You probably saw a production model not a prototype, since it actually
made it to production.
Here's the Luminous Landscape review, clearly stating it's a released
product, though the review was posted after the camera was already
withdrawn from the market.
http://luminous-landscape.com/contax-n-digital-review/
of course LL is down for maintenance right now, so you'll have to read
it later.
On 2/13/2015 3:34 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote:
The problem that stopped the Contax and MZ-D in their tracks was that Phillips was unable
to manufacture the sensor to spec, on time, and in sufficient volume at the agreed upon
price. The camera manufacturers dropped the project rather than renegotiate the deal
because the performance was so dismal and the price would have been so high; it was a
"cut your losses and run" situation. Sad, both cameras had a lot of promise.
I ran into the Contax at a 2002 Photo Expo Tokyo while I was there, actually
handled and made an exposure or two with the prototype. It was large but nicely
balanced and not as heavy as it looked, beautifully finished even in prototype
form.
Kyocera decided to close up camera operations after that as it had been too
expensive a loss and wasn't their main line of business. Pentax soldiered forth
in a different direction with a smaller Sony sensor and a less ambitious body
as the starting point, the *ist D.
Godfrey
On Feb 13, 2015, at 11:53 AM, P.J. Alling <webstertwenty...@gmail.com> wrote:
The previous FF Pentax the so called MZ-D was actually out for testing, not a
mockup, but hand assembled working prototypes, (there were supposedly 6 of them
almost released to the wild). I expect that Pentax dropped plans for it's
production because, it was only 6mp and would have cost an arm a leg and an
eye, and that Canon, and Kodak both were on the verge of releasing 10 and 14mp
FF cameras respectively that only cost an arm and a leg. There were also
rumors that the Philips sensor it was built around was a dog, and it probably
was, Contax rele3ased a similar camera using the same sensor, and it killed the
brand, at least the Yashica incarnation of Contax.
--
I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve
immortality through not dying.
-- Woody Allen
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