In a message dated 2000-03-16 7:25:13 PM Eastern Standard Time,
fgernens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
<< Garth Wood wrote
> Oh, man, I'm probably gonna burn in Zuiko Hell for this
Then you will truly be an "origin of light."
>, but...
>
>
> ...I'm *lusting* after the Contax Aria. It's the OM-6 Olympus should have
built, but didn't.
The Aria is gorgeous, and far better thought out than any OM body has
ever been. It has a proper AE lock, and the exposure compensation dial
is reachable from the right hand, unlike that on the OM-4. There are
electronic f-stop numbers in the viewfinder, and the number line
follows Western (=German) mathematical conventions. And the S2 is the
OM-5 that was never built - 1/250 flash synch, weatherproof and
real-time spot meter. I have also heard from a retailer here that a
lot of ex-Olympus users have moved to Contax.
Contax is, though, missing a decent 35mm shift lens. They offer one,
but it weighs 750g and costs a fortune. And their 300mm f/4, like the
Zuiko f/4.5, is an old design with a 3.5m close-focus distance. They
do still offer a 50mm f/1.4, unlike Olympus.
> Contax lenses are more expensive than Zuikos, and I have no idea if
> they're better or not
Zeiss lenses are believed by many to be better than all others
including Leica. I have no idea either of the truth of this, but it
does probably mean higher resale values than for Zuikos.
>>
I disagree with some of the above. Zeiss/Contax have been criticized for not
paying enough attention to bokeh, not having enough F2.0 lenses, not using
LD/ED glass in their telephotos, not having enough diaphragm blades and being
just a little too caught up in that effete "gold plated" collector-itis that
the Germans seem to really be into. Some cases in point are the highly
regarded 50F1.4 lens has only 6 diaphragm blades to everyone else's 8, there
are no 28F2.0 or 35F2.0 or 85F2.0 lenses in the line, and the 180 and above
have fallen far behind their Canon/Nikon equivalents.
Still, I find myself lusting for the Contax G2 system in black.
Alex
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