Looking for a high-end point and shoot

[puketronic]

I'm looking for a compact film P&S to use mostly in low-light without flash. I have an epic but the lens is too poor at wide apertures. I like the camera overall: it is very simple and small. I have a Hexar AF, and I like it, but for different purposes. Well, my intended use is for a "pocket" camera. Ideally it would fit in my jean pocket but the only camera that seems to rival the epic is the Contax T3 and Ricoh Gr1.

Requirements:
-Autofocus and autoexposure.
-35mm-50mm f2.8 or faster.
-Good performance at wide apertures.
-Reasonably small. The lens must be retractable.

Of lesser importance, but still important is the size, ergonomics, viewfinder, and build. I realize that portibility comes with sacrifices so I'm willing to let go of these first. I don't care for filters/hoods, body color, brand, and flash. My budget is flexible. Ideally I wouldn't want to spend more than I have to like everyone else but I want to be aware of all my options regardless of price. I'd love to keep it to $200-$300 but I would be willing to spend more but unlikely anything over $500.

The cameras that I'm ruling out are:
Ricoh series: too wide
Rollei 35: scale-focus
Hexar AF: too big
Olympus Epic: lens is too poor at wide apertures.

The cameras that i'm most interested in are:
Contax T2
Contax T3
Fuji Klasse
Fuji Klasse S
Rollei AFM35 (same as Klasse, I've heard?)
Nikon 35ti

I'm leaning mostly towards the T2, or maybe a T3 if I'm willing to spend $$$. They seem to be the most common and popular. I don't hear much about the Fuji's but the specs seem to fit my requirements, so I'm looking into those. I hear about the Nikon but I don't see what it has to offer over the T2, but it's a worthwhile consideration.

1. Am I missing any? I threw out the Leica cameras because I'm not sure if they are worthwhile. I hear that the Minilux is plagued with E02 errors but what about the CM? I couldn't find the CM on ebay to find it's market value. Are they rare? The E02 and lack of CM availability makes me not want to consider these cameras, but I'm leaving them on the list anyways.
2. What are your experiences with these cameras? I'm sure some of you own or have owned more than one of these.

 

[wblynch]

Fuji Klasse. That's a nice camera.

Stay away from Leica C1, C2, and C3. They are constructed very poorly and not repairable.

 

[Les Sarile]

Nikon 35Ti for the Nikkor lens -> http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/htmls/models/compact-images/Nikon35Ti28Ti/Html/index.htm

 

[mcgrattan]

I think I replied on the thread on the other site . The Rollei AFM35 and the original Fuji Klasse [the Fuji Klasse S and W are a second revision with some slight changes] are basically the same camera, yeah. The Rollei and Fuji versions have different lens coatings, I think, but no other differences.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcg_photo/tags/afm35/

Is all stuff I took with mine. The colour stuff isn't 'Photoshopped', fwiw.

 

[mhanc]

Contax TVS is a nice camera - successor to the T2 and T3 - but is only f3.5

 

[Diapositivo]

Yashica T3. Lens is a Carl Zeiss T* 35/2.8 (Tessar scheme) the lens is serious quality and its performances wide open are very good if we exclude some vignetting.
Very rugged. Wheatherproof also. Flash is present, you can turn it off and you can force it on for fill-in.
A second (tiny) waist-level finder.
Some close-focus capabilities.
Auto-focus has 16 positions instead of the 5 or 6 that are common in the autofocus-compact herd.
Not as small as an Olimpus XA, but small enough that you can have it with you everywhere.
You can find them very cheap on the second-hand market.
It also has an auto-load feature that works very well.

Its drawbacks are the lack of exposure compensation and the auto-rewind of the roll after the last frame. The last frame is sensed by resistance on film advancement, frames are not "counted". I normally get 38 exposures out of a roll of 36. The auto-load features guarantees the the first exposure is actually whole.

If this camera had to die today I would instantly buy another. This is my standard camera for hiking and for motorbike trips. I bought it in 1989 and still works perfectly (the only problem it had was that the "glass" of the waist-level finder got detached, I simply glued it in place).

Regarding optical quality, I did license pictures taken with this camera to the publishing industry (through a stock agency which is itself quite picky about image quality).

 

[awwsheeet]

contax t2 is the best.

super contrasty and sharp never mind the build quality, the lens is top notch and the controls couldnt be more simple.

 

[nathantw]

Nikon 35ti is nice, but heavy. I like my Konica Hexar and used to bring that everywhere. Out of the ones you listed, though, I'd take the Nikon and the Contax cameras.

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

I have the T2 and the Klasse S. Both feel and seem to handle differently but both amazingly fantastic cameras. I have picked up a second T2 because I like it so much and found a dark grey one at a good price but I'm really liking the Klasse S too I only recently having gotten that one. Bottom line both are terrific cameras and you can't go wrong with either.