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Contax N Digital

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 8:03 am
by Paps
My old Kodak DCS and Nikon bodies have found some new friends : I got 3 Contax N digital, but without user's guide. So, I'm wondering whether some of you who are also collecting digital Slrs could have one in PDF format.

Roughly speaking, it's quite easy to use, but there are some functions that are not totally clear to me.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Paps

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 8:23 am
by Anssi Krooks
Wow! This could be one of the rarest digital bodies produced in the 2000's. Has anyone idea how much these were manufactured? Could you share some photos taken with them? The idea of 6 megapix and full frame in todays sensortechnology would mean very little noise (and massive moire). It's a pity that megapixels are only thing that matters these days....

Contax N Digital production

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:07 am
by Paps
I've no idea of how many were produced. The highest serial N° I got is 2747. For sure, it's quite rare, we don't see many on e-Bay and they are usually sold in private auctions.

In fact I bought a lot of 4 bodies that were sold for parts by an ex-Contax specialist in Paris, but they all work under certain condition. The main problem seems that they use a lot of battery, which means that I'm testing them with an AC power cord. As I just got my first lens (Zeiss Planar 50 mm f 1.4) last week-end, I had no time to make real tests. I'll try to post some samples.

Concerning the noise, that was the main reproach made to this camera : at the time it came to the market, the Philips sensor was already outdated and this camera was surpassed by the Canon EOS 1DS at a comparable price, which explains that only few were sold.

Re: Contax N Digital production

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 7:01 pm
by spreefurt
Paps wrote:I've no idea of how many were produced. The highest serial N° I got is 2747. For sure, it's quite rare, we don't see many on e-Bay and they are usually sold in private auctions.
It is not one of the rarest, but it is unknown, how many have been withdrawn and destroyed by Kyocera in case of complaints.
Paps wrote:In fact I bought a lot of 4 bodies that were sold for parts by an ex-Contax specialist in Paris, but they all work under certain condition. The main problem seems that they use a lot of battery, which means that I'm testing them with an AC power cord. As I just got my first lens (Zeiss Planar 50 mm f 1.4) last week-end, I had no time to make real tests. I'll try to post some samples.
If they seem to work, but were sold "for parts", I would expect, that these cameras will be objected by the defect with the red line. This defect occurs only when using the RAW format - but the RAW format is the only way to receive usable quality of the pictures.
Paps wrote:Concerning the noise, that was the main reproach made to this camera : at the time it came to the market, the Philips sensor was already outdated and this camera was surpassed by the Canon EOS 1DS at a comparable price, which explains that only few were sold.
The noise is not worse than that of the Kodak DCS 760.

As far as I know, the manual is not available as PDF. But the manual can be bought at Foto-Huppert, a former Contax specialist.