Which Contax System suits best to your needs

[Guest]

I have a T2 for several years now and have made direct comparisons for point and shoot applications like mentioned by Jen. I feel that the T2 is really very good. Direct comparison with the Olympus mju, various Nikon P&S cameras leaves the T2 in unchallenged number 1 position: in 4*6 inches prints also!!
But . . . beauty is beauty to the eyes of the beholder. And I have noticed that holding the camera really still during the exposure is important, the slightest motion will overrule all the inherent lens quality advantages and with this camera this not always easy for my size of hands.
I became convinced to want to buy the T2 because my local dealer borrowed me his demo model for a weekend, I shot a couple of rolls of the same situations with both the T2 and the Olympus and Nikons and that convinced me.
I have seen some comments on this site with reference to a problem of the T2 regarding vignetting of the T2 lens. I agree that for the critical applications (slides and lens wide open) this is observable. Usually, however, this is not a real problem for point and shoot, or rather the cameras mentioned above have this much more than the T2. Whether the T3 is a lot better I cannot judge, since I have not used one.
The most interesting feature of the T2 is the going price: for 250-350 Euro one can buy a close to new T2 on Ebay: look at Ebay Germany for instance:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1385164218

or

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1385164218.

For this price it is the best P&S camera one can buy.
Oh . . a weak spot of both the T2 and (from hear say) the T3 is the relatively weak flash. An adapter (35 Euro), named SLA-1 and an ordinary mid contact flash solve this effectively.

 

[Guest]

I am a g2 user. any experienced flash users with this camera. I am mainely a available light photographer and use flash on manual but I am gonna buy a small flash should I buy mets or small contax... thank to all that respond.
:0)
happy holloween shooting.

 

[Guest]

I'm currently a canon A1 user, last 10 years, and travel a lot, taking photos. i want to build a new system to travel with, preferably manual focus - i'm quite wedded to this as opposed to auto-focus. is the RX a good option as a base to build a system around, or is this not a good idea, taking into consideration that manual focus isn't that populr any longer, and contax might not produce any more manual focus lenses?
thanks,
Marc.

 

[Guest]

Hi Marc,

in my personal experience I can fully recommend RX (or the new RXII). RX is a very good base for a professional system, especially if you want to use big Zeiss glass like 2.8/180 or 35-135. For people photography RX + 1.4/80 is great. RX is heavy (approx. 900 g) but very solid and has good handling. The most important features for me are DFI, spot meter, well d&ed mirror and lockable ocular. I use RX mainly with VS 35-135, an unbeatable combination for universal photography. The only critic I have is that the viewfinder could be somewhat brighter and the viewfinder display could be somewhat larger.

Dieter

 

[Guest]

Dieter

In case you have not seen it. The new RXII has just been announced on Kyocera Japanese homepage
http://www.kyocera.co.jp/news/2002/1003.html

Here is the summary of the new changes:
*No DFI
*20% brighter viewfinder
*2 second self timer
*132,000 Yen
*5 Nov 02 launch date

One main issue for me personally is that there is no Polaroid back available for the RX series.
Albert.

 

[Guest]

Dieter,

thanks for your reply - it was helpful - the reason i was thinking about the rx above the aria was its robustness and its ability to 'hold' longer lenses like the 80-200, whereas the aria has a bit more difficulty, due to its light weight

Marc.

 

[Guest]

Hi Marc,

I have an ARIA and a VS 4/80-200 and find it very easy to handle (right hand on ARIA body, left hand on VS zoom ring), you don´t need RX for this lens it may be even to heavy for holding with one hand. So far my personal experience.

Dieter

 

[Guest]

Hello
My experence has been with Nikon for 20 years, ,Two bodies, F3 & F100 with all their 2.8 lenses, Although I was happy at times with the picture quality, I was unhappy with inconsistant quality, The F100 had to many bells and whistles, I saw the N1, , and that was it, good by Nikon-sold all the stuff--and I have never been happier-quality across the board--with the 24/85 and 70/300

Rick

 

[Guest]

> Rick

What were some of the main selling points for you over the Nikon? I like the Dual-focus feature of the lenses that have it.

Kevin

 

[Guest]

kevin
Yes I like the Dual -focus feature of the lenses, but the selling points were
(1) final image , very sharp and very real color tones.
(2)they give you just what you need ,for the final image,they do not overwhelm you with tons of options--
(3) The great feel ,quality
(4) And some day I hope it never comes when you try to buy film and the salesperson asks ,what is film? you can move to digital which I have no interest at this time
(5) This camera is making me get better consistent results,
I have been using the 24/85 the most and must say the slides I get back are are just great--
I cannot ask for anything more, but when I had Nikon I was always looking fot that better optic
The next thing on my list will be the 50 1.4