T
Tim
Guest
Yep, I finally got up to Mainline Photographics yesterday and had a good look at the R3a, fitted with the 40 Nokton.
First, the bad news for anyone in Aus - the first batch has already sold out, they have the one Demo and that's it until the next batch comes in, they are hoping within a fortnight. VC-II meters all sold out too
Was pretty impressed with the camera and lens. Build quality seems pretty damn good, good feel etc etc. The lens is beautiful and smooth, and every bit as compact as it looks in the pictures.
The controls on the R3a are pretty intuitive too, the bigger shutter speed dial is nice, and the compensation (+-2 stops) for the AE works nicely. The AE lock button on the back of the camera is actually more usable than you'd think, it falls pretty naturally under your right thumb.
Loved the LED display for shutter speeds in the finder, it's identical to the Mam 7, that is, in AE mode just shows you the shutter speed (in numbers, not a dot on a scale), in manual mode it lights the "correct" shutter speed and flashes the current one. After a few tries it's obvious and intuitive.
The 1:1 finder is nice, but......the 40mm framelines are just about at the outside of the finder. I had to have my eye pretty well mashed hard against the eye cup to see the whole frame, so glasses wearers are definately not going to be happy. The 50mm framelines are fine.
Using both eyes open seems to work well, but my right eye is weak (I use my left eye at the finder normally) so I couldn't get the full effect.
I fired off the shutter and compared it to my R2, and yes, I think it's a bit quieter. It also seems less of a "kerchunk" - a less harsh sound.
ummmm...what else?
Not a lot really, the thing feels pretty damn good, consistent with all the Cosina stuff. The 40 Nokton is definately a nice looking and feeling lens, can't imagine Cosina dropping the ball on the way it images either, so I think it's going to be a really hot item. It really is quite small and neat.
The really good thing though from my point of view is that I didn't get sweaty palms wanting one! That's just personal....AE doesn't appeal, but I will admit I did like the metered manual mode.
The only thing I didn't like is the 1:1 finder, not good for someone who uses 35/28/21 lenses most of the time. But then I guess that's what the R2a is for! If you use a 50 as a standard lens it's gotta be a pretty good thing.
The rest of it is pretty much like a slightly modded R2, really. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, either.
Oh, and it has no manual shutter back up speeds. Dead battery = dead camera. Not a big deal, just something to be aware of.
OK, unfocused rambling over....
tim
First, the bad news for anyone in Aus - the first batch has already sold out, they have the one Demo and that's it until the next batch comes in, they are hoping within a fortnight. VC-II meters all sold out too
Was pretty impressed with the camera and lens. Build quality seems pretty damn good, good feel etc etc. The lens is beautiful and smooth, and every bit as compact as it looks in the pictures.
The controls on the R3a are pretty intuitive too, the bigger shutter speed dial is nice, and the compensation (+-2 stops) for the AE works nicely. The AE lock button on the back of the camera is actually more usable than you'd think, it falls pretty naturally under your right thumb.
Loved the LED display for shutter speeds in the finder, it's identical to the Mam 7, that is, in AE mode just shows you the shutter speed (in numbers, not a dot on a scale), in manual mode it lights the "correct" shutter speed and flashes the current one. After a few tries it's obvious and intuitive.
The 1:1 finder is nice, but......the 40mm framelines are just about at the outside of the finder. I had to have my eye pretty well mashed hard against the eye cup to see the whole frame, so glasses wearers are definately not going to be happy. The 50mm framelines are fine.
Using both eyes open seems to work well, but my right eye is weak (I use my left eye at the finder normally) so I couldn't get the full effect.
I fired off the shutter and compared it to my R2, and yes, I think it's a bit quieter. It also seems less of a "kerchunk" - a less harsh sound.
ummmm...what else?
Not a lot really, the thing feels pretty damn good, consistent with all the Cosina stuff. The 40 Nokton is definately a nice looking and feeling lens, can't imagine Cosina dropping the ball on the way it images either, so I think it's going to be a really hot item. It really is quite small and neat.
The really good thing though from my point of view is that I didn't get sweaty palms wanting one! That's just personal....AE doesn't appeal, but I will admit I did like the metered manual mode.
The only thing I didn't like is the 1:1 finder, not good for someone who uses 35/28/21 lenses most of the time. But then I guess that's what the R2a is for! If you use a 50 as a standard lens it's gotta be a pretty good thing.
The rest of it is pretty much like a slightly modded R2, really. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, either.
Oh, and it has no manual shutter back up speeds. Dead battery = dead camera. Not a big deal, just something to be aware of.
OK, unfocused rambling over....
tim
