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Welcome to the Friendly Aisles!
DPRF is a spin-off of dpreview. We are a photography forum with people from all over the world freely sharing their knowledge and love of photography. Everybody is welcome, from beginners to the experienced professional. From smartphone to Medium Format.

DPRF is a community for everybody, every brand and every sensor format. Digital and film.
Enjoy this modern, easy to use software. Look also at our Reviews & Gallery!

User comments btil April 2003

I just bought one. Slow shutter performance is amazing. I have not printed anything yet, but from what I see in Photoshop, 8x12" will not be a problem. Check an image in the gallery.
 
Irakly, I am really looking forward to more posting of your test TVS-Digital pictures. Steves-digicam.com had really panned the performance of the TVS. It said the focusing was slow and the low light performance was "noisy". Worst yet, the lens (picture) quality was average. The new Canon S50 is a far better 5 megapix camera, it claimed. So I checked out the s&le photos on both cameras, the S50's details are amazing and the TVS so, so. Wonder if you have any further thoughts. I have a TVS on order, now I am having my doubts. Thanks.
 
I've just read an article in a German photography magazine which said it's a real good camera. They also don't think it produces much noise. Could it be that some people have set the levels for this camera too high (because they've never used a digital camera before and therefore complain about the noise)? The focussing does seem to be a bit of a problem though, it really is too slow according to most articles.
The problem with Steve is usually that he doesn't do any scientific testing and thinks of the price as one of the most important issues (do you get a titanium shell with a cheap camera? no because the costs are too high). Another important issue is loads of functions, which you probably won't use anyway. The Contax doesn't have it (which is actually better for the ergonomics of the camera). It even lacks manual exposure settings, but I suppose that this camera has a better light meter than my Olympus, which really needs the manual exposure...
 
Even on ISO400 this camera is not so bad (there is absolutely no banding that I can see), but on ISO100 it is awesome. In fact, the JPEG from TVS Digital looks better than a RAW file from Canon G2 processed with Adobe RAW converter into a 6MP file. I will post some more images soon.
 
Dear James,
I am looking for a digital camera and read reviews on Canon S series/G series and th newly released contax TVSS digital. I owned a Cannon G1 and Contax G2 for almost 2 years.
I reviewed the photos in Steve's review and compare those with the same objects, I found that Canon S50 can give very good images, but don't agree that the contax images are so so. Actually, the photos gave very good resolution, details and the 3D perspectives is better than the S50 photos.

I think 'll go for the TVS digital though I'll wait a little longer to let all teething problems settle.

Peter
 
Thanks for the feed back. I think there is a danger in judging quality of images from Steve's s&le pictures. I went back and looked at the s&les again, I think the S50 shoots, especially the one of the children play boat, are shot with move depth of field than the TVS. Hence, the background silhouettes are in better focus giving the overall picture a sharper appearance. I look forward to Irakly posting. That should give us a much more precise account.
Thanks again.
 
Gave this baby some more trials and here are my two cents:

* Image quality is good. White balance and color renditions are to the point. Thanks to the Vario Sonnar, there is virtually no edge distortion at the wide-angle side.
* I believe the lens gave this P&S much merit. When we compare it with S50, it’s like comparing a film based EOS with N1. Canon always focuses faster and has more features but what Contax gets are the "Lenses".
* The build quality is excellent, it's worthwhile to pay the 20% premium on this alone.
* Battery life is better than expected. However my battery is still quite new and I think time will tell.
* The focusing speed is horrible, especially in low light condition. Do not expect to use it for actions. Fall back to manual focus if needed.
* Low ISO setting is recommended if possible. You can get much more out of this camera and its marvelous lens.
 
I just posted an image in the Test Gallery with a 1 second exposure at ISO80. It speaks for itself, especially for anyone who tried long exposures with Contax ND. I deliberately underexposed it one stop to try to get more noise. The noise does not show up on 8x10.
I must admit, however, that I shot the same picture with 1/2 sec shutter speed at ISO160, and noise is quite evident even for a 5x7 print.
 
Hi all~

I am new user here and live in HK. It is very difficult to find information about this TVS digital here, especially the Black finish. I even cannot find any online shop provides information on the black finish.

Is there any good website / online shop that have describe the Black finish one? I like the black one other than silver, but I don't know whether it is really USD$100 more expensive than the silver one --- just the black design? or more?

Anyway I am considering buying this after reading lots of comment right here and some digital forum.

By the way any more tips or comments on this digital camera?

Thanks a lot.
 
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