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[OM] camera marketing

Subject: [OM] camera marketing
From: BllPear@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 14:25:29 -0500
The Kyocera/Contax line was always quirky. The MF bodies were quite large, and 
the lens line was a bit limited. The Aria solved some problems, but too late.

The first attempt at AF, the body with the moving film plane, was clever, but 
REALLY big and heavy.

The G series has it's strengths, and some weaknesses, but it appeals to a niche 
market. Again, had it appeared 5 or 10 years earlier, it would have been a 
bigger success.

I really thought the 645 line had possibilities. It seemed the answer to 
digital medium format. Fine lenses, generally well made and durable bodies, 
acceptable AF performance. At one point, it seemed the digital back makers 
seemed to have annointed this as the prefered body for their products.

What went wrong? I would say marketing, but that would presume that there was 
some. In the US, a potentially HUGE market, advertising and promotion was 
mostly limited to the annual Contax Days ad, with a listing of rebates, and 
times of displays at the biggest dozen or so dealers in the largest markets. I 
don't expect to see the big show in my little part of the world, but some sort 
of visit, as has been done by canon and nikon would be nice. And advertising? 
There must have been some, somewhere...

I suspect that the Zeiss line of lenses for the new "Zeiss Ikon" camera signals 
a lack of interest in dedicated cameras from Kyocera. I wonder how camera 
phones with Zeiss lenses would sell?

Bill Pearce

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