Minox DCC Leica M3 Plus - review
About a week ago I received my Minox DCC Leica M3 Plus. I was happy I got it so quickly: 2 days after I ordered it. But when I held it in my hands I was hugely disappointed. The camera is entirely made of plastic and feels flimsy. I had expected it to be more robust, and made of (at least [i]some[/i]) metal. Even aluminium would have been fine. But no. It's made of plastic and doesn't feel solid or sturdy at all. Big minus for such a (relatively) expensive camera!
The finish isn't quite poor but it does leave a lot to be desired. The fake rangefinder windows are poorly finished. The USB slot cover doesn't fit very well (and is nothing more than a little flap of rubber). The SD card is terribly hard to remove as the flimsy plastic lid doesn't open far enough. And I'm constantly worrying I'm going to break it off. The menu buttons are teensy tiny, made of fake chrome covered plastic, and feel like they'll fail to function soon. The shutter button is tricky to fire; it often takes me several tries before my finger finds the right position to trip the shutter. The shutter lag is very noticeable. More minuses.
The viewfinder is adequate and rather bright. The screen on the back is adequate too. The lens is surprisingly sharp, though it's far under par with Leica or Carl Zeiss glass. And I'm pleasantly surprised by the image quality of the 3.2 MP (5.0 MP interpolated) sensor. The camera looks cute too. Both my wife and daughter havedemanded asked me to give it to them. :)
The fact is, I'm not going to give it to them. The camera is cute. The lens is decent and camera produces some funky effects when shooting and moving at the same time. Motion blur is just one of them. :) But the most important thing is I have it with me, quickly ready to shoot. The size is perfect. Small means I carry it with me everywhere. It's also quickly operational. Do I really need the ability to set focus distance? Perhaps not. The lens is OK. The sensor is adequate and it creates funny, funky effects, which puts the camera in the same league as the film-based Holga.
Nice thing is that the camera seems to have only one shutter time, increasing the iso value when needed. For me that means predictable hand holding times. :) No accidentally blurred images because the camera selects 1/2 sec instead of a more manageable 1/15 sec. Still there's camera shake as you compose your shots mostly by the stretched-out-arms-polka so characteristic of most digital P&S cameras. The one shutter time also means that the camera is nigh useless at low light levels.
In conclusion, I like the camera, mostly for its ease of use and its Holga-esque effects. But it's too expensive. There are tons of 3.2 MP (toy) cameras out there for a fraction of the money I paid for the Minox DCC Leica M3 Plus.
Technorati Tags : photography photo rangefinder
Shards of Photography http://shardsofphotography.blogspot.com/
Nomin making crazy faces.
Minox DCC Leica M3
film settings, shutter time & aperture unknown
Minox DCC Leica M3
film settings, shutter time & aperture unknown
The finish isn't quite poor but it does leave a lot to be desired. The fake rangefinder windows are poorly finished. The USB slot cover doesn't fit very well (and is nothing more than a little flap of rubber). The SD card is terribly hard to remove as the flimsy plastic lid doesn't open far enough. And I'm constantly worrying I'm going to break it off. The menu buttons are teensy tiny, made of fake chrome covered plastic, and feel like they'll fail to function soon. The shutter button is tricky to fire; it often takes me several tries before my finger finds the right position to trip the shutter. The shutter lag is very noticeable. More minuses.
Motion blur.
Minox DCC Leica M3
film settings, shutter time & aperture unknown
Minox DCC Leica M3
film settings, shutter time & aperture unknown
The viewfinder is adequate and rather bright. The screen on the back is adequate too. The lens is surprisingly sharp, though it's far under par with Leica or Carl Zeiss glass. And I'm pleasantly surprised by the image quality of the 3.2 MP (5.0 MP interpolated) sensor. The camera looks cute too. Both my wife and daughter have
Shadows.
Minox DCC Leica M3
film settings, shutter time & aperture unknown
Minox DCC Leica M3
film settings, shutter time & aperture unknown
The fact is, I'm not going to give it to them. The camera is cute. The lens is decent and camera produces some funky effects when shooting and moving at the same time. Motion blur is just one of them. :) But the most important thing is I have it with me, quickly ready to shoot. The size is perfect. Small means I carry it with me everywhere. It's also quickly operational. Do I really need the ability to set focus distance? Perhaps not. The lens is OK. The sensor is adequate and it creates funny, funky effects, which puts the camera in the same league as the film-based Holga.
Resting.
Minox DCC Leica M3
film settings, shutter time & aperture unknown
Minox DCC Leica M3
film settings, shutter time & aperture unknown
Nice thing is that the camera seems to have only one shutter time, increasing the iso value when needed. For me that means predictable hand holding times. :) No accidentally blurred images because the camera selects 1/2 sec instead of a more manageable 1/15 sec. Still there's camera shake as you compose your shots mostly by the stretched-out-arms-polka so characteristic of most digital P&S cameras. The one shutter time also means that the camera is nigh useless at low light levels.
In conclusion, I like the camera, mostly for its ease of use and its Holga-esque effects. But it's too expensive. There are tons of 3.2 MP (toy) cameras out there for a fraction of the money I paid for the Minox DCC Leica M3 Plus.
Autumn leafs.
Minox DCC Leica M3
film settings, shutter time & aperture unknown
Minox DCC Leica M3
film settings, shutter time & aperture unknown
Technorati Tags : photography photo rangefinder
Shards of Photography http://shardsofphotography.blogspot.com/
posted by ShardsofPhotography at 8:22 PM
6 Comments:
Greetings from Singapore.
I noticed that the date and time stamps on all the pics I'd taken with my M3 Plus is marked '2007-01-01 12:00AM'. Do you have the same problem?
I noticed the same thing, yes. And I have been unable to find a way of setting time and date correctly.
Neither have I. I should write in to Minox to look into this problem.
Also, if you take a closer look at the EXIF data in each photo, you'd see under 'Photo Description' the preassigned sentence "My great picture."
Weird, and totally unnecessary.
The date is a problem. I was told by Minox that they are working on it for the next version. I have the 4mp and 5mp versions. See my blogs too:
Pictures I took OF the cameras:
http://www.t-i-w.com/MYFXJ/projects.htm#leica
and pictures I took WITH the camera:
http://myfxjournal.vox.com
and pictures I took with the 4mp
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgilvey/sets/72157594242664955/
I found this camera on BHphoto catalog. But if you say that it's a plastic, I better get the real deal.
Thanks for the review! ;)
Ronalds from Latvia
Yes, get the real deal. For the money of this tiny, plastic, poor excuse for a digital camera you're well on your way to a real M3. It bit further to go before you get to the M8, though. :)
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