Who's looking forward to the Ikon

S

snaggs

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Well I certainly am! I just hope the pricing in Australia will be ok after all the distributor margains. Supposidly the RRP here for the Ikon & Standard lens will be A$4000.. now Im not sure what a Leica would cost.. but that price seems to towards their end of the scale.

Still its just such a beutiful looking piece of gear, hopefully some dealers in Asia will be able to offer it mailorder at a more reasonable price.

Zeiss should offer a starter kit with a cheaper 50mm f/3.5 lens (made by Cosina) and team up with a finance company to offer interest free finance and and Ilford to offer a free selection of their films with the camera.

Daniel.
 
I'm not. $$$$$
Maybe inb 50 years it will have the same price as the old Zeiss Ikons (Super ikonta, Contax) have today - then i might afford one, heheh
 
With the Bessas around, I'm in no real hurry to check the new Ikon out. The R2A and R3A can't be beat for its value for money and multitude of functions. Im looking forward to the new range of lenses though, particularly the 21/2.8, though I doubt it'd be a very affordable lens.
 
I do not really care about it, I have the camera bodies I need.

I find the 50/2 and the 25/2.8 lenses interesting though, but will wait a while for some user reports on performance and build quality. I do not like the Zeiss idea of charging a premium for lens hoods rather than tucking them in the box with the lens along with the pouch and external viewfinder (if needed on the body) like Konica do.
 
What I've heard so far about the 35/2 Biogon and as I don't own a M-Mount camera at the moment I'm pretty interested. But I will wait out a digital version.

As to quality, Zeiss QA hasn't let me down in over 20 years.
 
I'm in the 'wait and see' camp. The ZI is theoretically interesting, but I'll wait for the reviews and user reports.

Gene
 
I'm waiting on user opinions. From what I've read, it should be interesting - if for nothing else, than for its long RF base and supposedly excellent viewfinder. We'll see.
I'm not the one to rush to become a beta-tester :)

Denis
 
Hi

I think it's great that another rangefinder is making it to market, the more the better, especially from Zeiss even if it is made by cosina/voigtlander, as long as the Zeiss quality control is there it's not a problem for me.

Wether I buy one is a different matter. I have a big list of camera gear I want and a very small pile money to aquire it with :(
 
What I really like is how the M mount is once again becoming a standard. Compared to SLR territory, where every two-bit player has there own mount, it gives such a wealth of options. Hopefully someone else will buy the Contax brand and re-introduce it with a M-mount.

Daniel.
 
Nice to see another rangefinder coming out but not much interest from me, only in what the lenses are like (21mm/2.8) and their price point.

Bob
 
the cheaper lenses interest me (35/50) but I will wait for more testing (from others). The camera does not interest me, as it provides nothing that the Leica M does not (and will sport the loud metallic shutter clack). The potential for a digital camera body, however, would be most interesting, I would like to see some mutually beneficial competition to the Epson RD-1.
 
snaggs said:
Well I certainly am! I just hope the pricing in Australia will be ok after all the distributor margains. Supposidly the RRP here for the Ikon & Standard lens will be A$4000.. now Im not sure what a Leica would cost.. but that price seems to towards their end of the scale.

Daniel.
Click to expand...

Daniel, does that price include VAT? If it doesn't, it seems way too high to me. If I have the conversion right, that's about $3000 USD. I thought that American prices were the highest in the world on this camera, but even here with a 50/2 lens, it is selling here for under $2500. But you can get an even better price from Robert White in England. And an even better price in your part of the world would be from Hong Kong. Dr. Joseph Yao, the reputable Leica dealer, e-mailed me that he expects the body to be under $1400. With the 50/2 lens, that should be $2100. (e-mail: [email protected])

Yes, like you, I too am excited about this camera. When people compare to a Bessa, they seem to ignore the absence of 28 mm frame lines. If you want to shoot with a 28 mm lens (and I do), that's an extra $150 for a VC auxiliary finder, which brings today's prices on an R2A or R3A up to $700. And you still have the awkwardness of focusing & composing through 2 different viewfinders & without parallax correction - a real problem if you're using the 28 for shooting people.

Given that niche market products like this are always going to be sold at a premium price, I think that this camera is also great value for the money - just like other Cosina products. The only other camera on the market with this effective base length & 28 mm frame lines will cost well over $3000 USD by this summer. So it would seem that Cosina is once again keeping costs down.

I would share the caution of not buying out of the gate so that they're not working the bugs out on your dime. There is some reassurance on this matter in the media reports that have said that Zeiss has installed its legendary quality control standards. (Traditionally, no spot checking of Zeiss lenses; each one individually inspected & tested.) I would assume that this has added to the price. The other advantage to waiting before buying is that traditionally it takes about 18 months for cameras to settle into their price niche.

I'll offer a challenge to you to see which of us can exercise patience longer. :D
 
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Flyfisher Tom said:
the cheaper lenses interest me (35/50) but I will wait for more testing (from others). The camera does not interest me, as it provides nothing that the Leica M does not (and will sport the loud metallic shutter clack). The potential for a digital camera body, however, would be most interesting, I would like to see some mutually beneficial competition to the Epson RD-1.
Click to expand...

Actually, Tom, it does offer something that the Leica M does not - rangefinder coupled to a minimum focus distance of 0.5 meters (19.5 inches) with most wide angle lenses.
 
I don't know if I will buy it, most likely not, but I am in line for one of their first 1,500 special introduction editions. The camera is interesting, but like Gene, I personally want to wait and see about it.

The lenses on the other hand are a great reason for GAS in my eyes. The 28 and 35mm lenses would be of most interest to me, don't ask me why, I don't know why, they just are.
 
This is actually excellent advice as far as I am concerned. Buy an M2 and call it a day. They are cheap, proven and very good value for the money.

Manolo Gozales said:
Hey:)

Not a lot really, although I'm happy that the market seems to be expanding for the time being.
What I am looking forward to is all the posts here and at p.net from people realising that they've ponied up a load of green to become beta-testers for the camera. It seems to happen everytime a company puts out a "breakthrough" product recently. When will these people learn? Just buy an M2 and be happy! :D :D

Salud!

ManGo
Click to expand...
 
What interests me about the ZI is the long baseline for focusing speed/ease combined with the 0.74 viewfinder magnification and 28mm framelines. That Zeiss will be controlling the QA lends some confidence that the camera will avoid some of the problems of the Bessa line. The 25mm and 35mm Biogons are calling to me...
 
I am looking forward to the 35 and the 21 lenses. Looking forward to what people think about them after they use them for a while. I kinda don't really read the MTF because those are just technical graphs that doesn't really tell what people will think about the lenses.


Flowen
 
Doug said:
What interests me about the ZI is the long baseline for focusing speed/ease combined with the 0.74 viewfinder magnification and 28mm framelines. That Zeiss will be controlling the QA lends some confidence that the camera will avoid some of the problems of the Bessa line. The 25mm and 35mm Biogons are calling to me...
Click to expand...

For me the 28mm framelines, long rangefinder base and Zeiss QC as well as how it behaves in the hand are important and valuable. We'll have to see whether the QC is there, and how it handles, so I'll be waiting along with others.

Another important factor for me is how much value a distributor adds. Over on APUG some are very adamant that the markup by Hasselblad in the US, for example, will add little if any value, and the price will be too high as a result. I hope that isn't true, but it's quite feasible. If I were a full-time pro depending on the equipment for my livelihood, I'd want a reputable local distributor to be responsible for caring for me. Given the size of the RF/film pro market, this may be too much to expect for a reasonable price.

But I do hope the ZI does well, because if it doesn't, then I would wonder about Zeiss' plans for digital that are implied in their announcements for this camera.

Trius
 
Trius, having Hasselblad involved clearly adds to the price. Zeiss is using a different marketing model than Cosina uses for its Voigtlander line. The good news is that you can pay the USA price & have Hassy-USA available for service or you can order from Hong Kong for a 15% reduction in price. Nice choice to have.

I agree with you about the importance of 28 mm frame lines. I think that Zeiss has really achieved something with this. Have you noticed how far over to the right side of the camera (as viewed from the front) they have placed the viewfinder in order to achieve that base line? Not only have they included 28 mm frames with a 75 mm base line, but they have parallax corrected in the viewfinder from what appears to me to be a more extreme position than Leica or anyone else - & they have done it for a minimum focus distance of 19.5 inches! for people who are complaining about cost, that had to take some R&D.
 
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