Contax N Digital Comparison Review

The Contax N Digital is a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera that was officially introduced in February 2002 and is equipped with a full frame sensor. It offers a resolution of 6.1 megapixel.

The Contax N Digital has a Camera Elo of 1370. This rating puts the N Digital below average of all digital single lens reflex cameras. In terms of its sensor size category (full frame cameras), the N Digital also falls below average. – Well, the Contax N Digital is more than 17 years old, and there have been many other good digital cameras released since 2002.

Headline Specifications

Contax N Digital

Digital single lens reflex

Contax N mount lenses

6.1 MP, Full Frame Sensor

no Video

ISO 50-1600

Optical viewfinder

2.0" LCD, 200k dots

Fixed screen (not touch-sensitive)

4 shutter flaps per second

100 shots per battery charge

152 x 138 x 80 mm, 990 g

Read on to find out more about the camera's size, sensor, features, reception by expert reviewers, and how it compares to other digital cameras.

Body comparison with a credit card

The physical dimensions of the Contax N Digital relative to a credit card are illustrated in the side-by-side display below. Three successive views from the front, the top, and the rear are shown. All size dimensions are rounded to the nearest millimeter.

The table below summarizes the key physical specs of the Contax N Digital alongside a set of comparators. If you want to review a camera pair side-by-side, just select a right-side comparator from among the camera models in the table. Alternatively, you can also move across to the CAM-parator tool and choose from the broad selection of possible comparisons there.

Camera Body Specifications

	Camera Model	Camera Width	Camera Height	Camera Depth	Camera Weight	Battery Life (CIPA)	Weather Sealing (yes/no)	Camera Launch (announced)	Launch Price (USD)	Street Price (USD)	Used Price (USD)	Camera Model
	Contax N Digital	152 mm	138 mm	80 mm	990 g	100	n	Feb 2002	7,399	-		Contax N Digital
	Canon XC10« »	125 mm	102 mm	122 mm	1040 g	..	n	Apr 2015	2,499	-		Canon XC10
	Canon 10D« »	150 mm	107 mm	75 mm	850 g	500	n	Feb 2003	1,999	-		Canon 10D
	Canon 300D« »	142 mm	99 mm	72 mm	649 g	400	n	Aug 2003	899	-		Canon 300D
	Canon D60« »	150 mm	107 mm	75 mm	855 g	620	n	Feb 2002	2,999	-		Canon D60
	Leica M10« »	139 mm	80 mm	39 mm	660 g	210	n	Jan 2017	6,595			Leica M10
	Leica SL« »	147 mm	104 mm	39 mm	847 g	400	Y	Oct 2015	7,450			Leica SL
	Leica M9« »	139 mm	80 mm	37 mm	585 g	..	n	Sep 2009	7,999	-		Leica M9
	Nikon D100« »	144 mm	116 mm	81 mm	780 g	370	n	Feb 2002	1,999	-		Nikon D100
	Nikon D1X« »	157 mm	153 mm	85 mm	1100 g	1200	Y	Feb 2001	5,999	-		Nikon D1X
	Panasonic FZ1000« »	137 mm	99 mm	131 mm	831 g	360	n	Jun 2014	899	-		Panasonic FZ1000
Convert to Imperial

The listed prices provide an indication of the market segment that the manufacturer of the cameras have been targeting. The Contax N Digital was launched in the US market at a price of $7,399. Usually, retail prices stay at first close to the launch price, but after several months, discounts become available. Later in the product cycle and, in particular, when the replacement model is about to appear, further discounting and stock clearance sales often push the camera price considerably down. Then, after the new model is out, very good deals can frequently be found on the pre-owned market.

Sensor comparison with a 35mm slide

The size of the sensor inside a digital camera is one of the key determinants of image quality. A large sensor will generally have larger individual pixels that offer better low-light sensitivity, provide wider dynamic range, and have richer color-depth than smaller pixels in a sensor of the same technological generation. Furthermore, a large sensor camera will give the photographer more possibilities to use shallow depth-of-field in order to isolate a subject from the background. On the downside, larger sensors tend to be associated with larger, more expensive camera bodies and lenses.

The Contax N Digital features a full frame sensor and has a format factor (sometimes also referred to as "crop factor") of 1.0. Within the spectrum of camera sensors, this places the Contax N Digital among the large-sensor cameras that aim for top notch image quality.

Consistent information on actual sensor performance is available from DXO Mark for most cameras. This service is based on lab testing and assigns an overall score to each camera sensor, as well as ratings for dynamic range ("DXO Landscape"), color depth ("DXO Portrait"), and low-light sensitivity ("DXO Sports"). The table below summarizes the physical sensor characteristics and sensor quality findings and compares them across a set of similar cameras.

It should be noted that unlike many modern cameras, the N Digital does not provide the possibility to capture videos.

Feature comparison

Beyond body and sensor, cameras can and do differ across a range of features. For example, the N Digital has an optical viewfinder that provides a field of view of 95% and a magnification of 0.73x. The tables below summarize some of the other core capabilities of the Contax N Digital in connection with corresponding information for a sample of similar cameras.

One useful feature of the N Digital is a presence of a top-level LCD. While being, of course, smaller than the rear screen, the control panel conveys some of the essential shooting information and can be convenient for quick and easy settings verification.

Connection comparison

For some imaging applications, the extent to which a camera can communicate with its environment can be an important aspect in the camera decision process. The table below provides an overview of the connectivity of the Contax N Digital and, in particular, the interfaces the cameras (and selected comparators) provide for accessory control and data transfer.

Expert reviews

While the specs-based evaluation of cameras is instructive in revealing their potential as photographic tools, it remains incomplete and does no justice, for example, to the way the N Digital handle or perform in practice. At times, user reviews, such as those published at amazon, address these issues in a useful manner, but such feedback is on many occasions incomplete, inconsistent, and unreliable. This is why expert reviews are important. The table below summarizes the assessments of some of the best known camera review sites (cameralabs, dpreview, ephotozine, imaging-resource, photographyblog).

Review Scores

	Camera Model						Camera Launch (announced)	Launch Price (USD)	Street Price (USD)	Used Price (USD)	Camera Model
	Contax N Digital	-	-	-	-	-	Feb 2002	7,399	-		Contax N Digital
	Canon XC10« »	-	80/100	-	-	-	Apr 2015	2,499	-		Canon XC10
	Canon 10D« »	-	++	-	o	-	Feb 2003	1,999	-		Canon 10D
	Canon 300D« »	-	++	-	o	-	Aug 2003	899	-		Canon 300D
	Canon D60« »	-	++	o	-	-	Feb 2002	2,999	-		Canon D60
	Leica M10« »	-	-	4/5	-	4.5/5	Jan 2017	6,595			Leica M10
	Leica SL« »	-	84/100	4.5/5	4/5	4/5	Oct 2015	7,450			Leica SL
	Leica M9« »	-	-	4.5/5	4.5/5	-	Sep 2009	7,999	-		Leica M9
	Nikon D100« »	-	++	o	o	-	Feb 2002	1,999	-		Nikon D100
	Nikon D1X« »	-	++	-	o	-	Feb 2001	5,999	-		Nikon D1X
	Panasonic FZ1000« »	++	82/100	4.5/5	4.5/5	4.5/5	Jun 2014	899	-		Panasonic FZ1000
Notes: ++) highly recommended; +) recommended; o) reviewed; -) not available.

The review scores listed above should be treated with care, though. The assessments were made in relation to similar cameras of the same technological generation. Thus, a score needs to be put into the context of the launch date and the launch price of the camera, and rating-comparisons among cameras that span long time periods or concern very differently equipped models make little sense. Also, please note that some of the review sites have changed their methodology and reporting over time.

Camera to camera comparisons

If you would like to see a side-by-side review of this and another camera, just make your choice using the following search menu. An an alternative, you can also directly jump to any one of the listed comparisons that were previously generated by the CAM-parator tool.

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