eajames Posted July 11, 2001 Share Posted July 11, 2001 Greetings Contax T3 Users, <p> It seems that the original discussion on the Contax T3 started by John McCormack has run into difficulties (perhaps because of its length). I have cut and pasted below the last of the discussion activity with the hope that the contributions continue. Thanks to John for starting the original discussion @: <p> http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=004u2K <p> Regards,Eric---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I have a question about the flash synch speed of the T3. Does anyone know what it is? I would also like to see some pictures of the flash bracket and external flash mounted on the T3 so I can see what I would be getting into before laying out that kind of money. I haven't recieved my T3 yet but I must admit I am pretty excited to be able to back up my M6 with such a nice little P&S. <p> -- Gus Hagberg (grhagberg@snet.net), July 08, 2001. <p> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <p> I think the T3 flash sync up to 1/500 sec, as T2 <p> -- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), July 08, 2001. <p> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <p> I have a question concerning the flash too. Do the flash goes to slow sync mode when used in aperture priority as the GR1 do it? I found the flash settings of my GR1 to be ideal and i am wondering if the T3 is as logical/simple on this point. Any comment form a former GR1 owner would be great! <p> -- Fabrice Bodet (beud@hotmail.com), July 08, 2001.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_mccormack Posted July 11, 2001 Share Posted July 11, 2001 Re: "Does the flash goes to slow sync mode when used in aperture priority as the GR1 do it?" <p> Yes. I believe the T3 operates similar to the GR1 (which I use also) in slow sync with aperture priority. In fact, you can also set the T3 to very long shutter speeds (up to 180 seconds) with the LT setting and also force the flash to fire, or not, as you wish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTC Photography Posted July 11, 2001 Share Posted July 11, 2001 Does the T3 has manual focus confirmation signal red < and > and focus is right on, a green * ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_mccormack Posted July 11, 2001 Share Posted July 11, 2001 Martin, <p> If I understand your question correctly, yes, manual scale focusing is confirmed (using scale focusing mode where user sets the distance) with a slowly blinking (one time/second) green circle in the viewfinder (The distance is displayed in meters on the top panel.) The slow blinking is a reminder that manual focusing is in use. I don't recall seeing any red warning light on the T3. <p> Using the AFL (Auto Focus Lock) button the focus distance is also confirmed with a slowly blinking (one time/second) green lighted circle in the viewfinder (The distance is displayed in meters on the top panel.) <p> Autofocus using regular AF is confirmed with a steady green lighted circle in the viewfinder (The distance is displayed in meters on the top panel.) <p> If focus cannot be achieved, using AFL or AF, the circle blinks quickly - 4 times/second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shi Posted July 11, 2001 Share Posted July 11, 2001 Does the lens cover of T3 seem flimsy to you? T2 is perfect other than the shutter lag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_schank Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 I don't see any problem with the lens cover. The lens is tucked away inside the body very well, and the cover seems to do its job as a dust and scratch proof covering. The T2 is a top notch camera, but the T3 has a few more improvements besides just the lag decrease. The faster shutter / lack of vignetting at all speeds and apertures / slightly better optics / closer focus / and noticeably more compact size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTC Photography Posted July 14, 2001 Share Posted July 14, 2001 John, thanks for the reply, it seems that T3 retains one of the unique feature of T2-- manual rangefinder-- not available on Minilux nor Nikon Ti. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gus_hagberg Posted July 15, 2001 Share Posted July 15, 2001 I just got my first 2 rolls back from the T3 and I am quite suprised with the results. The detail is phenominal and the color rendition is just beautiful. After the first 1/2 roll I felt like I've been shooting with it for years. I lose no detail close focusing wide open. Straight into the sun, no problem.This is my first high end P&S. I looked at the Minilux but I hated the veiwfinder. The T3 finder is 100% better. I also get a much higher shutter speed than the Minilux.I use an M6 TTL and bought this to back it up but I'm not so sure the M6 wont be backing up this camera now.I want to thank everyone on this thread for their input because it definitely helped me make my decision to buy the T3. I will keep reading this thread to pick up any other info or can be of any help to anyone. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efrank Posted July 17, 2001 Share Posted July 17, 2001 Has anyone used the flash bracket and additional flash with their T3? Impressions? Are you solely limited to the TLA200 (which might be more powerful, but does little to move the flash off the axis of the lens to reduce redeye), or can you use one of the larger Contax flashes which have bounce capability? Do you still get TTL with those flashes or is the bracket connection solely for the TLA200? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_mccormack Posted July 17, 2001 Share Posted July 17, 2001 According to one Contax rep. I spoke with, you can only use the TLA-200 flash with the SA-2 dedicated bracket for TTL flash metering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwen_wan1 Posted July 19, 2001 Share Posted July 19, 2001 I recently acquired the T3 and was perhaps slightly disappointed by the 'snap shooting' results. I have a T4, Nikon 35Ti and Contax G1 system and Pentax system. Nikon 35Ti seems sharper and exhibits stronger contrast and colours from same film batch and from the same processors taken of the same environment. <p> Characteristics of lens seem quite similar to the T4 but T4 is less sharp in the majority of cases, though it can be pin sharp in others. I found the focusing metering a bit odd, sometimes the T3 would display a distance of 10 m when clearly the subject is at infinity or it would display 3m when the subject is clearly more at about 6m. I found that the focusing area is unusually wide and 'averages' the focus, which is fine for 'newbies' who might shoot between peoples heads, but going for precise focus is difficult as really what keen photographers want is spot focus on a particular point? 35ti and T4 system works fine for me. And this is probably why 35ti appears sharper in the majority of shoots? <p> For Flash usage the Flash is relatively weak and light fall off is very apparent more than T4 and 35Ti, Flash sync seems quite high as it cuts off the ambient light into darkness whereas the 35Ti exposes more for the surrounding enviroment. However the T3 does have a night flash mode where it does open the shutter long enough for the background while firing the flash for the main subject. My feelings on the flash is it could have been stronger (for a camera of this price) and is bettered by many cheaper cameras. ISO 100 film only covers 2 metres!Infact with non flash photos there is also light fall off at the corners of the frame, something I was not expecting as I read it didn't happen. T4 and 35Ti exhibit it at small apertures particularly in bright conditions and with blue skys. T3 exhibits at large apertures, but need to do more shooting to confirm.G1 and Pentax systems do not exhibit light fall off in the corners of the frame. <p> Camera is very quiet compared to 35Ti and noticably less bulky and lighter, though T4 appears even lighter! <p> Overall the 35Ti is a better overall camera, more control, more feedback e.g. precise shutter speeds given in viewfinder, auto adjusting parallex marks, better flash performance, flash aperture priority mode etc. (but you can't buy it anymore!) <p> So T3 is the best compact camera you can buy if only I can verify if it is better than the Leica Minilux which I don't own! <p> Happy shooting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwen_wan1 Posted July 19, 2001 Share Posted July 19, 2001 ..oppss sorry T3 has flash aperture priority too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_mccormack Posted July 19, 2001 Share Posted July 19, 2001 Re: "...T3 is the best compact camera you can buy if only I can verify if it is better than the Leica Minilux which I don't own!" <p> The lens on the Minilux is excellent (arguably as good as the T3's), but I sold my Minilux to buy the T3 because the T3 is smaller, has a better viewfinder, has a nice set of custom functions, operates quieter, has flash default setting not found on the Minilux, accepts filters and a lens hood, has a faster high shutter speed (max 1/1200 vs. 1/400), longer programmed exposure mode, and focuses much closer. YMMV. <p> New T3 images added to my T3 folder at: http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=122840 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwen_wan1 Posted July 19, 2001 Share Posted July 19, 2001 So far I've found that the T3 although it can focus to .35m it's not very good at it (on large apertures) - Due to it's wide (averaging) auto focus area (when focusing is critical at close quarters with shallow depth of field). Camera generally focuses on the wrong point if the subject /s is not flat. Lens also does not appear to perform it's best at very close range, not as good as 35ti subjectively. Though the design of the Sonnar lens seems to be uncompromised as the length of the barrel is unusually long. -It appears the optical designers haven't compressed the length for the sake of compactness. When focusing at infinity of course there are no targeting problems and the camera returns VERY sharp results even at f2.8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwen_wan1 Posted July 19, 2001 Share Posted July 19, 2001 Pricing wise in Hong Kong the Contax is the most expensive (Even T2 was). Cheapest Hong Kong price for T3 is 624 USD, Minilux is 429 USD, my Nikon 35Ti was 519 USD. The price I paid for my T3 was 662 USD as this store was giving away a free databack because Beijing won the right to host the 2008 Olympic games. Not a bad price (I think). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_schank Posted July 20, 2001 Share Posted July 20, 2001 Kwen. It sounds to me like you may have gotten a camera with some problems. Mine does not exhibit any of the fall off or focusing errors you were describing, and the lens is in another league compared to the one on the T4 I used heavily for 6 years. I have gotten 24 out of 24 in focus well exposed shots with no edge fall off on all the rolls I've exposed with mine so far. My flash exposures have been just fine as well, both indoors and outside for fill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip_bonner Posted July 21, 2001 Share Posted July 21, 2001 John, <p> Nice pics. The extremely sharp close-up of the flower belies claims that the T3 does not focus properly on close-ups. I have one flash shot close-up of my friend's face that is "scientific" sharp showing details of every pore, blemish and sprouting whisker. Yuk! In that case it was too sharp! But its nice to know that such close-up capability is available for shots just like your flower shot. <p> Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwen_wan1 Posted July 22, 2001 Share Posted July 22, 2001 I think I probably do have a slightly suspect specimen if everyone else has sharp pictures at close up and evenly illuminated pictures across the frame for flash shots... <p> One thing I did notice (on my T3) is that the autofocus area is approximately 5 ovals wide (if you take the autofocus 'oval' and lay them out 5 times) and it prevents my T3 from focusing through a gap in the door which is half open -if I sit stand about 2 metres back from it. (by the way, are the U.S. T3 distance scales in feet?). If I take a vertical shot the autofocus area doesn't clip the edges of the door and focuses through into the distance. <p> The above is the source of the problems I have with close up focusing at wide apertures. Having analysed the 'duff shots' one photo is of my son at the table with a basket from which he is eating. The shot is vertical and instead of the focus on his face, my T3 has turned it's attention on the basket. Although I positioned the autofocus target on his face the width of the autofocus area when the camera was vertical must have clipped the basket in front of him and rendered that sharply instead...hmmm. Of course if it was an outdoor shot with plenty of sun the camera would have gone to a smaller aperture and depth of focus wouldn't have been so critical. <p> So it's probably 'operator error' more than anything, and stems from the fact that Contax did not represent accurately the width of the autofocus area in the viewfinder. Some other brands physically show the width of their multipoint autofocus. <p> Flash wise, 2 metres is not a very far with ISO 100 film and nor is 3 metres with ISO 200 which is about spitting distance! I am surprised that most people achieve even illumination across the frame. <p> Anyway...if it really bugs me I'll try for a warranty claim, though I always dislike people opening up things to have a look, especially if they were precision made in Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_schank Posted July 22, 2001 Share Posted July 22, 2001 The popular photography tests said that although the flash was not the most powerful they'd seen in a P&S, it was actually capable of further distances than listed in the manual. They shot out to 20 feet with ISO 400 speed and still had good exposures. I am surprised how well mine works in fill flash mode, even in bright sunlight I get some fill on the faces even when I'm 7 to 10 feet away. I usually use Fuji 400 speed color neg in most any P&S camera. The very slight increase in grain is more than offset by the ability to shoot further with flash and in lower light situations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip_bonner Posted July 25, 2001 Share Posted July 25, 2001 Just shot 18 rolls of print film, (NPH, NPC, Reala, NPS and Portra VC 400,) while on vacation in SE Pennsylvania and the Jersey shore. Processed the film at A&I, Pro Lab in Los Angeles. I mainly used the T3. A few shots were also taken with a Leica Minilux Zoom, the Yashica T5 and the Canon 50mm F/1.4. <p> I have never gotten better/sharper/eye popping color photographs. <p> Mainly due to the ability to comfortably carry the T3 everywhere and it's quick "point and shoot" operation, I was able to capture many more natural shots of my five nephews (4-12) and my boy (2.8) playing and interacting under a wider variety of situations, (beach, boardwalk, backyard), than I would have with an SLR. <p> Moreover the great T3 optics enabled me to capture extremely high photos of fast moving kids' under every imagineable lighting conditions. <p> My relatives, includintg a few photo buffs, can't beleive the great, "best ever" photo quality. <p> In short, the T3 delivered superbly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip_bonner Posted July 25, 2001 Share Posted July 25, 2001 Sorry Ladies and Gents, <p> Should read..."Capture extremely high quality photos.." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerome1 Posted July 27, 2001 Share Posted July 27, 2001 How does the manual focus on the T3 work ? By dial or by a littebutton ? Please detail the procedure. <p> Thank you very much <p> Jerome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_mccormack Posted July 27, 2001 Share Posted July 27, 2001 There are two ways to set manual focusing on the T3: <p> Manual Focusing by ScalePress Mode button four times until "AF" is displayed. Then rotate +/- dial until desired focus range is shown (.4 meters to Infinity). You can return to AF mode quickly by pressing the AFL button. <p> Focusing by AFL ButtonPoint camera at subject and press the AFL buttton to lock focus at that distance (Distance is displayed on the top LCD.). <p> The AFL function can be customized for focus lock only or focus lock and AE (exposure) lock. Also, the focus lock hold time using the AFL button can be set for one frame only or until camera is turned off. <p> Manual focus hold time can be customized to remain set until camera is turned off or until the setting is cancelled. <p> See more discussion of T3 functions in this older thread:http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=004u2K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert goldstein Posted July 27, 2001 Share Posted July 27, 2001 I've been following the discussion of the T3 ever since the camera first came out, and I find myself inching towards upgrading from my T2. However, I have also read of another high end P&S from Fuji, which is supposed to be available "soon." It is called the Klasse. Does anyone have any information on it? Also, is it likely that Leica will be introducing an update of the Minilux? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charles_stewart1 Posted July 27, 2001 Share Posted July 27, 2001 As to the minilux being updated, I cannot say, but there is a rumor going around that it's to be discontinued. Someone in the minilux club discussion group reported he'd heard it from 2 local camera dealers. Of course, they may have been trying to move the item by urging him to "get one while you can". Whether it's true and whether it implies a replacement/update are things I'd very much like to know. I've seen pictures of the Klasse with a list of features; possibly they were linked on John's site? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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