Hello all!

We are all aware how sharp the Hexanon lenses are.

So why do my different bodies give me different sharpness using same lens and film?

One big contributor to sharpness is (lack of) camera body vibration and shake.

Factors for vibration: 1) Mirror slap: The T3 TC and T4 (and others) have mirror lockup through self timer.

2) Another is shutter acceleration: I do not have enough technical info on the different designs. Could someone give an opinion here?

3) Yet another is the way the shutter release button has lag:

Some buttons have greater lag, so your finger (and camera body) have stopped moving by the time the shutter is released. (like a small self-timer effect). I have read that the earlier T models had bigger lag designed in to the button. That was not perceived by the market as cool, which wanted to snap shots without the lag and hence the 'planning' or forecasting needed. I can see the advantage of that with fast moving subjects.

4) Some buttons force you to squeeze the camera more: This has been proven to increase stability. Maybe the light touch required by the FT and FS has an instabilizing effect?

5) body materials, including mirror damping foam qualities?

6) mirror alignment precision?

7) anything else?

Please submit your thoughts. I will tell my favourite Konica body, once I have heard your opinions and findings..

Thanks Tapani

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2001

Answers

body vibration

Thanks Tapani, This is exactly what I am looking for.

I don't have any comparisons myself, since I had only a FS-1 that I shoot many negative films. I recently bought a T1 and a A3 off ebay, have not shoot any film through them, so I can't say exactly. But simply from "firing empty shoots", it seems to me A3 has a smoother shutter than T1's. T1's shake is more "metal" like, heavier, and its sound is a lot louder, like a two steps "Ka Ku Ka", vs. A3's smoother "Ku Ku"... :) Maybe it is because A3 uses ths same shutter as T3's?

But A3 does not have a timer, so I can not use MLU :(

How about a shutter release cable? and a strong tripod and head will be important too...

Thanks! Wenbiao

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2001

Body Shake II-My Notes

In response to your obervations about the vibration in the Konica cameras, there are some differences, some percieved, and some real. For still close-ups, nothing beats using mu TC. It seems to have a little weight advantage, which seems to compensate for the miiror travel, and shutter fire. My second choice, and daily users are my FT-1's, they have the most stability in most all arund situations. The older T's, the T2and T3's that I own, are good portrait units, giving clear framing on subject matters, especially when lighting is a premium, whether low, or you're lookig for the right effect. So there you have it. By the way, the quietest body I have would be the FP-1 that I got for the wife to use. It is the least "clunky" in operation, but there are obvious limits. Jefferson

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2001

TC Shutter : Noisy but Stable

My TC has never given me a problem with Shutter Vibration. I occasionally have had this attached to VERY long lenses and Telescopes and the shutter never was a problem. I often WORRIED that I might get some blurring of fine features like lunar craters, etc. but NEVER saw such issues. Could be because the telecopes and lenses I used are well-mounted and that the TC is very light weight. The TC shutter has always been noisy (among the noisiest I've heard) but it didn't translate into vibration that I saw.

-- tm

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2001

body vibration

I promised to tell my favourite: It has been the TC. But now having thought about this issue some more, and after reading your views, I was aware that I could do much to improve my grip and the way I hold my cameras.

Thanks to Mike LePard, I was also able to look at the T3 manual, which had a section on how to hold the camera. So now I don't know anymore, I am gonna go out with my FS and hold it tight...

-- Anonymous, March 11, 2001