Yashica T4 Super VS Konica Big Mini : The honest review...

[Deniz Merdan]

I've had a bit of a relationship with these two cameras.. and realized i am entitled to my opinion about them.

if you care to read and look at some shots.

You can read it HERE

 

[FrankS]

Fun read, thanks! Wish for a more enlightening conclusion though.

 

[stupid leica]

I have 5 BiG minis-
301, 302(x2), and 28WB(x2).

They are great cameras; small, light, elegant, take great pictures, and never more than $50. Most of mine were under $15.

 

[btgc]

Fun read, thanks! Wish for a more enlightening conclusion though.

Agreed about fun read!
Frank, you really skipped over conclusion, it's really there 🙂

I have 5 BiG minis-
301, 302(x2), and 28WB(x2).

I wonder if 28WB is Off-road model? I couldn;'t see a such BM.

 

[gavinlg]

Good review, though I love your blog and work.

Cheers

 

[Deniz Merdan]

It was a super fun review.

There will be more coming of the similar flavor!

its good to be here!

Now somebody sponsor me so i can shoot with an M6TTL

 

[Jamie123]

But next time you may want to write what picture you took with what camera 🙂

 

[MartinP]

I used a BigMini for more than ten years as my 'p&s with flash' camera. The exposure compensation was easy to use and both normal and flash exposures worked accurately. It eventually died when the ribbon cable to the back door cracked through. Be careful of that - it seems to be a weakness in the otherwise very very good design. I now have a Olympus Mju-II to do the same tasks but it does not meet the BigMini in any area except, possibly, rain proofing.

 

[Deniz Merdan]

Jamie... That is the main idea for the whole review!
If you can't tell... THERE IS NO OBVIOUS DIFFERENCE!

Hence why i only outlined the user functions, not the quality.

 

[stupid leica]

The 28WB is a construction site/foreman camera. Japan loves these types of rugged cameras. It is bigger, ruggedized, and somewhat (minimally) waterproof. I've taken one snorkeling, it didn't like it but survived.

 

[btgc]

The 28WB is a construction site/foreman camera.

So I thought also. I just got one and it's very handy. Initially I wondered you counted it as BigMini, I think they are another branch of Konica cameras than BM's.

 

[fotomeow]

I love the analogies to the BMs sonic features in the review and comments below the review. I dont have either of the cams, but, alas, a T4 zoom, which I've been happy with for IQ, just to slow when zooming in.

 

[Mister E]

This is all you need to know about the big mini:

 

[stupid leica]

So I thought also. I just got one and it's very handy. Initially I wondered you counted it as BigMini, I think they are another branch of Konica cameras than BM's.

It probably was not marketed as a BM, but i mean seriously, it is just a BM in a different shell. Has a fantastic lens, too.

here are some of my BiG mini shots:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=big mini&w=75696104@N00

 

[Jamie123]

Jamie... That is the main idea for the whole review!
If you can't tell... THERE IS NO OBVIOUS DIFFERENCE!

Hence why i only outlined the user functions, not the quality.

I can see a quite few differences between the pictures but that could be due to development, difference in film, lighting, scanning etc. etc.

So one's loud, has a lousy viewfinder but exposure compensation while the otherone's quiet with a better viefinder. Is that it? Not much of a review in my book.

The nude woman's nice, though.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Unlike the chunky Yashica the slim Konica fits nicely in a pocket.
I kept my Big Mini and sold my T4 Super to KEH.

Chris

 

[rdeleskie]

I had a Yashica T4 Super and recently sold it. The prices these cameras sell for are, IMHO, completely out of whack with their actual value as photographic instruments. The lens is nice and sharp in the centre, but my copy was noticeably soft and darker in the corners. I found the camera pretty unremarkable overall. I acquired my Leica Minilux for little more than what a mint condition T4 Super typically goes for, and my Contax TVS cost half the typical price of a Yashica. The T4 was a great solution when it cost a third or a quarter of a Leica/Contax compact, but with current prices I think it's difficult to justify the attention the Yashica garners.