Kyocera To End Camera Production - Sayonara Contax?

[CoolToolGuy]

This is on Dpreview today:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0503/05030301kyocera.asp

Kyocera has already stopped production, and are moving to close up shop. The Contax name is part of Kyocera's holdings, but there is some hope that someone else will pick up the Contax name and keep it going. This is a market-related move, not financial woes.

Coupled with the news from PMA that Leica is in financial trouble, this would be two famous and historic names that may bite the dust. A bit sad... :(

Have Fun,

[DocFrankenstein]

Nikon stops their film bodies production in 2007 (or so)
Hasselblad was bought by a japanese firm that makes digital backs...

historical times. film is becoming extinct.

[Tom W]

But the lenses - Contax has some very sweet lenses.

[PacAce]

But the lenses - Contax has some very sweet lenses.
Didn't Yashica used to get their better lenses from Contax? Wonder what happened to that company and when?

[aam1234]

The industry that I work in went through a same transitional period. M&A all over the place. And these companies are big, I mean really big. So I guess markets change, demand/supply change...so companies have to adapt to survive or they vanish.

[CoolToolGuy]

Didn't Yashica used to get their better lenses from Contax? Wonder what happened to that company and when?

As mentioned in the article, Kyocera owned the Contax, Yashica, and Kyocera brands, and Sony uses Zeiss-branded lenses. I don't know how Zeiss is affected by this, but they were into more than camera optics.

Have Fun,

[CyberDyneSystems]

I think Zeis is more along the line of Stiener and Swarovsky...
They may be able to live without the camera lens business all-together if push came to shove?

Bummed about this though,. Kyocera had been a real innovator in the compact digital market as well,..

I hate to see Canon keep loosing competition :(

[Tom W]

Maybe we can all pitch in and buy Contax!
Well, maybe not.

[CoolToolGuy]

Maybe we can all pitch in and buy Contax!
Well, maybe not.

Perhaps after Pekka pays off the server bills with the donations and the camera strap sales He can buy Contax with the remainder ;)

Have Fun,

[cactusclay]

That saddens me to hear that. I owned a couple of the weather proof yashica's T and T2 and they had the little Contax 38mm lens in them that really took some sharp and contrasty pictues.

[Avalonthas]

I belive canon is dumping there film stuff in 2007/8, so you will more likely see some more improvements in the digital industry as both nikon and canon will have more resources to put into R&D for digital, which will benefit us all. However with less competition once some of these companis fold, nikon and canon unless they directly battle for price control against each other, u will most likely see prices on the rise, which stinks.

[aam1234]

Not sure Nikon will make it in medium term (up to five years) unless they do something drastic. Whoever is charge of their strategy should be fired.

[Penguin_101_1]

It is STUPID that they are cutting film. Only 78% of Americans own a computer and people are not going to buy a $250-500 camera and them a $500 computer. Canon and Nikon would lose a ton of business. The companies that keep a small film line will do better than the ones that don't.

[Persian-Rice]

I hope we see some big improvements in digital technology before 2007, as we sit right now, images on film are still much better then digital. Well, 2 years brings a lot, I hope.

[kb244]

I hope we see some big improvements in digital technology before 2007, as we sit right now, images on film are still much better then digital. Well, 2 years brings a lot, I hope.


Well how far has digital SLRs in terms of quality and features come in the past 3 years? And far as computers go doesnt it seem like they're more improvment in the last year, then there was in the 2 years prior and so on? I know alot of film users dumping their cameras for the 20D cuz they feel that at that point in time, the Digital SLR market is just now starting to feel less and less like a 'beta' technology to them. Least from those I talked to. Though why get rid of film all together? its like a lifestyle....

[Persian-Rice]

The 20D and 10D are still way below film in terms of image. The 1D is much better and the 1Ds MKII is "very close but no cigar".

Maybe the 1DMKIII..................Digital still lacks Film like colour tones and DR.

[ssim]

I hope we see some big improvements in digital technology before 2007, as we sit right now, images on film are still much better then digital. Well, 2 years brings a lot, I hope.

I would like to know what you base your opinion on. I have printed my 1DMKII up to 20X30 and they rival any 35mm film print. This of course depends on the ISO speed and the make of the film that you are using. Are they relative comparisons.

Check out this link. http://clarkvision.com/imagedetail/film.vs.digital.summary1.html

The following is quoted from that site.
There seems to be an urban legend that says digital cameras have less dynamic range than film. The legend is wrong. The above plot shows the comparison of a DSLR with print and slide film. The slide film records only about 5 photographic stops of information (a stop is a factor of 2, so 5 stops is 32). The print film shows about 7 stops of information. The digital camera shows at least 10 stops of information (this test was limited to 10 stops). Other tests show the Canon 1D Mark II camera has about 11.6 stops of information (a range of 3100 in intensity). Other DSLR cameras, like the Canon 10D have around 11 stops. Point and shoot digital cameras, somewhat less

There is a further link on this site that deals specifically with the dynamic range. Or you can go to here. http://clarkvision.com/imagedetail/dynamicrange2/

Your statement really intriqued me so I went and did alot of reading on the subject. The majority of the sites that I visited put the latest generation cameras (in our case the 1DsMKII) equal to or above film. In many cases the 1DMKII is even rated higher than film depending on what you are shooting. Case in point, if you are shooting with Velvia 50 and try to compare that to digital it may very well come out slightly ahead. If you are shooting wildlife or sports where you need the shutter speeds to stop the action, noise management in the newer cameras far outweigh the quality of the high speed films.

I am pretty confident that I can take my MKII images even larger than what I have and still have the quality equal to 35mm film.

[Avalonthas]

It is STUPID that they are cutting film. Only 78% of Americans own a computer and people are not going to buy a $250-500 camera and them a $500 computer. Canon and Nikon would lose a ton of business. The companies that keep a small film line will do better than the ones that don't.

Somewhat untrue. Costs are dramatic to research and develope new film cameras, and all the resources required to produce them is also expensive compared to how much they get back (as film cam's are cheap compared to digital). So in terms of the 35mm film format, its just not possible to keep a small line of production, especially since companies have to think and act BIG in order to turn profits reasonable enough to continue on. Small just doesnt work out.

However if they continue to sell current models, small time, then of course that is a wise choice, however newer models and tech wont be released so in the longterm it would eventually have to die anyways.

[Avalonthas]

I would like to know what you base your opinion on. I have printed my 1DMKII up to 20X30 and they rival any 35mm film print. This of course depends on the ISO speed and the make of the film that you are using. Are they relative comparisons.

Check out this link. http://clarkvision.com/imagedetail/film.vs.digital.summary1.html

The following is quoted from that site.


There is a further link on this site that deals specifically with the dynamic range. Or you can go to here. http://clarkvision.com/imagedetail/dynamicrange2/

Your statement really intriqued me so I went and did alot of reading on the subject. The majority of the sites that I visited put the latest generation cameras (in our case the 1DsMKII) equal to or above film. In many cases the 1DMKII is even rated higher than film depending on what you are shooting. Case in point, if you are shooting with Velvia 50 and try to compare that to digital it may very well come out slightly ahead. If you are shooting wildlife or sports where you need the shutter speeds to stop the action, noise management in the newer cameras far outweigh the quality of the high speed films.

I am pretty confident that I can take my MKII images even larger than what I have and still have the quality equal to 35mm film.

I fully agree with you sims. I dont own a 1Ds MkII however I have rented one to try it out and I find it better then any film I have done in the past (And I only switched to digital a bit over a year ago) and i find the MkII to be better then film in 80% of situations i took shots in. Once the successor comes, im pretty sure that value would be upwards of 95%

[Penguin_101_1]

Somewhat untrue. Costs are dramatic to research and develope new film cameras, and all the resources required to produce them is also expensive compared to how much they get back (as film cam's are cheap compared to digital). So in terms of the 35mm film format, its just not possible to keep a small line of production, especially since companies have to think and act BIG in order to turn profits reasonable enough to continue on. Small just doesnt work out.

However if they continue to sell current models, small time, then of course that is a wise choice, however newer models and tech wont be released so in the longterm it would eventually have to die anyways.
The people who will still use film will most likely not care about the new developments. I am talking about p&s, the statement posted above says all film lines.

[CoolToolGuy]

Here is the latest - the end is announced - :cry:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0504/05041201contaxend.asp

Have Fun,

[nosquare2003]

What a sad story! I still remember how I got excited by putting my hands on an RTS...

[Carzee]

MrCoolTools - posting before breakfast? Got insomnia?

[CoolToolGuy]

MrCoolTools - posting before breakfast? Got insomnia?

Not quite - I have a wife who stole my normal shower time because she had a crisis at work to attend to. ;)

Have Fun,