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go4it Offline [X]
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I am not sure where the contradiction is here, you can buy Zeiss Ikon lenses and fit them on the Epson RD-1 digital rangefinder.
Yeah, at a 1.5 "crop factor"! The Epson R-D1 owner pays almost 3k for the digital rangerfinder body, then a whopping amount of cash for an ultra-wide Zeiss ... only to have it squashed by 50 percent with the tiny 6.3MP digital sensor.
The "contradiction" is ... the R-D1 may say "Epson" on it but it's a digital-ized Voigtlander Bessa body ... made by Cosina. Therefore, Zeiss (a.k.a. Cosina as far as Zeiss camera bodies go) doesn't "need" to make a digital rangefinder body to accept their lenses. They already have one!! And, by having someone else's name on it, let Epson take almost all of the sales / marketing "risks" .........
Voigtlander / Cosina / Zeiss rangerfinder group along with the Epson-badged R-D1 want to sell as many of their own "Voigtlander" and "Zeiss" optics as possible, of course, but they know that loyal Leica owners - champing at the bit for a digital rangerfinder body - have jumped the fence by the thousands. Both for the R-D1 body and the Zeiss optics on "M" series film bodies.
I'd say Leitz / Solms has their cojones in a vise ....
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My "snake in the woodpile" says the new Zeiss SLR-compatible optics are - at the present time anyway - for Nikons only.
It's pretty well known that the Epson R-D1 sensor is the same 6.3MP sensor used in Nikons digi-cams so a lot of engineering groundwork is already in place at Cosina as far as how Zeiss optical formulae work with this device. Do the math, folks .........
Some PMI (photo marketing industry) analysts also say Zeiss is reluctant to go head-to-head with Canon "L" optics - at any price point - especially in the wide angle designs. It's just too risky. If Zeiss threatens, Canon simply offers larger rebates and the balance scale is tipped against Zeiss even further.
Zeiss realize that unless a Canon mount is a dead-nuts, 100% EF match - both manual / autofocus, etc, - and somewhat in the same ball-park as far as cost - they would have a difficult time wooing loyal Canon owners away from those W.A. lenses with the red stripes.
Wednesday, 28 December and all will be revealed .........
Happy New Year, Nikon owners!
Rgds,
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Dec 22, 2005 at 05:21 PM |
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