the Hexar doesn't pop up on RFF.

A company would have to be pretty brave to want to run the same risk with an M-mount DRF..