T Series - Tix - FAQ's
Q. Contax has an Advanced Photo System camera?
A. Why not? The Advanced Photo System incorporates many practical and important benefits for the snapshooter. The PQI system records important data about your photographs and passes that data on to the photofinisher. It is like having a friend in the darkroom that knows how your photos were taken. Information is passed to the film about what kinds of light are present in the scene, whether a flash was used, exposure information is recorded also, all leading to increased communication and better photographs.
Q. Why does the T ix have such a wide angle lens attached?
A. The Carl Zeiss T* 28mm f2.8 lens attached to the T ix is the equivalent of a 35mm f2.8 lens on a full frame 35mm camera. Normal focal lengths are computed by measuring the diagonal of the film negative. This diagonal measurement becomes the normal focal length for that film format. The conversion factor for a 35mm lens to Advanced Photo System is 0.8x.
Q. I note that the T ix has Panoramic capability. Is this the same kind of cropping system as employed on most 35mm cameras?
A. Yes and no. The image captured by the Advanced Photo System camera is always stored on the film as the HDTV (H) format. When you set the camera to make a panoramic photograph, an electronic impulse is stored on the film to signal the photofinisher that the image should be enlarged to 4" x 12" in size. The benefit of this system over the cropped negative type is that other crops of the negative are still available for printing at a later time.
Q. You say the T ix has drop-in loading, my 35mm point and shoot offers the same thing, what is the difference?
A. The first thing you'll notice about Advanced Photo System film is that there is no leader sticking out of the cartridge. Film is stored inside the cassette, it is only extended when the film is loaded for shooting, during film development and for printing the negatives. Even after the film is developed it is returned to the cassette for storage.
An ingenious system has been developed to signal the user about the condition of the film. On the cartridge top there is an array of signals telling whether the film is fresh, exposed but undeveloped or developed.
When you drop in a cassette of Advanced Photo System film, the camera retrieves the film and threads it completely. When the roll is finished it returns the film to the cassette for developing. Truly drop in loading.
