A few years ago I walked into a London camera shop and asked if they had a Contax T3 I could take a look at, they didn’t. A staff member did point me towards something a bit more affordable, however, so 30 quid later I walked out with this little gem.
The first roll I got out of this almost blew me away. It didn’t quite change my photography, but when my images came back from the lab it did change my mind about point & shoots, having previously shot with SLRs and decently vintage cameras. The AF and metering are mostly spot on, the flash tends expose well too.
The camera almost reminds me of a bar of soap in the way it’s smoothly shaped but it’s nice to hold in the hand, the viewfinder is a decent size and the shutter release has a distinct detent for AF. There’s typical point and shoot settings on the back, including the ability to turn the flash off or set the camera to remain at infinity, useful for taking photos through windows. I enjoy the date imprint too, I’m one of those people.
The lens seems decent enough for what I use it for as I usually just get my film photos printed, only recently have I started getting into scans and sharing them digitally.
Importantly the size of the camera means it can live in my pocket! It’s not hard to spend a large amount of cash on film photography, but this is easily the best £30 I’ve spent on a camera.
I eventually got to hold a Contax T3 when I visited New York.
I’m slowly but surely getting through both developed and undeveloped film and sharing them alongside my other media on my Instagram: fortunepie
Nice images, you have a good eye for composition. They’d look a lot better without that date stamp. I gave my 80’s vintage plastic Fuji 35mm rangefinder to my 22 year old son, who is enjoying the thrill of 35mm photography for the first time. I now shoot with a Fuji X-T1.
Thank you! Personally I like the date stamp, but I can see what you mean! It’s great you’re getting your son into film! I’m 23 and I love it!
Wow, I love the images! Especially the 3rd one down (vegetation and large windows). I have a soft spot for Fuji cameras (film and digital), and these images just make me evermore so fond of them.
Thanks! That location is the Sky Garden in London. It’s free to visit!
Thank you for the review, your photos are really nice! I just bought this little camera and I am looking forward to test it soon.