[Leica] Re: Why a 35mm lens? - Now with Contax overtones

[Don Lawrence <DLawrence@fkp.com>]

Although Contax recently (last year) announced that they had stopped
manufacturing parts for the RTS and RTSII, there
should be an ample supply of parts to repair these cameras for years to
come.  
The RTSIII is still offered in the current Contax line up and likewise will
be repairable for many many years to come. 
The all mechanical S2/S2b should last a lifetime.  
So should the Zeiss lenses. 

The recent announcement of the N1 has lead to a decrease in prices making a
Contax/Zeiss SLR system even more appealing. IMHO you can't do better with
an SLR than a Contax RTSIII and a Zeiss Planar 85/f1.4. (fantastic bokeh on
the 85 lens, the 50mm/f1.4 and for that matter the majority of the Zeiss
line)
My pro-Contax slant is influenced by owning an extensive Contax SLR system
and my believe that Zeiss lenses offer the same level results as Leica, and
in most cases at considerably less expense. 

That said, I recently sold all my Contax G equipment and bought a M6 with a
pre-asph 35 summicron. Although the G lenses are fantastic optics, my SLR
background prevented me from getting accustom to not having a visual
confirmation of focus. 

In my brief experience with the M6 I have discovered what many have known
for years, it is the ultimate candid photography tool!.

Don

>Ten years is just too quick -
>after all the car I drive is fifteen years old and I can get parts for
>that, so why should a professional-level camera be any different? And we
>know that Leica supports cameras a whole lot older than that.

>Given that the N1 system is coming out, I would be worried that the
>whole MF line is going to end up like Olympus OM - an orphan. After that
>happens and the price of MF Contax gear plummets on the used market as a
>result I may still get one. But in the mean time I'm loving my new M6
>TTL, which is a camera I know I can keep and not be forced to junk
>because of someone's planned obsolescence.

>(And my new 35mm f2 asph!)

>Simon Stevens