Its Carl Zeiss T* Tessar F3.5 lens is by a reasonable margin the best fixed lens for p&s compact of this price range. Waist level viewfinder is useful for candid shots.

Due to the fact that my pockets are usually quite small, I find it squarish and bulky in dimension. The lens cover is too flimsy. Waist level viewfinder is too tiny. Its f3.5 Tessar needs ample sunlight to perform at its best.

Personally, its lens performance far outweights any disadvantages.

Similar Products Used:

Olympus Stylus Epic/Mju II and Carl Zeiss T* lenses.

I am in total agreement with the other reviews, great lens. Easy to use, sharp, clean pictures.

None

Absolutely love the camera, so easy to use even my 4 year old can take pictures.

Customer Service

No need as of yet

Similar Products Used:

Minolta (not sure of model)

How else can you get a Zeiss lens for the price? The pictures I get are of the same quality as my Nikon N70 SLR. Decent flash pictures. A great camera to carry around when you don't want to lug an SLR. Great for parties. When travelling, I always have it with me.

None. I just wish they had a zoom version, too.

If you want great pictures and little fuss, buy this camera. There aren't many cameras on the market that will take better pictures, and certainly not in this class. For what it is, a cheap, single focus point and shoot, it cannot be beat.

Customer Service

No need.

Similar Products Used:

Various Nikon 35-70 P&S
Olympus Stylus
Canon

I agree with everyone - it has a GREAT lens. Also, good overall ergonomics

Autofocus is easily fooled, resulting in a few out-of-focus pictures per roll.

Not happy w/ the autofocus, but everything else is great, esp. the lens, and I LOVE good sharp contrasty lenses, so it's a keeper.

Similar Products Used:

Olympus point-and-shoots

Sharp flare-free lens (even in difficult lighting conditions), relatively inexpensive, weatherproof.

Photos with expanses of cloudless blue sky show a progressive darkening toward the edges of the frame (BSV or Blue Sky Vignetting). There is no degradation of sharpness toward the edges, just a darkening that is apparent in expanses of blue sky. Very close auto-focussing (under 2 ft) is a bit more iffy than the close auto-focussing on my Elph Jr.

The combination of great lens, relatively low cost (got mine $150 mailorder), and weatherproofing make it a great value (although you do pay a 30 - 50% premium for the lens compared to a similarly featured Olympus Stylus Epic). You are more likely to take it with you to the ocean, mountains, or bamboo grove than your multi-mortgage-payment SLR system, so are more likely to get a good shot. Think of it as a 35mm Carl Zeiss lens with a camera attached to it!

Customer Service

Not yet needed

Similar Products Used:

Elph Jr., Pentax and Nikon SLRs, Nikon and Leica rangefinders

Its so small and portable with a good metering system. Although not foolproof, its great for candid shots of people

none

A great, amazingly sharp little camera I've had for about 5 years. If you're not carrying an SLR because of size. This is what you should carry! Other point and shoots can't match this wonderful camera.

Similar Products Used:

pentax zoom 90WR
nikon lite touch?

The Zeiss lens is great! This, plus the durability and portability make this camera a winner. The waist level finder is cool, but more of a gimmick, in my book. I used to carry around either a Leica M-3 or a Nikon F-3 with me for spur of the moment shots. These became too heavy for this purpose, and the T-4 Super fills the bill very nicely. I also had a Leica Mini-3 point and shoot. I would say that between the Mini-3 that I had and the T-4 Super, the Leica was a bit sharper, but the T-4 was more saturated. For everyday, drug-store processed shooting, I like the T-4 better. Again, I only had one Leica Mini-3, so I can't comment on the sample-to-sample consistency of this camera (the Mini-3 that I had did have a particularly loud focusing motor compared to others I've seen but didn't own)

I've had some problems with the camera not taking a second shot immediately after I've taken a first shot. This is after releasing and then re-engaging the shutter release. Sometimes it's because the flash takes a while to recycle when the battery is weak. At other times...? I've also owned two other T-4s (not T-4 Supers). The sample to sample consistency of these cameras may not be up to snuff. One of them had a noticeably sharper lens than the other. Also, one of them was noticeably louder when opening and focusing than the other. I've since sold these two. Luckily the T-4 Super that I have now is both quiet and sharp.

A great carry camera, if you can get a good one. Sample-to-sample consistency may be spotty, test out a few of them, if possible, before buying. Perhaps the best affordable point and shoot out there. It has a well deserved reputation as a cult classic. A favorite among professionals and others who know their stuff. Highly recommended.

Customer Service

Haven't talked to them, yet

Similar Products Used:

Leica Mini-3
Olympus Stylus
Rollei 35S

Very sharp, contrasty images, great exposure. Small size, lightweight, and apparently rugged. Excellent price.

The little buttons to change flash/noflash settings are too-well recessed, and difficult to work with at times.
Focus/exposure lock and flash-ready indicator lights should have been mounted *within* the viewfinder, rather than to the right, as occasionally my eye has to leave the viewfinder in order to confirm focus/exposure lock. This drawback is somewhat remedied with practice.

The problems that I mentioned above should be considered quite minimal compared to the really important stuf, that being the superb sharpness and excellent exposure of the images produced with this camera, in addition to the size, ease of use, and price.
A terrific buy.
I'd love to see a sister product to this Yashica that has a lens of 50mm fixed focal length.

Customer Service

I shop all over the Bay Area, and have found that, in any shop that carries this camera, there seems to be high percentage of the employees there who own one. Everyone raves. This has nothing to do with Yashica customer service: I haven't had need to contact Yashica. Only a sidenote reflecting the opinions of our local shopkeepers.

Similar Products Used:

various point-and-shoots, mostly zooming focal length models from Pentax, Olympus, etc.

Love it! Referred to me by a pro photographer on the over Net 2 years ago. I took his advice and bought one.

None. One whole roll came out once undexposed. Never had the problem since.

A very good, small camera with an incredibly sharp Zess Lens. Well worth the $150. Great for the purse or shirt pocket. Great for travel too. Produces wonderful, sharp and contrasty picutures.

Customer Service

N/S

Similar Products Used:

N/S

Small size, great lens, tough body.

none

This is one great little camera. It takes better pictures than my Canon EOS because of the wonderful lens. Of course it'd be more useful if it had a zoom--but the sharpness and speed hit that you'd take outweigh the benefits.

Similar Products Used:

Canon ELPH 370