Possibly, the counter signs were all in Japanese and the representatives at the counter were no fluent English speakers. Given the date, it could have been an early production unit or very late prototype/test unit. I was not allowed to capture any images to my card, though: they had the card slot blocked.
Godfrey > On Feb 13, 2015, at 2:56 PM, P.J. Alling <webstertwenty...@gmail.com> wrote: > > 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 product, though the review was posted after the camera was already withdrawn 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 > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
