All Voigtlander Film Cameras Sadly Discontinued

ian_watts said:
I think that is an unnecessary pessimistic view. ...
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Agreed.

All the chemicals required for B&W film development are widely used for non-photographic industrial processes. And these chemicals are not particularly toxic. It will be a very long time before B&W negative development supplies are hard to obtain.
 
HHPhoto said:
No.
Talk to dealers of used film cameras and they will tell you the demand is increasing.
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I would agree -- close friends of mine tell me that sales are increasing, but the real issue for them is that -- supply is increasing at unreal rates. They can offer almost nothing for most film cameras they already have enough for the foreseeable future.

There are so many used cameras they don't know what to do, they hate insulting sellers, but must offer very low prices on cameras that just take up shelf space, pretty much forever. They of course supply dealers like KEH.
 
photomoof said:
No question there is some stabilization, but my question still remains, can amature color film survive without afordable scanners?
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No affordable Scanners?????? Why do you ignore the huge supply?
Pacific Image, Plustek, Braun, Canon, Epson and especially Reflecta are offering lots of affordable amateur scanners. New products were introduced recently, e.g. the Reflecta Pro Scan 10T and RPS 10M (which is now surpassing the Nikon Coolscan 5000).

I've talked to Plustek and Reflecta last Photokina: Both said that demand is increasing!

Cheers, Jan
 
CV and CameraQuest are what got me into rangefinders! I wish CV had introduced new models, though, at some point over the past few years. I can't help but wonder, as some others have, whether they're going to try a digital rangefinder. CV seems to have accepted and embraced digital; I suspect their most popular lenses are now used mostly on digital cameras. I think they could do a good one.
 
mabelsound said:
CV and CameraQuest are what got me into rangefinders! I wish CV had introduced new models, though, at some point over the past few years. I can't help but wonder, as some others have, whether they're going to try a digital rangefinder. CV seems to have accepted and embraced digital; I suspect their most popular lenses are now used mostly on digital cameras. I think they could do a good one.
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It would be wonderful if it did.
 
mabelsound said:
CV and CameraQuest are what got me into rangefinders! I wish CV had introduced new models, though, at some point over the past few years. I can't help but wonder, as some others have, whether they're going to try a digital rangefinder. CV seems to have accepted and embraced digital; I suspect their most popular lenses are now used mostly on digital cameras. I think they could do a good one.
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Yeah, it would be good if they did that. I don't think that Konost is going to materialize, but CV seemed like they could do it if they wanted.

Oh, and yes. Stephen and Cameraquest have played a role in many lives ruination, er I mean lifelong appreciation of rangefinders. I bought the R (LTM) long ago. Loved it, still have it. CV lenses are really gems. No need to revisit the Leica vs. CV quality issue. We all know where it all stands....depends on the lens, depends on your needs, depends on depends. I love my CV lenses.
 
I'm not sure what CV could possibly have to gain from entering the financial minefield that is the digital camera market. As far as I know CV have absolutely no experience of making a digital camera* (do they even manufacture any electrical products?) and they would be up against some of the biggest names in the business with infinitely deeper R&D budgets.

*The RD-1, being an Epson project, doesn't count IMO.
 
I only have CV lenses and they are exceptional quality. I use them on my Bessa R2M (I have two bodies) and also on my M8. Now I have to search and find a Bessa R4M before they are not available anymore. Wanted one for years.

Best
 
This is ... somehow disturbing. Voigtländer being the only real alternative to Leica always was for me a constant factor in the RF world.

Although I never had a Bessa (but a Fuji GF670, which was one of the most beautiful cameras I ever had), I had many of their lenses. I still have two Color Skopars, 35 and 50, which I really like and prefer on the M6 over the heavy Summiluxes.

I thought about this news and for me now the step to release a lens like the VM 40 mm F 2,8 Heliar makes some sens. When it was introduced, I simply did not understand the purpose of this lens, but now it seems to me, that Voigtländer was testing new niches for the M-mount designed lenses. After the Bessas are gone, I think we will see, that some of the less popular real M-Mount lenses will go in the next few years with no new ones introduced (despite the new 15mm). Instead there will probably be more special lenses for other mounts, like Sony or µFT.

I don't think, Voigtländer will ever produce a a digital RF. Development is too expensive, when they need to start from zero. Although I'm the biggest fan of the R-D1, which was living in a Bessa-Body but made by Epson, I really doubt, that there will be ever again such a camera. Digital RF is Leica, nothing else (I don't believe in the Konost).

IMHO in the long run, film RFs will either mean Leica or a used one. Currently I'm not afraid of availability and repair possibilities for the next decades. True, original part will be rare at some point, but new production methods like 3D printing, which improves at amazing speed, will solve this problem, I think. 3D printing may even be the solution for new film RF, for example as open hardware (like open source) made by enthusiasts.
 
Jockos said:
I think the R3x and R4x cameras was a good idea on paper, unfortunately I found the flimsy finders rather poorly executed. Still have a R3A, which is of course out of alignment.
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Counter Point: I have owned both the R3A and R3M. IMHO they are not flimsy at all. A joy to use. Very nicely executed and I never had had the VF out of alignment. Sorry to see them go. But that's life.:(
 
The sadness didn't just start, as so many of you seem to think.
It began a few years ago when, CV discontinued the Nikon S-line of equipment.
Getting anything except for the few lenses still available is a lost cause, both in terms of availability and cost.
So welcome to our world.
 
ian_watts said:
I'm not sure what CV could possibly have to gain from entering the financial minefield that is the digital camera market. As far as I know CV have absolutely no experience of making a digital camera* (do they even manufacture any electrical products?) and they would be up against some of the biggest names in the business with infinitely deeper R&D budgets.

*The RD-1, being an Epson project, doesn't count IMO.
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No doubt CV would need a technical partner for design and system integration. In particular help with assembly language code is required. Another development challenge would be creating lens correction parameters for all the CV lenses. This assumes time and money would not be spent engineering a sensor/mount solution that minimizes optical issues inherent with the M mount to sensor registration distance.

At the same time, CMOS sensors assemblies eliminate a great deal of the electronics design and assembly complexity. The photodiode array, ISO amplification and analog-to-digital conversion is integrated into a single unit. This is very different than older technologies such as the RD-1 which required three separate devices to do the same tasks.

A R&D budget is not required because people wouldn't buy a CV digital RF camera because it's signal-to-noise ratio is a half stop higher than some of the most recent cameras. Using a two or three year old 24 X 38 mm CMOS sensor technology would be fine. For example, the ancient Nikon D700 sensor assembly would suffice. Is an upper ISO limit of 1600 for decent color work really a show stopper for most RF photographers?

People would buy a CV digital RF camera to use an affordable minimalistic camera design with a traditional analog rangefinder. They would enjoy using their curated their M/LTM lens collections. CV might even sell more lenses.

Brining a CV digital rangefinder to market would not be simple, but it is much more practical now compared to five years ago.
 
A very small market now disappears. It is a pity. Well, I enjoy my Cosina Voigtländer Bessa III 667 very much. And for my Leica M7 the C.V. zoom V.F. 15mm-35mm too on my W.A. lenses. A camera with a big value for me. And a very handy V.F. I also have the C.V. Super Wide Heliar 15mm in M-mount. Great lens too!

Let us hope for the best for the rest of the Cosina products!
 
I am the happy owner of the R3M and the R4A and I have no urge to continuously sell my equipment. I keep what I like and I buy what I like.
 
Bummer. I really enjoy My R2M. and i too will admit that i quietly held hope that we'd see a digital FF rangefinder from Voigtlander to offer some variety in the market.

oh well.
 
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