Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/06

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Subject: [Leica] Leica: Contax 645 Offtopic
From: Mark Rabiner <mrabiner@concentric.net>
Date: Sat, 06 Feb 1999 19:29:53 -0800

The Contax 645 came to Portland Oregon and I went downtown to check it
out. A beautiful camera with impressive mirror dampening and autofocus
backed up by a full set Leitz made in Japan Optics which I'm sure would
be hard to beat except:
they looked like cheap Vivitar Lenses of the '70s. This made the price
feel to be a decimal point on the high side. 
I had gotten the impression that they might be priced 1/3 to 1/2
comparable Hasselblad or Rollei/Zeiss but the rep read me off a list
which sounded like the same. All the same they would have to be in the
hundreds not thousands of dollars as no matter how pristine the glass if
the whole package looks like junk I don't want any part if it. It is
inexcusable. Am I a vain guy?
A bummer experience, I'm ready to check out a comparable Pentex or the
Fuji Texas autofocus Leica.
I think autofocus is perfect for MF film and could get me shooting more
of it. Especially 645 (vest pocket size).
Mark Rabiner