Remember Konost?

[rfaspen]

I remember the Konost. I remember they appeared at a time when the market was hot for their proposed product.
Then they faded away.
Then there were some announcments and activity.
Then they faded away.
Then another announcement that they really are still alive.
Then they faded away.

I subscribed to their "newsletter". Twice. Anybody else? Did you receive anything?

Regardless of whether Konost still has a pulse or not, I suspect the time is over for them. Even if they were for real, the market has shifted and I'm not so sure they would be profitable. There's quite a few used digital M's out there (of course many are expensive ticking time-bombs, thanks Leica.)

I'd be curious if anyone has heard anything about these Konost folks. Anything at all.

 

[Huss]

Konost, if it ever happens, need to be a FF M mount camera. Last I saw on their site is that they were thinking of also offering a APS-C sensor version. If that's the case why not just use a Fuji XE-1 or Sony A6xxx w/ M mount lenses?

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Hardly, my believe to the miracle was taken by "10 Rolls Neopan Acros $17.88?" thread.

 

[dmr]

They had a one-line mention on the photorumors.com site today.

 

[Archlich]

They had a one-line mention on the photorumors.com site today.

Just won't them rest in peace, will you Peter?

 

[rfaspen]

Just for fun, I checked to see if the Konost website was still active......

....it is!

The home page says "Coming late 2017". And, you can still sign up for their non-existent newsletter. (Did anyone ever get such a thing from them?)

The last word from the Konost people was Octobre 4, 2017. A reply to one of the countless inquiries about the camera release schedule -- "Hey Dr. S, believe it or not, but yes, we are still alive."

 

[ptpdprinter]

Apparently there is a difference between being alive and actively developing a camera.

 

[xayraa33]

After all that time waiting, then it better be good.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I'm sure they are alive as bunch of recent graduates from university who made once their dyploma in commerce project.
But some here seems to think it was something else 🙂.

 

[filmtwit]

Why would any of us remember something that never really existed?

 

[Huss]

I have placed my order for both the monokrom and regular
version. 47mp on a ff chip in Leica mount is exciting.

 

[mich rassena]

Having been in the computer world for a few years, the term vaporware comes to mind. In any of these kickstarters, I'm skeptical until they ship product and meet demand.

 

[Out to Lunch]

"Coming soon".

 

[rfaspen]

I have placed my order for both the monokrom and regular
version. 47mp on a ff chip in Leica mount is exciting.

Oooh. The monochrome version. I can hardly wait.

I wanted to place an order for the monochrome version, but the Pre Order option on the webpage continues to say:
Oops, pre-order has not started yet. Please sign-up to stay up to date!

Oh, but what do they mean by "sign up"? Well, it means you fill out the web form. There, didn't that feel good? I suspect there are hackers and market researchers all over the world who just love this approach.

For the record. I signed up for their newsletter about a year or two ago....silence. I will not be signing up for a non-existent announcement for the non-existent opportunity to pre-order a non-existent camera that has been "coming soon" for three years.

I just get a kick out of the comments section on their website. There are still "believers"!!!

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I just get a kick out of the comments section on their website. There are still "believers"!!!

I happen to have a bridge for sale... 😉

Phil Forrest

 

[Emile de Leon]

I wonder when the hologram version will be released...lol..

 

[Keith]

I'd still be very happy to have my RD1 with an upgraded sensor personally. CMOS 1:3 crop would be fine and I'd probably sell my 240. In some ways I'm still amazed this hasn't happened and fairly obviously all the other pie in the sky schemes never will.

 

[rfaspen]

I ran into a fellow Leicaphile in Portland OR recently. He was still under the delusion that this camera (Konost) was actually going to happen. I did my best to let him down gently. I checked when I got home, and the website is still up, but only activity is in the comments section where poor unfortunate souls continue to ask "when will this come out?".

I know the answer. Its not what they want to hear.

I also found it interesting how much buzz the Konost generated -- typing in "Konost" into my search engine brought up quite a few websites oozing full of exciting hype about the camera coming out Fall of 2017.

An interesting tangent. When I got to the Konost website, the image of the camera has a lens on it I've never seen. Looking a little closer it suggests the lens is a 35mm Summilux-M, but I ain't seen one that looks like that? Computer generated? Wow it looks almost real then.

 

[xayraa33]

The Konost will finally hit the market on all fours after Nikon and Canon introduce their mirrorless Full-frame line-up.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Some people are still think what if it is posted on the Internet it is going to happen.
Not just Cronhost, but Ferrania and fake Exacta (Kiev-19) and so on. Where are more naive people on film side it seems. I guess they are from era of no fake news back then, just "Russian are going to nuke us", while only American actually did.