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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

The amazing Contax SL300RT* (1 Viewer)

I find the little Contax is the ideal pop in pocket camera.Yes the macro pics are not good,but ordinary close ups are okay.Considering the size ,it is a very versatile unit.I have been using it for odd images when walking the dog,and the battery is lasting a long time,also is excellent for taking fast continuous shots.Have not had another try with digiscoping yet as I need to send for a remote adaptor,and need yet another little filter ring.But I am not sure where to ask for one.I have received 2 freebies from Contax already.Have now a separate battery charger.
 
Andy Bright said:
I have just spent a couple of hours with the Contax SL300T*, and to say I'm impressed with it's digiscoping abilities is an understatement.

This camera is absolutely tiny compared to the Nikons at 100mm wide, 62.5mm heigh and a depth of an amazing 2mm. Weight is 125g, so around 1/3 of the weight of a cp995/4500

It many ways it's like a tiny cp990/995/4500 with a similar design of a rotatable lens section (or rotatable monitor section, whatever way you want to look at it) and the lens is of an internal focusing design like the Nikons. The lens on the Contax is 3x (5.8-17.4mm or 38-115mm in 35mm speak). The ccd is a 3.34mp design, so the same as the cp990/995.

The good news for digiscopers is that the camera comes with a 28mm thread, courtesy of a tiny clip-on adapter... so a typical digiscoping adapter fits straight on. Although the adapter is plastic, it hardly needs to be metal as it's only supporting a 125g camera.

O.K. so what is special about this camera (other than it's size and that it's in production right now, unlike the Nikon cp4500).... 3.5fps until your card is full, Shutter lag that's .07sec and start-up time of less than a second!!!

Forgetting the above specs.... after an hour or two it's sunk in to me that this camera takes good digiscoped photos far more consistantly than my previous cameras have. Every shot has been sharp and I have absolutely no trouble judging focus on it's monitor (1.5 inch and extremely clear). Oddly enough, depth of focus seems greater on this camera than other... possibly a smaller ccd than usual? maybe smaller lens than usual? Whatever the reason, this means focusing doesn't need to be quite as critical for a sharp subject.

There isn't too much in the way of manual controls... but aperture priority is there, so no problem.

Minor quibbles are inevitable, cameras are made for a mass market and not digiscopers! No tripod socket on underside, so cable-release cannot be connected (although my photos have been surprisingly sharp with just a finger on the shutter button today). Internal battery (it is small!!) doesn't power the camera for long, though Contax can supply extra batteries. SD cards need to be used (and fast ones for 3.5fps)

No bird photos today, but I'll get some from this camera in the next day or two.
have been pricing up SD cards but in my ignorance I cannot find any reference to any that are faster than others? Am I not looking in the right places---done 7dayshop, online Media cards and a few others ---
 
No problem Graham. It is just that this camera solves some of the main problems that digiscopers have often leveled at the coolpix cameras in terms of speed. These cameras don't represent a leap in quality of image over the coolpix cameras, but are far more responsive and suitable for bird photography.

The cards that i use are made by Dane-Elec (nope, I'd never heard of them either) and I was assured that these were the fastest available at the time. I think Panasonic may do some high speed SD cards as well. I will investigate this and get back to you.

I presume you will be at the birdfair at some stage? I will have the camera on display (and in use) on the Zeiss stand and the birdforum stand. So you're welcome to have a look.

BTW, I thought the cp4300 did have aperture priority .... I'm sure I taught someone using that camera and we found it lurking in the very darkest depths of the menus (maybe it was just full manual we found). In any case my pupil disposed of the cp4300 after looking a the benefits of being able to angle the monitor directly towards her eyes, no matter what the scope angle... don't think the cable-release was too clever on the sloping shutter-release button either.

I don't think I'll be doing anymore Nikon sponsored booklets ;) the last one presented moral dilemas even before I tried the Contax.

Regards,
Andy
 
Further to the issue of powering this camera, I have been informed that Contax do make an external battery pack that connects to the power input jack of the camera. It consists of 4xAA batteries, so you should have power for a day's shooting with 4 2300mah Nimh batteries in combination with the battery inside the camera. It's the size of 2x AA's on top of eachother, so it is small and could be mounted on your tripod or hung underneath the scope... or as is it's designed for, in your pocket (so body heat keeps cameras powered in severe sub zero temps).
I'll have one of these on the Zeiss stand at the birdfair.

Incidentally, there is a great power saving feature on this camera. You can switch off the illumination of the monitor so natural light outside will do the illumination for you... I was surprised at just how well this works and how much it extends battery life.

I have been informed that the Dane-Elec cards are the fastest available at the present time (Photokina just around the corner!) and that they make them up to 512mb.
 
Andy Bright said:
Further to the issue of powering this camera, I have been informed that Contax do make an external battery pack that connects to the power input jack of the camera. It consists of 4xAA batteries, so you should have power for a day's shooting with 4 2300mah Nimh batteries in combination with the battery inside the camera. It's the size of 2x AA's on top of eachother, so it is small and could be mounted on your tripod or hung underneath the scope... or as is it's designed for, in your pocket (so body heat keeps cameras powered in severe sub zero temps).
I'll have one of these on the Zeiss stand at the birdfair.

Incidentally, there is a great power saving feature on this camera. You can switch off the illumination of the monitor so natural light outside will do the illumination for you... I was surprised at just how well this works and how much it extends battery life.

I have been informed that the Dane-Elec cards are the fastest available at the present time (Photokina just around the corner!) and that they make them up to 512mb.
thanks Andy will check it out at the BF
Graham
 
Andy Bright said:
Further to the issue of powering this camera, I have been informed that Contax do make an external battery pack that connects to the power input jack of the camera. It consists of 4xAA batteries, so you should have power for a day's shooting with 4 2300mah Nimh batteries in combination with the battery inside the camera. It's the size of 2x AA's on top of eachother, so it is small and could be mounted on your tripod or hung underneath the scope... or as is it's designed for, in your pocket (so body heat keeps cameras powered in severe sub zero temps).
I'll have one of these on the Zeiss stand at the birdfair.

Incidentally, there is a great power saving feature on this camera. You can switch off the illumination of the monitor so natural light outside will do the illumination for you... I was surprised at just how well this works and how much it extends battery life.

I have been informed that the Dane-Elec cards are the fastest available at the present time (Photokina just around the corner!) and that they make them up to 512mb.
Andy
After going through this and many other threads decided on a coolpix 4500
(would have considered the Contax but think I need the bottom thread for my adapter) Since this camera is discontinued there is no information on the Nikon website. Questiion: Can you tell me if the 4500 supports an external battery pac as you described above for the Contax?

Thanks Craig
 
craig whitmore said:
Andy
After going through this and many other threads decided on a coolpix 4500
(would have considered the Contax but think I need the bottom thread for my adapter) Since this camera is discontinued there is no information on the Nikon website. Questiion: Can you tell me if the 4500 supports an external battery pac as you described above for the Contax?

Thanks Craig
Hi Craig,
If you use a bracket type adapter, then you do need a tripod socket on the underside of the camera... so you have made the best choice.

Nikon have never made a portable external power supply/battery pack for the Coolpix seris but a few other companies have suitable devices. www.eagleeyeuk.com used to supply the very popular dual force pro supply... but they discontinued that, they did promise a new version but haven't heard much about it... maybe you can contact them.
There are other power supplies out there, often from electronic/hobbyist type shops... you just need about 7v and the right plug.

Another more expensive solution are the Quantum battery packs (generally made for powering flash units) but they do a version supplied with leads to power the coolpix cameras. Expensive but Pro quality.

There should be some threads on birdforum relating to some of these external power supplies, I'll see if I can find one for you.

Regards,
Andy
 
[I have been informed that the Dane-Elec cards are the fastest available at the present time (Photokina just around the corner!) and that they make them up to 512mb.[/QUOTE]



Andy, I think I`ll get a Dane-Elec card. I live in Herts but can`t find "Photokina", whereabouts are they?

Thanks.
 
Photokina is a huge trade fair in Germany where many manufacturers choose to announce their new products to the world. Here's a link picked up from dpreview indicating a possible advance in card technology that could be with us soon :
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20040805A4013.html
Some occasionally bad humoured discussion on speed of SD cards in the Panasonic forum at stevesforums.com eg. this thread ended up with the latest Transcend cards coming out quite well (and available up to 1GB) :
http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=31466&forum_id=23
If you're interested in buying Dane Elec from UK, could try www.shopgenie.co.uk and type "dane elec secure digital" into search field to find some retailers.
 
Sorry Graham, should've made it clearer that I was alluding to the fact that most companies will be showing new bits at Photokina, many companines aren't announcing anything to the press nw but will unveil at the show.

I didn't realise just how much of the market SD cards have.... they're used in all sorts from fridges to mobile phones. I have been told that the potential for massive transfer rates makes it likely that future dslr's will have a slot for these cards, as well as compactflash. After using CF for the last 4-5 years, these things are minute!

Regards,
Andy
 
Contax SL300RT

Is the monitor on the Contax SL300RT any easier to see and tell if you are in focus then the CP4500? I'm looking for another camera to replace the CP4500 which I think is not good at all for digiscoping. I find the CP4500 monitor very hard to see and tell if you are in focus.

Will the cable-release adapter the the Contax SL300RT work on the CP4500?

Will it the Contax SL300RT work on the Swarovski ATS 80HD scope?

Ooops!! not the CP4500. Should be the CP4300.
 
Last edited:
cthomas said:
Is the monitor on the Contax SL300RT any easier to see and tell if you are in focus then the CP4500? I'm looking for another camera to replace the CP4500 which I think is not good at all for digiscoping. I find the CP4500 monitor very hard to see and tell if you are in focus.

Will the cable-release adapter the the Contax SL300RT work on the CP4500?
It's the best monitor I have seen in 5 years of digital photography, though I've never had a problem judging focus with the Nikons, certainly with focus confirmation on (although that can be deceptive as it highlights greater d.o.f. than you have available).
The Contax monitor is also devoid of a lot of the clutter that you get on the Nikons (although some of that clutter provides useful info)


Nope, the cable-release adapter clip is specifically made for the slimline Contax.

Regards,
Andy
 
christineredgate said:
Phil,have just remembered,sorry.I phoned Euro batteries this morning,yes I had muddled the price.The price of the charger is £34,and they said they should be in stock on July 30th
I think you will see by your pic,Phil that this little camera is very versatile,although long distance landscape shots were not so hot.But I bought it as a Digiscoping camera and a fun camera to slip into ones pocket and take the opportunist shot.
Thanks,Andy,I am glad it was not me being fumble fingered.I have sent for a second adaptor to remain fixed to the Contax,as the Nikon one is never removed either.
any results with the re-chargeable battery and the charger yet? have you had chance to test if it lasts as long as the in camera battery?
Graham Catley
 
I eventually bought a charger and spare battery from e:bay

Just did search for the Kyocera and there was a site in Hong King that supplied the charger and spare battery for less than £35.

The remarkable thing is that since charging the original Kyocera battery with the external charger it has lasted twice as long and I haven't had to use the spare
yet!
 
what is included?

Andy Bright said:
Actually, around £325 online
I have been checking around the cheaper sites for the Contax but there seems to be some difference in whether a 128mb card is supplied in the price or not? Th echeapest site Pixmania appears to suggest that no memory is included inthe price which would make a £30 odd difference if a 128mb card were in the other prices---has nayone bought one from Pix and what did they get in the box as it were?---The Dane Elec cards recommended by Andy appear to come in two versions one o fthe 256mb cards is £4 more than the other but I am not sure if one is faster than the other---confused but still interested!
Graham
 
I ordered an SL300RT* on tuesday and it arrived thursday minus the 128mb card. However after a brief phone call they advised that it will be with me next monday; no umming or aaahing. So if yours arrives with no card - phone them.
btw, if you're a poser and MUST have the black version, Pixmania don't offer a choice. Pennine Online do - but it'll cost yer!
On reflection, (no pun intended - honest), maybe I should have waited for the 300/400 debate and T*/non T* evaluation to be resolved; BUT IMPATIENCE RULED AGAIN! :eek!:

Dave.
 
c250td said:
On reflection, (no pun intended - honest), maybe I should have waited for the 300/400 debate and T*/non T* evaluation to be resolved; BUT IMPATIENCE RULED AGAIN! :eek!:

Dave.

Likewise Dave except that I plumped for the S400.

By the way I got a 256mb high speed (60X) SD card of ebay last night for £17 + £6 postage (which is a bit teep for a stamp).

Mark
 
Graham,re the euro battery charger.I only found out a couple of days ago that I was unable to charge eurobattery's own batteries in it,they just would not fit.They seem to be a millimetre thicker than the genuine Kyocera,but the genuine one fits in okay,and as has already been mentioned,this battery does seem to last a long time when charged in the charger and not the camera.But the substitute ones are okay,work perfectly well in the camera and charge okay in the camera.
I have also obtained the cable release but have not had time to sort it or try yet,hopefully this weekend.
 
christineredgate said:
Graham,re the euro battery charger.I only found out a couple of days ago that I was unable to charge eurobattery's own batteries in it,they just would not fit.They seem to be a millimetre thicker than the genuine Kyocera,but the genuine one fits in okay,and as has already been mentioned,this battery does seem to last a long time when charged in the charger and not the camera.But the substitute ones are okay,work perfectly well in the camera and charge okay in the camera.
I have also obtained the cable release but have not had time to sort it or try yet,hopefully this weekend.

I have just come across this site where they sell a charger which is claimed to be for the SL300 for £19.97 but their list of batteries does not include a rechargeable for the same camera http://www.interbatteries.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/890
 
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