Leica C2/C3 comments until June 2003

[Guest]

I am currently using a Minilux zoom for nearly 3 years and the pictures quality is very good. (My biggest problem is battery high consumption !).
Price is about 1000 euros. leica has released now a new C3 camera at nearly hlf this price (about 500 K euros). I know that the lens range is now 28- 80 mm as seen in tech specs on Leica website.

Would you advise me to change my Minilux Zoom for the C3 ?

 

[Guest]

Dear Droullers,

Quite a different camera. The C3 is a variant of the C1. My wife upgraded from the C1 to the Minilux Zoom and we use it with Fuji NPH allowing the flash to be turned off most of the time. To date battery consumption has not been noticeable. When flash is required the CF unit is added which is more powerful and provides better illumination.

The C1 is also slow to use in action situations and the optics are satisfactory but not comparible to the Minilux Zoom.

Try working without flash for a while.

All the best.

Justin

 

[Guest]

Justin,

Thanks for your explanation. Do you mean that the new C3 Lens quality is not as good as the Minilux Zoom one ? If seemed to me that having a 28-80 lens is more confortable than a 35-70= mm lens.

Regards

Laurent.

 

[Guest]

Hi Laurent,

Yes, it is a good lens for a P&S, but not in the same class as the Minilux Zoom.

Let me share a little of my experience. I use Leica M and R lenses shooting mostly transparencies which are projected from a Pradovit (with brightlight kit) onto a 8' x 8' MW screen. When my wife's slides from the Minilux Zoom are interposed, it is difficult if not impossible to distinguish. With the C1 slides the difference is apparent particularly with wide-angle. The fall-off is quite noticeable.

I concur regarding focal length and experience the same frustration with my Vario lenses. The new 1:4/35-70 is stunning, however I still gravitate to the ancient Angenieux 1:2,8/45-90 not only for the range but the speed.

See if you can borrow a C3 and experiment. Depending on how you use it and what you want to photograph it may suit.

Let me know if I can assist further.

Sincerely,

Justin

 

[Guest]

Can anyone direct me to a test of the Minilux Zoom lens? Or of the C3 lens? I'm interested in buying a point and shoot camera with the best lens available. Thank you.

 

[Guest]

> > > Catherine

If you want the best lens you should look at the Minilux rather than=20 one of the zooms...

Jon > >

 

[Guest]

>Catherine Davis asked: > Can anyone direct me to a test of the Minilux Zoom lens? Or of the C3 > lens? I'm interested in buying a point and shoot camera with the best > lens available. Thank you.

The Minilux zoom is not as feature rich as the Minilux. See the following review of the Minilux http://www.imx.nl/photosite/leica/magazine/minilux.html

Mine is For Sale, These pictures were shot with it:

http://www.sonc.com/wayne_saws.htm http://www.sonc.com/paw2/crawfishtraps.htm

Leica titanium Minilux wonderful f2.4 lens, extremely sharp. Zing case included. $400 http://www.sonc.com/minilux.jpg

Regards, Sonny Carter http://www.sonc.com sonc@sonc.com

 

[Guest]

Well, thanks for the responses. I'm primarily interested in a zoom and have heard so many good things about the minilux zoom that I wanted to read an objective report about the lens. Maybe I'll reconsider and buy a compact with a fixed focal length. Are there any point and shoots with a 50mm lens?

 

[Guest]

Catherine,

The European magazine FOTO is supposed to run a comparison of the latest wide angle (28mm - XXmm) P&S zooms in an upcoming issue. The cameras to be included, I believe, are the C3, Olympus Wide 100 (Mju III) and the Yashica T4 Zoom.

As for Minilux (non-zoom) I found it to be very good optically, though the viewfinder is tiny and the control mode switches for the flash, etc. are a pain to use. The Contax T3 is better in this department - and the Ricoh GR1/GR1s/GR1v have the best controls of any.

 

[Guest]

Catherine

I am also looking for a P&S compact camera with a good quality lens. So far my search is based mainly on reading web reviews and posts on forums from users. I have come to the list below:

1. Contax T3 (35mm/F2.8): you can visit this web link for s&le images http://www.dpgallery.com/resource/t3/t3gallery-andrea.asp

2. Ricoh GR1 (28mm/F2.8): there is a comprehensive review at this link http://homepage.ntlworld.com/the.leighs/index.html

3. Rollei AFM35 (38mm/F2.6) : visit this link at http://www.rollei.tv/CL/AFM35.htm for the MTF curves.

I would think the Contax T3 is out of my budget while the Ricoh GR1 maybe more suited for my needs (fast and sharp lens, aperture control and manual focus). The Rollei AFM35 look fantastic with one of the fastest lens at F2.6, and seems easy to use. I have read about the S-Apogon HFT lens producing very sharp and balanced images.

On the other hand, I am tempted to get a compact P&S zoom lens over a fixed one for reasons of practicality - I can shoot both wide (28mm) for landscapes, and tele (80mm) for portraits. The new Leica C3 fit this need and looks pretty good, but I have not seen any test images posted on any forums yet. I hope some one could comment on their experience on the C3, and maybe after seeing s&le images of the C3 would convince me on the spot to get one! The Contax T3 images are really great (the URL quoted above proves) and it did moved me to drool and exclaimed "this is it!". However, it's also the most expensive P&S camera to buy.