ZI rangefinder further delayed

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sgy1962

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It was just announced on the photo.net board that the introduction of the new Zeiss Ikon rangefinder has been further delayed until October.
 
Well, QC should have been pretty well organized when they announced the camera. Seems to me that they were rushing the camera to be available as soon as the lenses were. Surely the result of these delays will be a better product than one if rolled out earlier, but perhaps they should have delayed the announcement of the camera until it was really ready before they teased us.
 
As much as I'm disappointed by the delay, life goes on and in the long run it's no big deal. It's better to see them get it right than have a product arrive that doesn't meet the quality that I would expect from Carl Zeiss AG.

If you want an example of a product rushed to market, look no further than the Canon 20D, whose firmware has been patched so many times it's ridiculous, as well as an (apparently) ill-fitting battery grip. In fact, some up the firmware releases are to correct problems caused by previous firmwares. Of course, we're talking computer technology, where the accepted method seems to be to get it to market first and then fix it later.

That's something you can't do with a film camera, so I'd rather see problems ironed out now. The only fix later with a faulty film camera is either a repair or an exchange, both of which leave you with an unfavorable impression of the company.
 
I think that they rushed the announcement to get on the agenda at Photokina, which is only held once every two years.
 
The last I heard (from Zeiss) was pre-ordered units (limited edition) shipping in September, general availability October. I'm still hoping to see a press camera next month.

Cheers,

Roger
 
Here's the latest communication I have received from Hasselblad. It adds a little detail to the post on photo.net last week:

"The ZI body will, per the latest input from Zeiss, be available in October, 2005. We will announce this on the website very shortly. the delay is caused by the rigorous qualifications and quality program carried out by Zeiss and showing the need for some fine tuning in the design. At least it tells us that a ZI body is not the same as a Bessa body. MUCH tougher requirements on long term quality performance."
 
A little gratuitous slap at the Bessa there? I agree with ZeissFan -- get it right now rather than suffer a recall and the attendant bad press and word-of-mouth.
 
KoNickon said:
A little gratuitous slap at the Bessa there?
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Yeah, they do seem a little defensive from all of those guilt-by-association comments about ZI being "a rebadged Bessa."Now that the marketing rep has been fielding these questions for almost a year & he sees at least 2 more months of the same, he seems to be getting a little testy. :bang:

Actually, he does have a point . . . although not the obvious one. If it were a "re-badged Bessa" as some have claimed, they would already have had lots of experience putting it together & years to have worked the bugs out. Forget about QC standards. . . The fact that they still need to "fine tune the design" in any way 3 months after it was originally scheduled for release, suggests that it's a work in progress - for better or for worse - & not a "re-badged" anything. :eek:

Huck
 
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I have a Bessa-R and an L. Fine cameras, and you can see how Cosina learned a bit more along the way, as the quality of the product seemed to improve.

I'm looking forward to the release of the camera (I see the updated shipping information has now been posted on the Zeiss Ikon site).

Very likely, the changes they requested occurred not long after the initial public rollout at Photokina and then at the Photo Expo, and they extended the shipping date in May by three months, thinking they could make that deadline. Well, who really knows what's happening.

In any case, patience is required although sometimes in short supply in our immediate gratification society.
 
Just wondering, whos going to get one when it comes out?

Any chance that it will be under 1k?

If so I could see myself going robbing a bank and doing other illegal things to buy one... [thought I would hold out for the black one]
 
Ah. I should be happy as theoretically I am saving the cash. I'll have blown it on something else by then undboutedly. Good that they want to get it "right," bad that so many folks have so many misconceptions. (No, it's not digitial, no it's not going to be under $1k USD, etc.).
Glad I'm in Baghdad. That New Orleans place sure looks pretty darn dangerous!
 
Probably late October; four months for the initial run of 1200 limited editions -- so your really talking about the Spring of '06 before standard production kicks in. Sounds a bit late to me. I could be wrong, but I was thinking that they had a fairly narrow window of opportunity to get this one out on the streets.

Have all the limited editions been pre-sold?
 
einolu said:
Just wondering, whos going to get one when it comes out?

Any chance that it will be under 1k?

If so I could see myself going robbing a bank and doing other illegal things to buy one... [thought I would hold out for the black one]
Click to expand...

I will have to sell my soul...

Any guesstimate on how solid will it be? It will be nice to have a Leica alternative, with Zeiss lenses, but still a brand new camera (system) is not something you buy everyday (or year)...
 
Will said:
Any guesstimate on how solid will it be? It will be nice to have a Leica alternative, with Zeiss lenses, but still a brand new camera (system) is not something you buy everyday (or year)...
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Will, my guestimate from what I've seen written on the Z-I website and elsewhere is that the camera will have full "Zeiss quality", and this view is even encouraged by the delays in release date as they fine-tune the details and Carl Zeiss make darn sure it's up to snuff. I'd think that puts it into a league comparable to Leica... but since even Leica has had some hiccups along the way I imagine Zeiss is trying for perfection. :)

One very attractive thing about this new system is its lens-mount compatibility with Leica and Voigtlander, for a greater choice of price-points, and mix'n'match.
 
It takes a lot of guts to admit that something is not 'quite' ready for release, there is no point in risking the introduction of a flawed product that would tarnish the whole product line.

Some of the first Bessas had problems that were sorted quite quickly but that put a shadow over the model in the early days. The new CV stuff seems well built and decent quality so the new ZI should be very good.

I'm looking forward to trying one.
 
If it was my money on the line for one of the new ZI bodies, I would not mind the delay as I am a photographer by passion not a free lance volunteer quality control expert. This is in fact a good sign that Zeiss Ikon is taking the quality control hyper seriously. It would be worth the wait. I wonder if anyone is going to carry the camera in Canada?

Bill
 
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