[rollei_list] OT Re: new Zeiss Ikon- a hollow construct?

Frank and Carlos,
My compromise is to use ZM lenses on an older (non-TTL) Leica M6 simply because I like mechanical cameras for film and I was lucky to get the M6 (with 3.5/50mm M-Elmar!) for about the same amount as a new Zeiss Ikon ZM body. For the 85 or 90 mm portrait lens I may also go with a used late Leica Elmarit-M 90 because I like it's features better than the ZM 4/85 TT (speed, built-in lens hood, chrome). Can't afford the clunky 2/85 Sonnar.
I do agree wth Frank, Carlos, despite much of the "Making of Zeiss Ikon" hype on the Zeiss website,the ZM camera is a carefully Zeiss- refined Bessa with more than accidental similarities to a Leica M, and not a true CZ Contax descendant. A true Contax offspring should have had the classic "broken corner" shape of 50s and 60 Zeiss cameras, a true derivative of the metal "Jalousie" shutters of the Contax IIa/IIIa, and perhaps even the old double-bayonet Contax mount (briefly revived, interestingly, by Cosina! [click on "Bessa R2S R2C", left column]). But all this would have priced the camera into the Leica stratosphere, which, I am glad, Zeiss avoided. 
Jan

On Nov 8, 2009, at 1:06 AM, FreeLists Mailing List Manager wrote:

Date: Sat, 7 Nov 2009 08:21:17 -0800 (PST)
From: FRANK DERNIE <frank.dernie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
We must be talking about different Zeiss ikon M mount rangefinders. The one I am familiar with came out a few years ago and is possibly worth the price. It has many Bessa features (I have a Bessa) but is more substantial, but the shutter is the same and viewfinder very similar, though the rangefinder base is extended. It feels nicer than the Bessa but not as nice as the Leica. I think it is not bad value, though personally I have mainly bought film cameras second hand. 
I am sure you will enjoy it if you buy one.
Frank
----- Original Message ----
From: CarlosMFreaza <cmfreaza@xxxxxxxxx>
And now to the Zeiss Ikon RF. 1)It's a new design from the scratch andhas nothing to do with Bessa, Cosina or Voigtländer from this point of view.- ... I had no possibility to try the ZI RF, but I think and I hope it could be my new camera for the next year, the body has a price I could afford with some effort and I'll see the lens afterward; I always had a good "instinct" for cameras, and my instinct says this is a very good camera.- 
Carlos

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