Contax T3 - User Comments, Discussion (PART 2)

[cosmo_genovese]

The Contax takes a Lithium battery. See

http://www.kyocera.co.jp/news/2001/0102/0001-e.asp

[john_berman]

Just got a T3, and I'm putting it through its paces. Question --

under low to medium light conditions, I can see "ghosted" reflected

images of the focus, flash, macro and shutter speed indicators in the

viewfinder (when they're lit up), a little to the left of the "real"

indicators. I wouldn't be surprised if that was normal, given the

camera's size, but... is it normal?

Thanks.

John

[cosmo_genovese]

John, I think the ghosting is caused by not having your eye directly

centered in the viewfinder and/or not having your eye close enough to

the viewfinder.

[john_berman]

Thanks for your response, Cosmo. That's not it, though. I can see

the ghost reflection no matter what the position of my eye. It's

definitely in the viewfinder. Not terrible, but definitely

noticeable in lower light conditions.

[cosmo_genovese]

Hmmmmmm . . .

[kwen_wan2]

I've only just noticed the faint (very faint) ghosting as in daylight it

is almost invisible. It really is very, very faint.

 

<p>

 

However if you go into a completely dark room, the ghosting is

very apparent.

[laurent_de_lavar_ne]

No vignetting/ First impressions / How does it work ? Shutter Lag ?

 

<p>

 

Hello,

On Saturday, I cancelled my order of a Minox GT and bought a Contax

T3.

I'm already the very happy owner of a Contax G1. I shot my first T3

roll on Sunday and got the prints yesterday.

On Saturday and Sunday, I played endlessly with the camera, as happy

as a child with a new toy, relishing its compactness and beauty, the

weird soft noises, the green and red marks in the viewfinder, the

manual settings (f8 + 5 m for instance), the various customizations,

the speed of the AF (compaired to the G1)... My wife congratulated me

for my pictures and for the look of the camera. Please, don't tell her

how much my toy costed.

 

<p>

 

On Sunday, the sky was bright and blue. I hurried outside and took

several pictures with large portions of sky, at various apertures, the

sun being in different positions, using a 100 ASA negative film. I had

seen several T3 pictures on the Internet with ugly corners (vignetting

of blue skies and light fall-offs) and was worrying. Actually, no

vignetting occurred at all, at least none I could detect (I'm no

professional). I wonder why some pictures posted on the Web show

vignetting or light fall-off. Bad processing of the film ? Bad film ?

Bad scanner ? T3s with flaws ?

 

<p>

 

So, my first impressions are excellent....despite the viewfinder which

is painful for glass wearers (like me) : no eye relief. It's very very

hard to see the corners with your eye-glasses on.

 

<p>

 

A few other negative secondary remarks. a) Some parts of the body are

plastic and the metal foil is very thin: the G1 has a nicer and more

robust body (but much bigger and heavier). b) There's no indication of

speed between 1/30 (or rather 1/20, as the manual says) and 16 sec.

With my G1, I often succeed in taking reasonably sharp pictures at 1/4

sec with camera hand held (nearly no shake). I can't try this with the

T3 since I can't know whether I'm shooting at 1/10, 1/4, 1 sec, etc.

Anyhow, I am not sure the T3 is suitable for this kind of sport (see

below my question about shutter lag). c) The shutter release button is

a bit tough. I'd rather it be smooth and light as a feather (at least

when half depressed), in order to shoot without any risk of shake.

I've still to get used to it. (As far as I can estimate from my 13 cm

x 19 cm prints, all my test 1/30 (1/20) pictures are sharp - no

shake). d) Why do Contax provide a handstrap ? A neckstrap would be

more useful. You can't keep the camera dangling at your wrist. So, you

insert/withdraw the camera quite often from the soft case, thus

increasing the risks of dropping it on the ground. Better keep it

around the neck.

 

A neutral remark : you can't really use the mode with lens focused at

half depressed button for point and shoot : a) You have to briefly

pause with button half depressed before actually taking the picture,

which generates a time lag. (If you strongly depress the shutter

release button, hoping to focus and release the shutter at the same

time, the camera gets mad). b) The noise made by the focusing lens at

half depressed button may draw the attention of the person you wished

to surprise. For " candid street photography " use MF with hyper focal

(no shutter lag) or normal mode (shutter lag while the lens focuses -

how long ?).

 

<p>

 

Well, and that's my question, is there really no shutter lag when MF

or when shooting with the lens focused at half depressed button ? How

does it really work ?

My understanding is that there are two curtains (as on most compact

cameras ?): one for the aperture, one for the exposure of the film. On

my G1, I turn a ring on the lens (a very pleasant feeling in the

fingers !) and the aperture is mechanically shaped by some blades (a

great delight: watch them geometrically move trough the depth of the

bright glass of the lens !). Then I shoot. Click ! With the T3 nothing

at all happens when you select an aperture (or when the program

selects one for you - mostly 2.8, as it seems !). The aperture is set

only when the button is fully depressed. So, when the button is fully

depressed : 1. the first curtain of blades opens so as to shape the

selected aperture 2. the second curtain opens to expose the film 3.

this exposure curtain closes 4. the aperture curtain closes. This

could explain the noises you can hear when you shoot : a pretty long

whirl and somewhere in the middle of it, a click. (Then you can hear

the advance of the film). Am I right or wrong ? If right, how long do

you think it takes to shape the requested aperture (shutter lag) ?

 

<p>

 

Regards

Laurent (Paris, France)

 

[anon_terry]

I would like to find out if it is possible to use a nondedicated

autoflash directly on the SA-2 bracket with the T3. I was thinking

of using a Sunpak 383 with the T3 in aperture priority mode. Thanks!

[j.martin]

Vignetting. Laurent, I was looking at a contact sheet from my

recent trip to Bolivia as I was reading your post. While I had

noticed vignetting on a picture I had scanned, I hadn't thought

about it too much until now. But looking at the last 15 pictures on

the sheet (the earlier ones are mostly indoors), there is definite

vignetting on all of the 13 blue-skyed outdoor pictures. I believe I

was using Program on all of them, so I don't know if it matters

what the aperture is or not. (I still love my T3 and it was the

perfect match for my trip, and I am glad I bought it a few days

before I left.)

[laurent_de_lavar_ne]

Vignetting : YES...

 

<p>

 

I apologize, gentlemen. After readin J.Martin's e-mail, I came back to

my pictures and showed them to someone skilled in photography here at

the office : there IS a VERY slight vignetting on my blue-skyed

pictures.

[kwen_wan2]

It's strange, I think it depends on the film on the pressure plate if

vignetting occurs? Or the processing? In my initial shots I did get

it e.g. in http://mailroom.worldonline.co.uk/vig.jpg but I did some

test shots at f2.8 http://mailroom.worldonline.co.uk/f28.jpg and

f16 http://mailroom.worldonline.co.uk/f16.jpg and no vignetting is

apparent on the whole roll.

 

<p>

 

Weird.

[cosmo_genovese]

I haven't experienced any vignetting at all--prints from both color

and black & white negs are superbly uniform corner-to-corner.

[gavin_tait]

Contax T3 with semi-hard leather eveready case, in mint to new

condition for sale U$450. FREE SHIPPING

[laurent_de_lavarene]

I wish Contax - or others - made a camera as compact as the T3, with a

fully retractable 90 mm / F 2.8 lens... I'm not sure it's technically

feasable (a long lens barrel would be needed ? other difficulties ?),

but I'd like to have such a camera along with the T3, and even, to

carry the two of them at the same time at my belt !

[ron_buchanan]

Laurent, That's a cool idea, I'd love to have such a camera. I

would think that it's technically feasible (with some compromises in

either size or lens speed). Unfortunately, the market for such a

camera would be much too small to make it worthwhile to manufacture.

Oh well...

[philip_bonner]

My wife's Leica Minilux Zoom (35-70mm) is a real pleasure to use

framing shots in group gatherings, parties and portrait shots due to

the 70mm. It renders superb photos. It is also a nice size.

 

<p>

 

It seems that with all design and materials advances since the

release of the MLZ, a 1st class, nice sized 35-90mm could not be made.

[ron_buchanan]

No doubt a high-quality, high-end 35-90mm zoom P&S could be made and

successfully marketed by either Leica or Contax. But a high-speed

fixed focal length 90mm P&S similar to the T3 would be the bomb (I

believe that's what Laurent had in mind too.)

 

<p>

 

Speaking of Leica, isn't it about time that they revamp the Minilux

line given the juggernaut that is the Contax T3. Anyone heard any

interesting rumors?

[philip_bonner]

I misspoke with an errant "Not" above.

 

<p>

 

In view of all the advances since their release Leica should be able

to upgrade both the fixed focal length and the zoom Miniluxes to

better compete with Contax in the high-end P&S market.

 

<p>

 

Maybe Leica is focusing all of it's R&D towards producing a digital

still camera in it's joint venture with Panasonic .

[kwen_wan2]

Leica have released details on their website of the new range of

Leica digital compacts which sadly are again just rebadged

cameras of the Panasonic versions. (with some styling

changes) The Panasonic versions even sport the same Leica

optics. I might get the Leica Digilux 1 (the highest in the range) or

it's Panasonic equalvalent in black : )

[ming_ting]

Kwen,

 

<p>

 

Have you seen the digilux in person yet? The local store here in

la won't get it in another month or two.

[kwen_wan2]

Haven't seen it yet, but Leica/Panasonic will be stop gap until

Contax release a T series digital : )

[philip_bonner]

Here's a link to the first look/review of the Panasonic (Lumix LC5)

version of the Leica Digilux 1.

 

<p>

 

Note: Questions from serious sources are being raised whether the new

Leica/Panasonic zoom lens is the same zoom lens as on the Sony DSC 85

and the Canon G2. Specs and Photos of the three appear identical. It

may be possible that the Leica has Leica coatings.

 

<p>

 

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/lumix_lc5.html

[ming_ting]

hmm... a contax t digital would b nice... small and compact...

kind of like the Canon 110 or 300 series. That would be nice...

[nikitatuan_nguyen]

Speaking of zooms. Has anyone tried the Rollei QZ35T? It has a f2.8-

5.6 38-90mm zoom lens. I've been interested in this sucker for a long

time for its SLR-like specs but there seems to be 2 camps... one

praising it and one cursing it. Any opinions on its performance? Is

it on par with Leica Minilux Zoom?

[kwen_wan2]

Niki

 

<p>

 

try this link for some basic info:

http://www.cgmh.org.tw/intr/intr3/c2350/test/other/Photozone/phot

oreview/RolleiQZ35W.htm