Yashica T4 Super

I must say, I have posted thoughts on the Yashica T4 super before, but I must add this additional one.

I have been impressed by the T4s Zeiss 35mm 3.5 Tessar for all my black white work for its sharpness. However, I ran a roll of color transparency film through it for the first time and must say that Im impressed by the great color rendition of this little lens!

I used Velvia 50 (which is already has great saturation) as my test. I kept the T4 in my pocket as my little traveling camera. I used it to photograph many of the color murals and graffitti around the city. All the colors came back damn good!

In terms of exposure, I was impressed to see that it was accurate in most of my images. On my 36 exp roll, only one came out underexposed.

The built-in flash was used in some cases to help "pop" the colors and it worked well, never washing out the colors. I have found that the flash on the T4 works better for enhancing day time photos than lighting people shots at night, people tend to get washed out because the flash is too bright.

Being impressed by the T4, Im beginning to think about picking up a used Contax T2. My only wish list of items is that the T4 had aperture priority settings but then if it had, it wouldnt cost $150! Being impressed by the T4, I think I will most likely upgrade to a ContaxT2 soon.

-- nhat nguyen (nhat@lowrider.com), May 30, 2000

Answers

I started with a T4, and now also have a Contax T2. However, this is a discontinued camera. I still see mint-in-box versions for around $450. Believe it or not, the T4 is a little sharper in the center of the frame, T2 better across the frame. T2 does great flash fill. I wish you could set 2.8 as an aperture, but when you do, that's the force flash setting.

-- phil stiles (pjs@worldpath.net), May 30, 2000.

I have the Contax T2, and while it is a great camera with very impressive build quality, it is also more than twice the weight of the T4. It's definitely not a "pocket" camera in the sense that it is too heavy to travel well stuffed in a jacket or coat. Half the time when I'm carrying it I end up wishing I had a "real" rangefinder or SLR with me, since I end up being aware that I am carrying it anyway.

The T4, on the other hand, is light enough to truly forget you are carrying it until you need it. Also, if it gets stolen, it's a lot less costly to replace than the Contax. If you really want a camera with a high quality lens for grab shots, the T4 is hard to beat.

Again, the Contax is a great camera, just consider the weight before you take the plunge to "upgrade."

-- Gary Voth (gary_voth@msn.com), May 31, 2000.

The T5 is indeed a great little camera. My 6 year old son is using it these days (I prefer the GR1s for better exposure control).

-- Paulo Bizarro (pbizarro@cggp.pt), May 31, 2000.

The one aspect of the T4 that I do not like is its shutter lag. It will drive you crazy if shooting in situations where the subject is moving or events are changing rapidly. The T2 is not much better in this regard. Users of the Minilux say it is much better in terms of shutter lag.

Here's an older thread on the "T2 vs. T4" topic.

http://photo.net//bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000TSn

-- John McCormack (jpmccormac@aol.com), May 31, 2000.

I just finished a real quick webiste that has my thoughts on the T4, if you are interested, it's at:

http://members.aol.com/pasadena1/t4.html

it's a simple site and something i whipped up in about an hours time.

-- nhat nguyen (nhat@lowrider.com), May 31, 2000.

Well, I did it.

I ordered a used Contax T2 this afternoon.

Thanks for the comment on the heaviness of the T2, i assumed that it was a light P&S. So I went to a local camera store where one of the staff members had a personal T2 and asked if I could fiddle around and check out it's weight. Not too bad... not light when compared to the Yashica, but way lighter than my Nikon F4s, which has become my benchmark for measuring weight!

I figured I get it and spend about a month shooting with it, and if it;s a winner, then I'll keep it for all it's worth. If I should not be happy with it, then I'll just sell it on Ebay and maybe suffer a little loss, I'll consider the loss the "rental" fee for the month!

The only things that concern me are: top speed of 1/200 in Aperture Priority mode, and the inabilility to use f2.8 in Aperture priority mode.

Other than that, it seemed like a light enough camera to carry in my mini Tamrac case with the belt loop attachment.

The viewfinder on this camera is quite unmatched by any other compact. Makes the Minilux's viewfinder look microscopic.

Thanks all for you help and input

-- nhat nguyen (nhat@lowrider.com), May 31, 2000.

In regards to the comment on the Minilux having an improve shutter lag when compared to the Contax and Yashica, it's true, the lens racks itself into the focussed position when you depress the shutter release button half way down, just like your SLR.

-- nhat nguyen (nhat@lowrider.com), May 31, 2000.