Contax T 35mm pocket camera beside a current digital camera

[hotguy337]

I'm looking out for a Contax T. I have a Minox 35GL which is my favourite film camera to use. It's so easy and quick with the zone focusing, but the Contax T looks like my kind of camera as well. I'll bet it's really good with slide film!

Nice video.

[maxcontax]

@hotguy337

When I bought this one I looked pretty hard at the Minox, this one has a rangefinder instead of zone focus and that's what won me over, that and Zeiss T-star optics. The exposure meter is great, the slides are almost 3D.

[tristambeow]

just got a contax t3, not quite as compact... i would be interested to know how you arrive at your figures for 35mm v digital (21mb for 35mm?).

[maxcontax]

@tristambeow

It's a simple calculation based on dots per inch and loosely relating that to pixels: a 24 x 36 mm negative is 0.945 inches x 1.473 inches.  scanning at 4000 dpi, as good as my Epson 4990 will do, gives a file that is 3780 x 5892 dpi. The multiplication gives 22 megapixels or at least dots. I find scanning that anything over 2500 dpi is a bit moot. Unless you have Noise Ninja to take out the crap noise.

[Athiril]

@maxcontax the true detail of a flatbed scanner is absolutely rubbish. The optics cannot resolve 4000 dpi. In fact they resolve about 1300 dpi.

[maxcontax]

@Athiril

I just don't know.  That is what Epson and the Silverfast software says. The detail beyond 2500 seems hard to find, but I really don't know the actual physical resolving power of scanners. Is it not Fraud to say they can resolve 4000 when they can't??

[Athiril]

@maxcontax It is fraud in my opinion. They say optical resolution, but its not the optical system's resolution, and it's certainly not the total system resolution, it can only refer to the sensor resolution which is not matched by the optics, They are also not really 16-bit, have banding diffused by a terrible SNR among other problems.

[Athiril]

I've got an image with a 3200 dpi crop from V500 from FP4+ in 1+50 Rodinal, and 2500 dpi size crop from dSLR with macro lens (G.Zuiko 50mm reversed), the V500 3200 dpi crop doesn't hold a candle to it or come anywhere near close to it at all. Seems I cant post links though.. any suggestions to share it?

[NicholasSalton]

Nice one.

[mdigital21]

Film is still alive don't be fooled.

Plus, contax rules!!!!!

[kernow62]

I prefer the Minox myself. You can pick up the Russian copies cheap, I think it is a Kiev, but watch out, they leak light.

[maxcontax]

@kernow62

the MInox had a Leica lens! they were quite amazing.

[AerialSlivers]

The Minox 35 was even dinkier than the Contax, (which is modeled after the Minox?) The Olympus XA series is not a bad budget consideration either. 

[maxcontax]

@AerialSlivers

I nearly bought one. But the Contax T has a rangefinder built in and the Minox was zone focus. I never had a chance to compare the results to each other.

[likenumber23]

I really enjoy all your camera videos. If you can, please make an on location video of you using one of your beautiful Rollies and the whole enlarging process. That would be great.

[maxcontax]

@likenumber23

Thanks for your remarks, indeed I am trying to find time to shoot a video of the rollei's in action. Gets more complicated because I either need a cameraman or an actor! Hopefully by Christmas

maxconta