Do you have questions re ZI/ ZM lenses?

[Huck Finn]

I will be attending PhotoPlus Expo in New York on Thursdday of next week (10/20). I will be stopping at the Hasselblad booth among others. Kornelius Muller, Marketing Director of Carl Zeiss AG, Germany, will be there with samples of the ZI system. If you have any questions about the camera or lenses, I will be happy to ask them & post the answers when I return here. I already plan to ask questions about shutter noise & plans for a digital ZI. Any others?

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Yes, why don't they sell the lens hoods together with the lenses?

Thought about asking that one...

 

[back alley]

are you going with rover again? and will you be presenting double reports again?

i found that very interesting last year and would look forward to it again.

joe

 

[rover]

I can't make it this year Joe. That is the disciplined rover speaking. The deviant me is thinking that I still have the pass and can always just run out at the last minute.

 

[Paul T.]

You've got the main question. It's got to be about the digital.

But don't let Kornelius off easy. We need to know chosen development partners; sensor size; sensor resolution, everything! We know the film market for this camera is slightly niche, and there's an open goal waiting for them. So we HAVE to know what they're up, whether they know about progress on the RD-2, and whether they'll beat that mooted digital Hexar RF! Pin him up against the wall and don't let him go 'til you get ALL the answers!

 

[VinceC]

What's the camera's closest focus for wide lenses? They originally said 0.5 meter but I've heard they had to push it back to a Leica-like .7 meter.

 

[jlw]

You've got the main question. It's got to be about the digital.

But don't let Kornelius off easy. We need to know chosen development partners; sensor size; sensor resolution, everything! We know the film market for this camera is slightly niche, and there's an open goal waiting for them. So we HAVE to know what they're up, whether they know about progress on the RD-2, and whether they'll beat that mooted digital Hexar RF! Pin him up against the wall and don't let him go 'til you get ALL the answers!

Don't forget suggested list price, wholesale price, profit margin, serial number range, compatibility with Windows ZXP 2008, suitability for use with fusion power source, and availability of antigravity stabilizer option...

 

[Chaser]

A little more specific but i really want to know if the 28mm f2.8 Biogon will work on a CLE. I don't know if this could be answered really but maybe an educated guess.

 

[Paul T.]

"Don't forget suggested list price, wholesale price, profit margin, serial number range, compatibility with Windows ZXP 2008, suitability for use with fusion power source, and availability of antigravity stabilizer option..."

I forgot those, except a lot of us Photoshop fans will need Mac OSX, so can you ask about that, too??

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Set your Phasers to stun, gentlemen! 🙂

 

[jja]

Ask him to dispell the claim (see awilder's test report posted on this site) that ZI lenses do not focus accurately on Leica bodies. Even as I write this I fear spreading an insufficiently documented concern, but there it is.

 

[ZeissFan]

Here's one from me: Where's my camera and lenses???

Seriously though, I was hoping to attend this year's PhotoPlus Expo, but the price of gas (plus our union gave back a week's vacation and skipped a pay raise) combined with the expected HUGE hike in natural gas prices has me on a very strict budget.

I'm curious to hear what you think about the shutter. I know we've discussed this in many threads, and I'm interested in knowing if the alterations that Carl Zeiss AG sought in the stock Copal electronic shutter will make a noticeable difference.

I don't expect it to be as quiet as a cloth shutter, but I would hope that it's less decible happy than the existing Bessas (haven't tried the new R2A/R3A.

Overall, when I handled the camera last year, I was impressed with it.

 

[vincentbenoit]

I will be attending PhotoPlus Expo in New York on Thursdday of next week (10/20). I will be stopping at the Hasselblad booth among others. Kornelius Muller, Marketing Director of Carl Zeiss AG, Germany, will be there with samples of the ZI system. If you have any questions about the camera or lenses, I will be happy to ask them & post the answers when I return here. I already plan to ask questions about shutter noise & plans for a digital ZI. Any others?

First I would ask Mr Muller if I can take a peek through the viewfinder and listen to the shutter noise, then I would ask him why the lens hoods are so big and expensive and why the first camera production run couldn't be made in black finish. 😉
Cheers
Vincent

 

[Mazurka]

Any RF flare?

Any RF flare?

Huck, try holding the camera at different angles to see whether the rangefinder patch flares.

I never understand why shutter "noise" is an issue at all - if your ears are so sensitive, how do you bear to use your SLR(s), not to mention the motor drive(s)? 😕 Even Leica is the wrong camera to use. With their leaf shutters, things like the Canonet are the way to go.

Better yet, shoot digicams exclusively and you don't have to hear a thing at all! 😛

 

[Huck Finn]

Thanks for the list, guys. 🙂 I will make a list & will hit him with all of these questions . . . as well as any others that might be added over the next week.

Solares, I will ask him about the lens hoods, but I actually like the idea that they are offered separately. I think if they were included, the price of the lens would be higher. I noticed that later &/or more expensive CV lenses offer the hood separately, e.g. the 40 Nokton. This way they are optional, which means to me that I don't have to pay for one if I don't want it. Or I can buy a generic hood at lower cost. Maybe they have another reason.

Vince, my understanding is that the wide angle lenses, i.e. 28, 25, 21, & 15 all close focus down to 0.5 m (0.3 m in the case of the 15 but it is not RF coupled at all) but that the rangefinder in the camera only focuses to 0.7 m. After that point, you are zone focusing by guestimating the distance. I'm glad you reminded me of this because this can be a problem if you are adjusting the lens down to its minimum focus distance while looking through the VF & have lost your RF focus, I'm interested in what he has to say about this & whether the potential confusion is worth the closer distance.

On the Zeiss website, Mr. Muller says that they gave cameras to Zeiss & Hasselblad employees - including himself - to use & that they then made further refinements after getting feedback from this sample group of photographers. I'm interested in what changes were used by people who were actually using them to take pictures.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. Either I'll be monopolizing his time & creating a line at the Hasselblad booth or I'll have to keep watching for times when there is a lull in the crowd. :angel:

Paul, are you sure you don't want to come with me. I think I'd have fun just watching you bore in on him with such incisive questions. 😉

Cheers,
Huck

 

[Huck Finn]

I never understand why shutter "noise" is an issue at all

Mazurka, I'm in your camp with shutter noise. I think most of the time it's more of an issue for the photographer than it is for the subjects because s/he is holding the camera so close to his/her own ear while the subjects are at a distance. Maybe I just used SLRs for too long .

 

[ZeissFan]

I have some hearing loss (early age condition that was surgically repaired in my teens and then damaged by jet engines and M-16 and M-60 gunfire in the Air Force). I have very occasional bouts of tinnitus, and my ears are very sensitive to higher pitched sounds. This is a problem that has gotten slightly worse in the past 10 years.

One of the sounds that sometimes makes me wince is a high-pitched shutter. A Contax IIa firing at 1/500 or 1/1250 sometimes bothers me. The Cosina Voigtlander cameras definitely are among this group, starting at 1/125 and moving up. The Nikon F2A, and several other SLRs.

The Zeiss Ikon Contarex is fine -- has a lower-pitched very unusual sound. Some leaf shutters at their top speeds bother me. Rolleiflexes and other TLRs do not.

But another thing also is true -- a camera loaded with film is slightly quieter than an empty one.

OK, that's enough. You get the idea.

But in general, I agree with comments about what sometimes seems to be a singular obsession among Leicaphiles with shutter speed sounds.

 

[aizan]

hmm...

film
1. how does the camera hang from the strap? does it sit straight or lean back?
2. how easily can you see the 28mm framelines with glasses on?
3. how flare resistant is the rf patch?
4. how many exposure cycles is the shutter rated?
5. does it have ttl flash?
6. what is the metering pattern?

digital
1. do they plan on having an advance lever to cock the shutter like the r-d1?
2. will it use compact flash?
3. will it have an instant histogram review? three channel histograms?

that's all i can think of right now.

 

[Chaser]

I think your best bet is to carry some trivial pursuit cards in your pocket and if Mr. Muller starts to shy away from the questions just start asking trivial pursuit questions to clear his mind.....then hit him again with the important stuff

 

[rover]

Thanks again for all the suggestions. Either I'll be monopolizing his time & creating a line at the Hasselblad booth or I'll have to keep watching for times when there is a lull in the crowd. :angel:

Paul, are you sure you don't want to come with me. I think I'd have fun just watching you bore in on him with such incisive questions. 😉

Cheers,
Huck

Huck is our man, and the right man to send on this mission. Last year I enjoyed, and learned quite a bit, from just listening to his line of questioning of the various vendors.

I have 2 weeks to continue tempting myself to go with you Huck. Right now I am weak, and a definite maybe. 😱