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Review Contax T3

James,
I have the T3 and the GR1s. The T3 is a recent purchase, so I'm still paying with it.

The T3 has some better features over the GR1 (faster top shutter speed, compatible with off camera flash and cable release, has some customizable settings). On the other hand, as I noted above, I find the motors/mechanics on the T3 a bit "clunky" and unrefined.

Ergonomically, the GR1 wins hands down; a little more compact (thinner), feels better in the hand (to me), provides more accurate focus confirmation and shutter speed info, and generally very user friendly.

Optically, and for the shooting that I do (negative films, enlargement no greater than 8 by 10) the lenses are pretty close. However, I like the 35mm perspective better. It is just a little more neutral, and the best compromise for a carry everywhere camera. For a lot of the general stuff I shoot, details in the distance were getting lost in standard size prints with the 28mm. 28 is good for confined spots and the street though, which is why I'll keep it.

You couldn't go wrong with either camera, just decide which feature would be most important to you and which limitation you could live with given your style of shooting.

If they made a GR1 with a 40 or 45mm, it would be a great compliment to the 28mm and I'd pick one up in a second.
 
I've read of a number of complaints about AF misalignment (always to the right, sometimes centered nearly 75% to the Rt) on the T3, in both it's regular and AFL focus functions. I would hope that if Contax had heard enough complaints about this, they would fix the problem.

Have any recent T3 owners seen this problem? Is there any indication that Contax has/is solving the issue in their current T3 production? I think I'd like a T3, but not if I have to guesstimate the autofocus.
 
Where on this page is the dealer listing I saw mentioned somewhere? -Are those dealers aware of the AF issue, and willing to work w/the customer -sending replacement/s if need be- until they get a good one?
 
Dear Mr. P.Surfer,

For the alignment problem of AF system, I think it only happens when focusing on a close object (normally less than 2m). As T3 is not a SLR camera, what you see in viewfinder is not exactly what the film will take. There are actually two point of views between the viewfinder and the lens. The difference is resulted from different angle of views between the viewfinder and the lens, that is significantly enlarged when you focus on a close object. The manufacturer has noticed about this and outlined two shooting frames (normal and macro) inside the viewfinder. If you shoot on a close object, you must use the macro frame which is the same rectangle as the normal frame but shifted to lower right corner. In the same case, when you shoot on close object, you also have to "manually" shift your focusing point a little to the lower right side.

I have used this practice for many times but still not have confidence on the "guess' focus point. Perhaps, this is a tradeoff between precision of spot AF and the focus shift on various distinces. I cannot tell whether it is a shortcoming or not.
 
No, the comments on various boards I refer to (Photo.net, Contax.org.uk, and the mile-long thread at <http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=005ic4>)
--are not talking about parallax at close distance, but focusing center being pretty far right of center at Any distance out to inf. It seems that more than a few T3's have suffered from this, and I hoped that some posters on this list would weigh in w/their own experience.
 
I also read about the focusing problem with the T3 on photo.net. However, I had already purchased a T3 and had used it for about a year without any focusing problems in terms of my actual photographic results. Its true, if you place the focusing circle at the right edge of a subject so that the circle is half on and half off the edge the camera will tend to focus on the background. This is true at any distance up to infinity as far as I can tell. As disturbing as this may sound, the 'problem' has not affected the photos I have taken with the T3 thus far. This raises another interesting problem-- do we purchase cameras in order to make photographs, or do we spend our money in search of some 'holy grail' of technical perfection? Nevertheless, I must say that I think that the focusing circle in the viewfinder should be larger. The relatively small diameter of this circle suggests a more accurate focusing capability than the T3 actually possesses. The tendency is for the camera to focus slightly high and to the right of the circle. A larger diameter circle would mitigate this 'problem'. By the way,I've noticed that my G1 does not have this 'problem'-- but the real question for me is this: why hasn't this 'problem' infected the photographs I make with the T3? My answer is that the 'problem' is more hypothetical than real in terms of actual field work.
 
> I have just purchased a s/h T2 and made two rolls of film with it. I have the impression that there is a focusing problem with this camera as the pictures came back unsharp when I have used this camera as a point and shot. Pictures at infinity are correct. I have bought this camera because of the grate reputation of the sharpness of the lens and I can say that for the time beeing I feel rather disappointed. Is there something wrong with this particular camera or there is a problem already known? Thanks for any input
 
I have been using Minolta autofocus continuously since the beginning in the mid 80's and have two professional models today. I still have focus problems from time to time. I also just bought a new T3 and 2 used G2 systems. I can honestly say that the focus problems (at least for me) are no different with any of my cameras or any of the lens that I have (28, 45, 90 and 35-70 Contax). Each of the cameras needs a little moving around from time to time in difficult focusing times. I can put up with the minor problems for the benefits that autofocus gives me and my eyes.
 
I spoke to Kyocera USA and they can adjust the autofocus point if your camera appears to have a problem. They said that they have not been apprised of any general defect in autofocusing. If your camera is still under warranty, it will be covered. Just go to the Kyocera North America website and then go to the Contax division, dealers & support.
 
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