Ahh... at last, the elusive T-3, the predecessor of one of the most sought after cameras on the net, the T-4. This is a car-boot-sale find, an old lady sold it to me and apologised for the cracked LCD panel which works well though. It came loaded with film so all i had to do is take the camera out and start shooting.
The T-3 is a noticeable bigger camera than the T-4. It is weather-proof and of course the centre of attention is the 35mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss lens.There is a rumour going on the internet that the lens is the same on both the T-3 and the T-4 but on the T-4 it was limited to open up to f/3.5 because it is too soft at f/2.8. That is not correct, these are two different lenses. The one on the T-3 is half a stop faster and the 4 elements are spread in 4 groups rather than 3 in the T-4. Other features include the New Angle Scope which is actually a waist level finder for hip-level shots. I cannot say that i found it terribly useful but i read that there are many people that do. Something interesting that i don't remember seeing it on the T-4, is the continuous shooting mode , where the camera continues to focus as long as you hold the shutter button down and it will take the pic at any time. Nice feature if you ask me.
Now, what about the picture quality. Mixed emotions. The pictures are nice and sharp but when i scan them on high resolution (2400 dpi) and check them on 100% zoom, it seems that it does not record that much detail as I though it would. It is in the Olympus Stylus category but not as good as the T-4, the Nikon L35AF or the DL SuperMini. Maybe I was expecting too much right from the start - being a T-series and carring a Zeiss lens. The pictures are good but as I said you can see the crispiness on pictures taken with the L35AF or the SuperMini but I can't see that with the T-3. Maybe it's my sample... i don't know. I've joined a discussion on a website about the T-3. It seems that some of the owners prefer to use the T-3 with colour film and the T-4 with b&w. I used both on mine, the colour one have a specific "brownish" hue on it, not sure why, I would expect the minilab to have corrected that. It is quite pleasing effect though, it gives a feeling of vintage on the pictures. B&w tones are fine, maybe a bit soft when there is not much light available (aperture close to 2,8 maybe?).
The T-3 is a noticeable bigger camera than the T-4. It is weather-proof and of course the centre of attention is the 35mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss lens.There is a rumour going on the internet that the lens is the same on both the T-3 and the T-4 but on the T-4 it was limited to open up to f/3.5 because it is too soft at f/2.8. That is not correct, these are two different lenses. The one on the T-3 is half a stop faster and the 4 elements are spread in 4 groups rather than 3 in the T-4. Other features include the New Angle Scope which is actually a waist level finder for hip-level shots. I cannot say that i found it terribly useful but i read that there are many people that do. Something interesting that i don't remember seeing it on the T-4, is the continuous shooting mode , where the camera continues to focus as long as you hold the shutter button down and it will take the pic at any time. Nice feature if you ask me.Now, what about the picture quality. Mixed emotions. The pictures are nice and sharp but when i scan them on high resolution (2400 dpi) and check them on 100% zoom, it seems that it does not record that much detail as I though it would. It is in the Olympus Stylus category but not as good as the T-4, the Nikon L35AF or the DL SuperMini. Maybe I was expecting too much right from the start - being a T-series and carring a Zeiss lens. The pictures are good but as I said you can see the crispiness on pictures taken with the L35AF or the SuperMini but I can't see that with the T-3. Maybe it's my sample... i don't know. I've joined a discussion on a website about the T-3. It seems that some of the owners prefer to use the T-3 with colour film and the T-4 with b&w. I used both on mine, the colour one have a specific "brownish" hue on it, not sure why, I would expect the minilab to have corrected that. It is quite pleasing effect though, it gives a feeling of vintage on the pictures. B&w tones are fine, maybe a bit soft when there is not much light available (aperture close to 2,8 maybe?).
Note something interesting. The motordrive is a bit on the loud side but, just like the Nikon L35AF when you press the shutter button it takes the picture but it doesn't advance the film unless you release it. In other words, take the picture, move away, release the button and you have a stealth/silent camera. Please note that the camera uses one 2CR5 battery, a bit expensive and not so easy to find.
Conclusion
This is a nice camera. Not quite in the same league as the cameras fore mentioned but still a very good one. At the moment they tend to go cheap on the internet but this might change soon with all the hype going on about Yashica's T-series. They are well made cameras, weatherproof, maybe a bit chunky for my liking but they produce nice pictures and the f/2.8 is always a bonus. The only problem with this camera is that it does not stand out from the crowd as it is a good performer in every department but it does not really shine in any. Now, i am sure that there will be at least one person who will write and say that his T-3 takes better pictures than his T-4 or L35AF or the little Fuji and he might be right - I am writing about the samples I 've got in my hands. But at this point I do feel that everything that Yashica did with the T-4 is a major improvement over the T-3. As with all cameras, if you find it cheap, give it a go - you might be surprised.
I am the guy who has the opposite experience from you! My T4 is a total step back in relation to the T3, no weather proof, no N.A. scope. Lens wise, like you say, it is a false Tessar, it is in fact an Unar, a Zeiss design abandoned before coating was available because of the extra air surfaces of the 4 groups. Whatever, with mine, colour rendition is very nice, very Zeiss. The lens, although not Contax T sharp is much sharper than my T4. The camera is big, ugly, but I too think it is the best of the series. I also have the T (the first one) and performance is also very ordinary, identical to the T4. Mind you, for me, any of the T series produces good results, as I am not a pixel counter or MTF junkie. As I only paid 10 € to have all 3 of them, I really can't complain, but I can see that my T3 is better, which is only fair as I had to fork out 5 € for it comparing to the 3€ that I paid for the T4!
ReplyDeleteHi Paulo,
DeleteThanks for your comments. My sample came with a cracked LCD and a strong suspicion of been dropped. My experience with the T4 is that there are some samples that give top-notch performance and others that are average. The review of the T4 on this blog was based on a sample was was excellent. After that i got two lemons. The T5 was good too but i feel that the L35AF is better lens-wise.
Thank you for stopping by - this blog is a work on progress. I am in the process of film testing an Olympus OM-1n and a Nikon F4s - both reviews to follow.
Regards,
Pan