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Contax T3

Greg,

I think many of us including myself frequently search for the easy equipment solution that will produce works of distinction rather making the person behind the camera a better photographer or "artist". Satisfying results are more likely by enhancing the person behind the camera and lens than by changing the camera and lens. Saying that, it is nice to have have a Contax camera and a CZ lens in front of my eye.

Success is more probable to come from using our ability to discern, experiment, learn from experience, critique our work to find what produces satisfying results and what does not, focus (no pun) on what works and either avoid what does not work or determine a work around.

I agree with your comments.
Howard
 
I agree with Greg and Howard. Use your equipment intelligently, for the purposes intended! If I'm going out for serious shooting, I'll lug my pro 35mm lenses and bring my Nikon F5 and/or N80 with tripod. I love the Contax T3, but it is a grab-shot camera with a top lens and with top construction. It is great for backup, it is great to have if you just want a camera on you and you don't want to miss a shot, but want to leave the heavier stuff at home.

Yes, an "artist" can make great images with a point-and-shoot or an F5, but you must get over the equipment-collecting phase and concentrate on the art. Go out with a 35 or larger camera and one lens. Limit yourself to a small area and make pictures. Learn the art. You'll have a much better time with photography if you learn to love the creative process.

Good luck all!
Bruce Fichelson
San Francisco, CA
 
Greg,
You seem to oversimplify the like or dislike of a certain product as egotistical or shallow. The photographs are what most people are after, but there is also nothing wrong with liking equipment based upon its qualities and uniqueness. I don't like to be preached to about my lack of worthiness over my personal preferences and topics of interest. If you're such an authority on photography and what constitutes great images, where are your National Geo covers? I'll match my photos against any amateur's any day, but my photographic likes and dislikes go well beyond that. I love fine equipment just like people like fine cars, fine watches, and anything else well-engineered. I own 35mm, digital, and medium format gear because I can. It's arguable that a great camera can help you make better photos than a poor one. I would rather take photos with my T3 or M6 than I would with a box camera. Does that make me shallow and less of a photographer? No. It makes me someone who likes taking pictures but prefers to do it with good equipment. There are other areas of this site that discuss images. The purpose of this page is to discuss gear. If you prefer not to read it, go elsewhere. Finally, I lived in Japan for 3 years and marveled at the whole streets in Yokohama and Tokyo dedicated to selling old Leica cameras, Rolex watches, and lots of other well-engineered products. It's the love of the well-crafted product that promotes that Greg, not a need to take a technically superior photo. I strive to have both, but I also just like machinery for machinery's sake some times. I think you're the one who needs a little perspective adjustment. Cheers.
 
Charles, I understand where you are coming from. I collect watches as well as pursue photography and I share your respect for the finer things. However, as Galen Rowell use to say when people asked him what equipment he used in the field, you have to use the equipment appropriate to the purpose and not get overcome with the equipment.

A lot of people expect cameras to be able to do anything, particularly when the camera is a big-ticket item like the T3. The M6 has its limitations, as does the F5. The forum is a place to learn how to get as much out of the T3 as possible, but not to expect it to produce the same quality images one gets from an M6, F5 or a Hasselblad. I think that is what Greg is trying to say. To use the T3 to the max, the photographer still has to learn the basics of light and optics. Many of the questions here imply that there must be a way to use the camera to get perfect results yet exhibit an ignorance of such basics. Those people would do better to buy a Pentax or Canon point-and-shoot. On the other hand, we can educate such people here by advising them how to approach this camera and guide them as to its limitations as well as how to work within those limitations.

Since this is an informational forum, let's strive to educate those who want to use this beautiful camera, but also to point out there are limitations. I'm rambling, but I think you all can get my meaning.THanks.
 
Uh (clears throat), IMHO, there are point and shoots, and there are point and shoots. The T3, beyond being a fine piece of eye-candy, is a P&S capable of producing pictures indistinguishable from those of *any* 35mm camera available--SLR, rangefinder, whatever. That's why I bought one instead of, say, a Stylus at one-sixth the cost.

The T3 has put a camera back into my backpack after I stopped carrying a complete kit--I could no longer justify, or lug, the weight and bulk. So, when I find myself three days from the nearest road surrounded by astonishing scenery, I want to push the little T3's limits, including shooting at the 1/3 meter minimum focusing distance and making three-minute exposures with it propped on a rock. Pushing the limits will mean a lot of failures mixed in with the successes, but I'm getting better, incrementally.

I encourage fans of this terrific camera to continue to push the envelope: override the automatic controls, attach filters, shoot exotic films, whatever, and share your successes and failures with the rest of us.

I still have tons of other equipment and always try to match the tool to the task. But the T3 will for the forseeable future be the camera that I take when I wouldn't otherwise have one at all. I want the results to be good enough that I don't regret having a "real" camera along.

--Rick
 
Has the Contax T2 been relegated to the dustbin of photgraphic antiquities by all this fervor over the T3? Is the T3 clearly superior from an optics perspective? It's been a while since I did an A:B comparo between the T2 and T3, but when I did I found that a person with large hands and no burning desire for lens accoutrements on a P&S camera had a clear choice, the T2 for about 35% less money at street prices. I welcome your comments.

DGA
 
Dave,

While the T3 is better where it counts most--optics and shutter, especially--the T2 remains a very good camera. Importantly, many T2 fans prefer its controls over those of the T3. In comparing the two it's probably a good idea to remember that the T2 is by now a nearly 15-year-old design.

I'd say that if you like the T2's design and layout, and can get one in good condition at a fair price, then by all means, get it.

--Rick
 
Craig,

Assuming your lab is doing its job right.<font color="ff0000">•<font color="ff0000">•<font color="ff0000">•<font color="ff0000">•<font color="ff0000">•<font color="ff0000">•<font color="ff0000">•<font color="ff0000">• T3 doesn't have TTL metering. It uses a SPD sensor, located "outside" on the front of the camera... up & right of the lens. (See pg. 6 of Manual). SPD sensors are usually *very* biased towards average metering, and lighting outside of the frame can also affect its reading. In your shot... lots of small, light-colored petals with a generally dark background... the sensors picked up more on the "dark background" than on the "small flowers".

For close-ups or scenes with tricky lighting, and w/o a spotmeter, I would recommend bracketing your shots at least +/- 1 stop. A gray card helps too.

That said, the T3 is very accurate in situations where average metering is required. But it's not an SLR equipped with a spot-meter. You the user has to accomodate that.

Good luck! Niki

"Another problem I have is that several times when photographing flowers (lots of small, light-colored petals with a generally dark background), the background is OK but the flowers seem overexposed. This happens even when the flowers take up most of the shot and are centre-frame. My guess is it is due to reflected light, particularly after rain."
 
To Charles

I would suggest that you read my post again. Nowhere did I say anything about a liking of camera equipment to be "shallow and egotistical".

I would suggest that you read my post again.I never once said that I was an "authority on photography"

You go on to say that you "don't liked to preached about." Sorry to have offended your delicate sensibilities, but in actual fact I wasn't preaching, simply making a few points.

OK, here's a bit of preaching for you and you only Charles. You should read my post again. You would be well-advised to get out more. You should divorce your wife or do whatever it takes to lighten up a load. Either the above or lay off the grog when you're posting. Or get a new pair of reading glasses in order to see what I actually wrote. Anything in fact! Even get out more to buy a few more watches.Anything but being the pompous and presumptious old fart with the staggering watch collection and the chip shop on his shoulder. Preaching over.

Anyway feel more than welcome to reply to this but I will not be replying as I am going dowm into Tokyo to take a few pictures.

Happy watch and camera collecting.

Greg
 
Well Greg,
If you can't stand the heat....First of all, I'm 44, a recently retired Navy officer, and don't own many of the things I really want (including fine cars and watches). My one concession is cameras. Second, you have the nerve to label anyone pompous after your exact quote, complete with all the original misspellings:

"However it is amusing the way in which this forum puts the camera on a pedastool. One mustn't take this little gem so seriously-it's simply a point and shoot and is not capable of delivering a previsualised image.(Previsulaisation is akin to "intent" on the part of the photographer and is essential to the production of a dynamic and 'truthful' representation)."

What an arrogant and pretentious load of garbage. The fact is, small cameras like the T3 force you to become a better photographer as opposed to feature-laden SLRs. The T3 requires you to consider all the aspects of the image before taking the picture. You dish it out but can't take it. Resorting to insulting people is what I expected from you. I shouldn't have lowered myself.
 
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