Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/07/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> > Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 08:57:54 -0400 > From: Henry Posner/B&H Photo-Video <henryp@bhphotovideo.com> > Subject: [Leica] Re: Contax T3 > Message-ID: <4.3.2.7.2.20010725084425.04a5cae0@bnhpop1.bhphotovideo.com> > References: > > At 03:22 PM 07/24/2001, you wrote: > > > In the latest issue of Shutterbug, there a good review of the Contax T3. > > > The flash was disappointing. I was all set to get one but this turned me > > > off. Flash is only good for 3 feet or so. Any of you have one? > > FWIW, the Contax specs for the T3 flash say it's good from 1.2 to 75 ft @ > ISO 100. See http://www.contaxcameras.com/home/pr_tvsiii.html > - -- > regards, > Henry Posner > Director of Sales and Training > B&H Photo-Video, and Pro-Audio Inc. > http://www.bhphotovideo.com That web site reference is for the TVSiii, which is not the same camera as the T3, the successor to the fixed lens T2. Kyocera has apparently not updated its web site even though the newer camera has been available for some months. I have a T3 (as well as several Leica M cameras) and can attest to the sharpness and contrast of the 35mm Zeiss lens on this little beauty. Viewfinder magnification is quite large, and the bright-line frame is decent, if not quite up to Leica standards. You can see a bit of the action outside the bright-line frame, but not as much as with a 35mm lens on a .72 viewfinder Leica M. The autofocus is fast and accurate, even at wide apertures. As to the complaint about the flash range, I wouldn't rely on Shutterbug's test reports for anything too serious :-). The flash is in the same league as every other P&S I've ever seen -- no better no worse, except I have yet to get a case of redeye even though the flash is very close to the lens. I have no idea why. According to the manual, the flash range is 2.2 meters with ISO 100 film and 4.2 meters with ISO 400 film. That is borne out by my experience (I normally use Fuji NPH in this camera), and has not proven to be a limitation in any situation in which you'd actually want to use the build-in flash. Remember that it is a 35mm fixed lens, so if you are using the flash at all it is probably for a group of two or three people or something within ten feet at any rate. I suspect Shutterbug didn't notice that the distance was given in meters, not feet -- duh! I've used the flash in slow-sync mode in restaurants and bars quite a bit and in this situation you don't want a powerful flash anyway. It is hard to see how a 35mm camera can get much smaller than this, since it is literally the size of two 35mm rolls plus the lens in the middle, which retracts to form a package about the size of a pack of cigarettes. - -- Rolfe Tessem | Lucky Duck Productions, Inc. rolfe@ldp.com | 96 Morton Street (212) 463-0029 | New York, NY 10014