Looking for a P+S like the Contax T3, but cheaper

[David Hughes]

Hi,

There's a lot going for the µ-II but the µ-1 is pretty good and not so insanely priced.

There's also the Konica A4 and the Leica mini 3 and, of course, the Olympus XA range where you have a wide choice.

Bigger and earlier cameras like the Canon and Nikon and Pentax and Olympus and Konica and so on when AF was just starting can come with low price tags (a pound or so) and brilliant lenses.

It really depends on what sort of control you want over the camera. A lot of us are happy with the "P" mode shutters and a +1½EV control...

A lot also depends on how big a print you are aiming for and your camera technique.

Regards, David

PS And one of those little pocket tripods can improve the output from a lot of P&S's dramatically.

 

[flagellum]

I love the mju-ii and would recommend it in a heartbeat, but make sure you have a generous return policy if you buy one at full price. There's a light seal around the lens on these that goes bad over time, and it can be tricky to fix (though it can be done by taping up the inside of the camera). At any rate, it's not something most eBay sellers catch, so it's good to have the ability to return it if you need to. That or just find it for $5 in a garage sale like most people, it takes some looking around but there are millions of mju's kicking around in the world.

 

[Swift1]

You want a camera like the T3 but cheaper... so you want a Contax T2...?

 

[p.giannakis]

In the past I have used the following ones:
The Olympus Mju-1 and the Mju-2
The Nikon L35AF
The Konicas Big Mini and the A4
The Yashicas T3 T4 and T5.

I still have two mju-ii mainly because of the small size. I have regretted selling the Nikon L35AF (don't confuse it with the L35AF2 - different lenses), i think it was the best of them all, i have a vented hood for it and the lens was outstanding. Only problem was the size, not really compact.

Go through my blog under the section 'cameras'- plenty of reviews and comparisons there....

Edit: How could i forget? In terms of sharpness, the Fuji DL-Supermini was probably the winner.

 

[mod2001]

In the end, nothing quite beats the T3.

Nothing more to say. Everything else is a compromise when it comes to P&S. Either in size, viewfinder, controls or speed. I have mine always with me because of the size, the T2 and Fuji Klasse I tried before are significant larger in practical terms, even if the few mm difference don't sound so dramatic. There's a reason why the price for a T3 is that high, but to be fair, the other high end P&S went also dramatically up in the last 2-3 years, I bought a mint grey T2 boxed in 2013 for €120 in a local camera store in Germany during holidays and sold it last year for €560 to finance my black T3.

Important to mention that http://www.tritec-service.de in Germany can still fix the Contax T series, only if parts are broken you need probably a replacement (I bought 1 heavily used but technically ok silver T3 for this, just in case).

I'm quite often tempted to sell it when looking at the prices especially in the bay, but simply can't because its such joy to use this little gem.

Jürgen

 

[Hern]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Konica Genbakantoku series of hardy compacts!

Granted, they are quite large compared to the T3, but you will never have to worry about the odd drizzle or two ever again...

 

[aizan]

i prefer the autofocus p&s cameras that came before motorwind. for example:

minolta af-c
konica af3

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

There's one on ebay for UKP 1335 - I don't think they'll get that but it adds to the hype.

I paid about four pounds for mine and sold it on as it was no better and no worse than my favourite P&S. FWIW, I'm wary of paying high prices for electronic P&S's because they eventually fail and usually fail for good. There's a few exceptions with specialist repairers happy to keep them going and there's the good ones that were made by the million that you won't break your heart over because replacements cost very little.

Alas, thread like this are pushing the prices up. And high prices mean they must be good and so it goes on...

Regards, David

 

[HuubL]

What about the Minox cameras, great, small, folding bodies, excellent lens. I've had the GL and it was very nice. And you can get them really cheap!

 

[andrew00]

Thanks for all the suggestions here, loads of really interesting cameras to check out!

What's been most shocking is just how expensive they've all gotten!

Nikon 35Ti and Yashica T4/5's at £500. The Contax's are insane.

Even the Mju II is £150, which is mental. I had one five years ago and paid £15 for it.

My idea of getting two, inexpensive, compact p+s's is looking grim. Even the Nikon L35 AF's are pushing £150/£200. Crazy.

 

[retinax]

I've checked prices, too and what you're saying about the Mju II and especially L35 AF doesn't quite check out. Are you aware that buy-it-now-prices don't reflect actual selling prices? Look at the sold items! And you can still buy from continental Europe without duties!

 

[David Hughes]

Thanks for all the suggestions here, loads of really interesting cameras to check out!

What's been most shocking is just how expensive they've all gotten!

Nikon 35Ti and Yashica T4/5's at £500. The Contax's are insane.

Even the Mju II is £150, which is mental. I had one five years ago and paid £15 for it.

My idea of getting two, inexpensive, compact p+s's is looking grim. Even the Nikon L35 AF's are pushing £150/£200. Crazy.

Fascinating; in June 2012 I paid a pound for my one...

Regards, David

 

[Archlich]

Out of the category of "luxury" compacts, the only ones of which the prices hasn't bloated are the Ricoh GR1, the Hexar and (surprisingly) the Nikon 28Ti. Guess black cameras don't make good fashion accessories. Even the vanilla Klasse/AFM35 and the Minilux, which used to be dirt cheap 1 year ago, had gone skyrocketing.

The not-so-luxurious ones are no better. Just check the price of the Fuji Tiara/ DL Super Mini out...

So grab the still sane ones when they are still available.

 

[f16sunshine]

It's a good time to keep an eye on the classified.
These threads usually bring out some cameras that people have been wishing to sell but are doubtful or apprehensive of doing so.

OP, how receptive to Manual focus are you.
There are many really great quite affordable fixed lens manual focus cameras available second hand.
The top of my list is the
Yashica GX.
Features:40mm f1.7 lens. Aperture priority... beautiful image quality.
Caveats: 800iso max, Exposure comp is done with a work around, manual focus.

 

[robbeiflex]

I bought a Nikon L35AF two years ago for 5€, and then it cost me 7€ for the shipping. It has a great lens, and a great retro look to the photos. Most of the comments I get, especially when using the flash, is from friends in their 30s and 40s saying "these look like the photos my parents took when I was a kid, but in a good way". The camera is fully automatic though, with only on/off and ISO to set. You can also push the pop-up flash back down if it pops up but you don't want flash on your photo. That's about it. Buy-it-now prices on eBay are all over the place, but it seems that a number of decent working ones have sold for between 25€ and 75€ recently.

Personally, for one compact camera when travelling, I go for the Rollei 35S. Full control over the exposure outweighs having to guess the focus distance. I like to load it with ISO 400 and get some depth of field to hide my focus inaccuracy. See here for examples:
https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=33626007@N03&sort=date-taken-desc&text=Rollei 35S&view_all=1

Cheers,
Rob

 

[ChrisPlatt]

If you are willing to forsake AF you will have a much broader range of small travel cameras to choose from.
IIRC "hit or miss" autofocus was probably the major complaint of film point & shoot camera users...

Chris

 

[Pioneer]

Wow, this is crazy stuff.

I picked up my little Olympus Mju 35-70 zoom at a yard sale several years ago for 50 cents. Still works, stills takes pretty good photographs which seem to hold up well even when enlarged to 5x7. It is certainly not fine art nor is it exactly stylish jewelry, but that isn't what I use it for. I use it to record memories.

What it is is very cheap (inexpensive) photography and reliable. Not to mention that if it disappears off the xray belt at security I most certainly won't be too heartbroken.

If I want fine art I certainly will not be spending $500 or more on a point and shoot when a good Yashica-Mat 124g goes for less than half that amount.

Just saying... 😀

 

[peterm1]

How does the Contax T2 stack up price wise? I have not checked but I did own one and can confirm it was a super camera with a superb Zeiss lens. That little 38mm Sonnar performed better and rendered better than ANY Leica glass I owned. I would have thought the bog standard "champagne" titanium one would not be overly exxy.

EDIT: Holy crud I see what you mean about the T3s - I just checked eBay and the prices all started at around $1200 and went up steeply from there. Well the T2 prices are all at least half that. This following article gives it a good wrap but on the whole he professes to prefer the smaller T3. (However I must say I recall contemplating getting the T3 back in the day by trading my T2 in and I did not because there were lots of reviews criticizing it because the controls were too small and fiddly. Hence I stuck with the T2 till I went digital.

https://www.35mmc.com/22/11/2013/the-contax-t2-its-chunky-but-its-good/

and another

http://www.japancamerahunter.com/2012/05/the-contax-t2-the-killer-compact/

 

[jsrockit]

The T2 and T3 focus kind of slow... something to keep in mind if you are trying to photograph anything that moves and you are not waiting with a half press of the shutter button.

 

[mod2001]

The T2 and T3 focus kind of slow... something to keep in mind if you are trying to photograph anything that moves and you are not waiting with a half press of the shutter button.

Compared to a modern DSLR-AF, sure. But compared to other film compacts with AF, not really. At least as far as I can remember similar to the Fuji X100 first version or Ricoh's APSC GR. For fast moving subjects like kids I use zone focussing, works with both cameras. Wouldn't shot sports with them, though.

Jürgen