The Kyocera/Contax line was always quirky. The MF bodies were quite large, and
the lens line was a bit limited. The Aria solved some problems, but too late.
The first attempt at AF, the body with the moving film plane, was clever, but
REALLY big and heavy.
The G series has it's strengths, and some weaknesses, but it appeals to a niche
market. Again, had it appeared 5 or 10 years earlier, it would have been a
bigger success.
I really thought the 645 line had possibilities. It seemed the answer to
digital medium format. Fine lenses, generally well made and durable bodies,
acceptable AF performance. At one point, it seemed the digital back makers
seemed to have annointed this as the prefered body for their products.
What went wrong? I would say marketing, but that would presume that there was
some. In the US, a potentially HUGE market, advertising and promotion was
mostly limited to the annual Contax Days ad, with a listing of rebates, and
times of displays at the biggest dozen or so dealers in the largest markets. I
don't expect to see the big show in my little part of the world, but some sort
of visit, as has been done by canon and nikon would be nice. And advertising?
There must have been some, somewhere...
I suspect that the Zeiss line of lenses for the new "Zeiss Ikon" camera signals
a lack of interest in dedicated cameras from Kyocera. I wonder how camera
phones with Zeiss lenses would sell?
Bill Pearce
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