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Questions about T3 and tripod

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Hi everyone,

I just ordered a T3 and I had a few questions while I wait for the camera to show up. First, is the tripod mount made of metal? Do many of you use the T3 with a tripod for landscape and cityscape photos, or only hand-held for snapshots? With all the hype around this camera, I'm expecting to be able to use it on a tripod and get results quite similar to my Canon EOS with 35mm prime lens. Does anyone actually have any experience comparing these two sytems?

Thanks
 
I recently purchased a T3 and took shots with and without a tripod. Almost all shots turned out great. The tripod mount is made of metal. You won't need a tripod for candid shots depending on the film you are shooting. I had a mini tripod with me and I used it for some distant sunset shots. I wish I had a full size tripod though since the mini didn't allow me to compose the shots as well as I would have liked. Good luck.
 
> Hi Fahd, The tripod mount on T3 is made out of plastic. I use it mainly for hand-held candid/street/snapshots photography. The photography style/technique is different to classic SLR (at least for me to hit the optimal picture compsition is more difficult with this rangefinder camera), but purely optical performance is comparable with my profi "G" Minolta lenses. Hope that this will help You
 
> > Hi Fahd, The tripod mount on T3 is made out of plastic. I use it mainly > for hand-held candid/street/snapshots photography. The photography > style/technique is different to classic SLR (at least for me to hit the > optimal picture compsition is more difficult with this rangefinder camera) , > but purely optical performance is comparable with my profi "G" Minolta > lenses. Hope that this will help You
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. I've shot 4 rolls (Reala, Superia200, 2GOLD100) and I need some advise on how to get the best results from this camera. The best pictures I've made so far have been close-up portaits. These have been outstanding, but many of the other shots have not, and look quite ordinary. I notice film grain much more with this camera (exept for the close-up shots), when copared to pictures from my Canon SLR and my old Olympus p&s. I don't know what to make of this, maybe camera-shake or the lab that I'm using (they seem quite profesional though, and there are some shots that are clear and more grain-free). I'm going to try A&I processing with my next roll.

Am I expecting too much from this pretty little point&shoot? So many posters have compared this camera to their SLR gear, so that's what I was expecting. My SLR doesn't even have pro-lens'.

Now I'm considering another camera for more serious, non-snapshot and portrait, photos. Can anyone give me some feedback on the G2 w/45 or N1 w/50, comparing to T3 prints?
 
T3 is just great. I also use G2 with 28/45/90 and Pentax MZ-S SLR with so called pro 28-70/2.8 and 80-200/2.8 lens. I prefer T3 pictures over Pentax without any doubt. I made enlargements up to 7x10 inch and they look beautiful. Of course, pictures from G2 are even better. But if you are going to print only relatively small pictures (4x6in), the difference between T3 and G2 will be less noticable.

I think grain in your pictures is a result of bad lab work.
 
Actually, after I really compared prints, I think I like the T3 better than my SLR! The colors look better to me.
 
Fahd, maybe if you posted some of your photos for others to review they could help you figure out what is going on? Maybe post two pics showing the "grain" problem, and one from your old camera showing no grain on the same film under similar conditions.

I would guess the grain is showing up in light colored parts of the photo, like the sky? I am not sure that this is actually a fault of the camera, but maybe the fact that your photos are actually in sharp focus on these light areas? I don't think you'd see grain of film if a photo was not sharp, or the area was out of focus. Maybe the other cameras were just slightly soft that you never noticed it. Why not pick up a nice roll of professional portrait film and try that? It's usually 160 speed and the grain is usually not noticeable - your contrast and saturation would be reduced but if you are shooting close-ups of people it would look quite pleasing (at least to me). My preference is for Agfa Portrait, but Fuji NPS (also 160 speed) is also good. Picking up one roll for this test might show you what is going on. And who knows? You might like it so much you stay with it
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Hope this helps a little. -Lynn PS: Now might not be the time to test out A&I since you'll want quick answers about this test roll. My last roll of film to them too 18 days - they say they are overburdened and their machines can't keep up with the volume
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Hello Fahd,

I can second the notion that the T3 is a nice complement to, and in many ways the equivalent of a G2 w/ 35 Planar. Photos taken with the T3 exhibit a similar "Zeiss look." I often project slides taken with the T3 to quite large magnifications, and am repeatedly dazzled at what the tiny camera is capable of.

Can I suggest you run a test roll of slides, using a pro slide film? This should eliminate most of the photo lab variable and can showcase what the T3 is capable of. As you note, the little guy is excellent at closeups, and with a minimum focus distance of 0.3m, has at least one trick the G2 can't match!

Enjoy your T3.

--Rick
 
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