About Contax T3

elmer3.5

elmer3.5

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Hi, i´m looking for a small point and shoot camera, to take always with me.

I´m interested in the T3 more because of it´s 35/2.8 more than the 28/3.5 of the TC-1.

I got a little frustrated with my contax g2 because of it´s inability to make focus consistently.
I´ve read about the contax t3 that´s a little weak on this point also, is it so?

Please tell me your opinions and experiences with this cam.

Thanks
 
I have a Contax T2 that I like a lot. I recommend to you the T2 as I have not used the T or the T3. The 35/2.8 is a very sharp lens.
 
I think it shares some focussing system of the TVS which I own. I never had any focussing problem so far except one time in low light situation when I tried to focus on someone's black shirt: the camera said "I am not able to find the focusing point" so I used other point at the same distance.
 
I owned a T3 for about 7 years (sold it last year).

IIRC I may have encountered the odd occasion where the camera was confused or couldn't find focus due to a difficult situation. However, these were extremely rare and I can't even remember something specifically.

Overall, a wonderful camera. I wouldn't worry about focusing.
 
If you're having trouble getting accurate/consistent focus with the G2, i'd suggest you read this:

http://www.botzilla.com/blog/archives/000378.html

If this doesn't help, you might just have a problem with the camera itself. It's possible that the AF just isn't calibrated and needs repair.

I've not had any problems with either the G2 or T3 (or T2), but i always use the 'half-press' of the shutter button to lock focus before i actuate the shutter. I never, with any AF camera, simply push the button down and expect the camera to focus and trip the shutter all in one go. But, i also don't shoot moving subjects often, and never use focus tracking.

Anyway.... The T3 is a great camera. Sharp lens. Contrasty. The body is small, and viewfinder is decent. What else can be said? I've never read that the T3 has an issue with AF, though. Where did you see that?
 
I owned a T3 and TVS III in the past and don't recall any focus issues with the passive AF system. The T2 with it's active IR AF, while it can focus in total darkness, was not as reliable in nailing focus in certain situations as the T3. If you were frustrated with the G2, consider the Contax T. Same great lens like the T2, but it uses a true optical rangefinder so it's accurate and reasonably consistent for a short base RF. The drawback is the long minimum focus of only 1 meter.
 
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Anyway.... The T3 is a great camera. Sharp lens. Contrasty. The body is small, and viewfinder is decent. What else can be said? I've never read that the T3 has an issue with AF, though. Where did you see that?[/quote]


Hi, check this out, http://photo.net/equipment/contax/t3

I had three g1 and at last a g2, from 28 to 90mm lenses,
it`s such an advanced camera, that 6000 speed, wow, anyway it`s gone...

Despite what the author says about the contax t3, your experience in actual long time shooting is what`s most valuable to decide.

Thanks!
 
I'm confused. You said in the opening post that you've read consistant focus was a weak point similar to frustrations experienced with your G2 but now you're saying that you don't know where I got the impression there was an issue with the AF. Are you saying AF was fine, just inconsistant? I never had a missed shot from poor focus, but Contax like all other AF cameras recognizes it's shortcommings and states them in their instructions.
 
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awilder said:
I'm confused. ...but now you're saying that you don't know where I got the impression there was an issue with the AF. Are you saying AF was fine, just inconsistant? I never had a missed shot from poor focus, but Contax like all other AF cameras recognizes it's shortcommings and states them in their instructions.
Click to expand...

Alan, i think he was quoting my message, about not realizing the T3's AF had been discussed as problematic. The quotes didn't come through in his post.
 
It's possible to miss your subject because the solitary AF sensor is on the small side. Otherwise, focus is achieved precisely and quite quickly. Note that the T3 can easily acquire focus in pitch darkness on a blank wall at 5m - a capability beyond my Canon 1Ds or Nikon D300! It does so by momentarily projecting a pattern from its red/IR LED.
 
I've had a couple of the T3's, and there was a slight misalignment regarding the focusing mark in the VF and the actual focusing area. I think one of three was spot on, the others were a bit off. No biggie, you'll see the actual focusing distance in the VF before tripping the shutter.
 
[FONT=&quot]I came across an old Greenspun.com thread from ‘01 that touches on the AF characteristics of the camera.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=005ic4[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]In particular the comment/observation made by Kwen Wan – [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“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. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]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. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]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.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I find the above observation to be consistent with the way that my camera responds with respect to its AF operation. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If you want very accurate SPOT FOCUS then use the AFL feature. The standard autofocus area is much wider than the focus patch indicator in the VF would suggest.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Personally, I use manual/scale focus 90% of the time with this camera. If I need to establish a different focus distance quickly while out and about, I’ll use the AFL button which acts as an instant SPOT FOCUS override for my preprogrammed manual focus distance.[/FONT]
 
The T3 is a superb camera. Got two eventually. Focus is awesome, never had a problem with it unless aimed at a big no contrast zone (or aimed wrongly).

I would say it's the best camera in it's class, when size/weight/features are compared (not mentioning the awesome character of the lens). Read the manual. Memorize some combinations of the zone focus chart and you'll have the perfect street shooter.

Nippon Photo Clinic in NYC repaired mine as did Mark Hama in Georgia.

m.

p.s.: Kyocera should end me a complementary T3 for all the plugging I'm doing...*hinthint*
 
Well, I've had my T3 for a few days, but also am getting a Leica CM tonight. Unfortunately, my T3 must go because I can't keep both. Nice camera, but I prefer the CM.
 
FWIW, I have a friend with a mint T3, but he's looking to find a user Olympus Stylus Epic, because he has to be too careful with the T3. He loves the lens on the T3, but what good is a point and shoot if you need to keep it in a case?
 
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