the shape of bessas to come

[aizan]

keep your fingers crossed! 😀

i'm guessing they'd drop the 'A' and won't give a different designation for each viewfinder magnification after the r3a/r2a, and hoping they'll have .6x and 1:1 versions! man, if i was in mr. k's shoes...

and if you're wondering, the typeface used for the model designation appears to be a slightly modified version of linotype syntax. they just flattened the foot of the R and thickened the characters overall.

edit: the second image is a gif animation, switching between the two. i've also fixed the r4 image a bit.

 

[Terence T]

Wow, is that for real? I haven't heard a thing about it. Not a fake is it? The viewfinder seems to have moved significantly, good sign.

 

[aizan]

no, it's just a photoshop job. took me forever! 🙂

 

[jorisbens]

Woohoo a bigger rangefinder baselength and hopefully a lifesize viewfinder. 😛
That Bessa looks very nice 😀

Joris Bens 😎

 

[Terence T]

Good job 🙂 I think I wet my pants for a sec there.

 

[aizan]

that was my plan from the start, bwahahahaaa...

 

[Terence T]

Make a digital back for it. That'd wet a couple more pants.

 

[aizan]

i would if i could: no photo to work from. :bang:

 

[rover]

I wonder if there is a time limit in the production contract that will allow Cosina to rebadge the ZI and call it the Bessa R4?

Maybe Zeiss introduces a Digital ZI, discontinues the film version, and it reappears as a Bessa?

 

[aizan]

noooo! $600 to $1600 is too big a jump.

 

[rover]

Zeiss paid all the develpment cost, drop the big buck premium placed on Zeiss products, and eliminate the middleman distribution system, Hasselblad, and that $1,600 will drop quite a bit.

 

[aizan]

has anybody ever done that?

 

[rover]

The Cosina SLR body on which the original Bessas are based were used all over the place. Canon, Nikon, Contax, Olympus all used versions of it, as did Cosina.

I bet if there is a contract with Zeiss it also specifies the price too.

Of course, Zeiss being a lens manufacturer, they may want as many M bodies out there and not care about the price of the body. More bodies, more demand for M mount lenses.

 

[aizan]

why wouldn't carl zeiss just keep selling the film body if there was a market?

 

[Stephan]

Actually the digital Bessa has already been annouced:
http://www.voigtlaender.de/produktcatalog/BessaD.html

 

[aizan]

oh yeah, there are epson r-d1 photos for me to work on!

 

[jorisbens]

I've gotten some secret photographs of the new Nokton 40/1.0 😱 This will become the new ultra fast and compact CV lens.

Joris Bens 😎

 

[Stephan]

Hehe, nice one Joris 😀 Dyou think we should sell these pictures to voigtlanders R&D depatment ? :lol:

 

[rover]

why wouldn't carl zeiss just keep selling the film body if there was a market?

Is there a market? One large enough to make a margin? In the $1,600 price area you are fighting not with Leica, but with the Canon 20D and the rogue crowd of top shelf digital this and thats.

We may be strong, but we are not a large crowd. Selling M lenses to digital junkies makes more sense than trying to sell them a film body that has to be focused manually and the use of your god given on board computer is necessary to adjust for exposure conditions.

The R-D1 is breaking ground, and I don't know how strong its sales are, but it is making an impact. Digital RF cameras is a growth area with room for competition.

Well, all this talk is making me want to sell my M6 and buy an M7. You can't fight advancing technology.

 

[captainslack]

I'm wondering if something is up with T series. Gandy recently started selling a new brown case for the T, which I find rather odd. Why start selling a new accessory for a discontinued product? Could a Bessa-T2 be in the works or is this just wishful thinking on my part?