Re: [Leica] Point and Shoot

[Rei Shinozuka <shino@ubspw.com>]

if you liked the T4, i'd guess the Contax T2 might not be a bad choice
since you get a nice zeiss T* 38/2.8 lens in a mid-sized P&S body.  you'd
also get occasional "flyer" AF  misfocus and a bit of shutter lag.
nevertheless, for 10 years the T2 has been my in-the-briefcase everyday
carryaround camera and has served in that capacity well.  the T3 has pushed
the prices of the T2 down into the $400 range.

before i got a T2, i had the T and took it on many trips.  it's a
rangefinder aperture priority autoexposure camera with the same lens
as on the T2.  the downside: it's more expensive than the T2 (more like
$500-600 because of its relative rarity), with the flash it's quite a bit
bigger than the T2, though quite small without it.  i recently bought
a T again which after several trips to contax to adjust the rangefinder,
is working very nicely.  it has no shutter lag, focuses where you want it to,
and has a relatively powerful flash for a P&S that also takes AAs.

i also own an olympus XA, which is similar to the T being a compact
rangefinder with detachable flash.  its optics are good, but not zeiss, and
despite much ingenuity, the material and build quality is not up to that of
the contaxes.  conversely, XAs with can be had in the $100 range.
note the peculiar naming system: the XA is the top model; "XA" with number
suffixes (such as XA-4) are stripped-down models.

- -rei


> From: "Robert W. Clark" <rclark@desupernet.net>
> 
> A few weeks ago, my wife's Yashica T4 with the Carl Zeiss 3.5 lens stopped
> working and the factory said it would cost more to replace it than to get a
> new one.  We need a point and shoot but not with a zoom lens.  I liked the
> Yashica but was frustrated from time to time that it tended to focus between
> things than on them.  Other than that, it was an excellent camera, small
> enough to take anywhere, and it has a nice fill flash capability.  I may get
> another Yashica ($150 or so)but I'm curious as to what the Leica Nation
> might be using or might prefer....maybe a Minilux?
> 
> Robert Clark
> Lancaster, PA
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