Speaking Frankly

From The Keppler Files: October, 1970

The back of my hand to every well-known photographer who has signed a testimonial in praise of some camera which he has never used until filthy lucre and free equipment were put to him. The faces of these folk with the paid-for cameras draped around their necks and the statement that usually accompanies the photographs should be given the cold shoulder they deserve. If a photographer simply states he uses a camera of such and such a brand, and he does, that’s something else. But let’s leave the signed testimonials to the baseball players and breakfast cereals.

Speaking Frankly: Is it Zeiss's fault that Contax is gone?

"Carl Zeiss wants to protect the investment of its customers," wrote Dr Winfried Scherle, VP of the Camera lens division of Carl Zeiss explaining why Zeiss isn’t selling a DSLR now. Zeiss feels that digital cameras are still immature with continually falling prices.

"He's full of c…" roared back what seemed like an army of  orphaned Contax owners, all of whose cameras have been suddenly discontinued. "Fine protection  Zeiss gave us."

From The Keppler Files: October, 1964

In case you’re suspecting that the old Keppler rock steady, iron fisted, firm long exposure hand-held technique is going the way of all flesh, let me reassure you. It isn’t. But in the excitement of shooting animated subjects, I usually find that all the super steady techniques are quickly ignored in the effort to get the subject. After a glance at the contact sheets of our leading professional 35mm camera users, it’s apparent that subject matter gets the best of their minds too. There’s nothing like a faster shutter speed to insure sharpness.

Speaking Frankly: Film rangefinder cameras superior to DLSRs? Zeiss gives the old battle a new twist

Having attributed the appearance and apparent success of the Cosina-made Voigtlander Bessa 35mm film rangefinder cameras and lenses to the  contrary mind of the company's president, Hirofume Kobayashi, I had not expected a staid, conservative, old school company also to get into the act. However, as you know, Zeiss did just that with the just becoming available Zeiss Ikon camera plus seven Carl Zeiss lenses.

Why? SLRs defeated rangefinder cameras in the 1970s, leaving the superbly made, still highly capable Leica M cameras as technical relics. Autofocus likewise did in 35mm point-and-shoot rangefinder cameras during the same period. It only remained for megapixels in the last few years to obliterate virtually every 35mm and 120 rollfilm camera. But in enthusiastically trashing all this, have we let somethings valuable slip by us?

I ask asked a major planner of the new Zeiss camera and lenses, Dr. Winfried Scherle, Vice-President and general manager in the Camera Lens Division of Carl Zeiss AG to defend the decision. His answers to my somewhat sticky questions, on behalf of Carl Zeiss, did no such thing.

They went on the attack.

From The Keppler Files: October, 1989

Here, for the first time anywhere is the strange and wonderful story of current and discontinued cameras.

When a new camera is announced, you can be fairly certain it isn’t already discontinued. But what happens to the other camera models in the line? If the new camera represents an obviously upgraded improvement over the old, the camera maker probably let stocks for the old model dwindle to almost nothing before introducing the new version.

Does the maker list the old model as discontinued? Maybe yes and maybe no. He may keep both in the current catalog only until no old models are left—to help sell the old model.