Contax G2 and 45/2 Zeiss Lens - WOW!

A couple of weeks ago I asked for your advice if I should get a Bessa or a

Contax G - I was concerned about the noise of the auto focusing motor. You

convinced me that I should look at the Contax mainly because of their lenses,

 

I purchased an almost mint G2 with a 45/2 lens afrom KEH and just got my

first film back and all I can say is wow. This outfit makes my 5D with L glass

look like 2nd class gear. Seriously I am blown away by this little jewel of a

lens - it is super sharp, contrasty and the color looks great.

 

Thank You all for leading me down the right path:-)

 

Juergen

I had that combo for several years and sadly had to use it as part of a trade to go digital (Nikon D80). Never owned anything sharper including my M6 with Sumicron. Here is a favorite photo I took with it using Velvia.<div></div>

You think the 45 is sharp, wait to you get the 28, or 21.

How do you feel about the noise issue and the auto focus operation now that you've had a chance to use the camera?

After a while I don't even hear the motor anymore - that's really no issue for me, as I don't do street photography. It would be nice though, if there was a way to focus manually with a rangefinder window in the viewfinder and to disengage the motor. The only way to focus with a G camera is auto - precise manual focus is impossible because other than distance info there is nothing to aid you in the viewfinder. But those lenses are just unbeatable...........

My G 90mm is also incredibly sharp, perhaps the sharpest of the G lot I have. Beyond the

glass the body is a joy to use, with exposure compensation especially well designed. Just

took out the very outfit you've got Friday. As you'll hear the viewfinder is the worst part for

me too, but I've been wondering about trying to have my lenses altered to bring up a

better field of view. The viewfinder is continiously variable from 90~28, and the lens

mount is what sets the viewfinder. By grinding down that stop (in my head) I'm guessing I

could open up that field of view for all but the 28mm. Anyone tried this?

 

Enjoy the kit Juergen!

Hey Juergen congrats for your G2!!! Now would anyone tell me if the viewfinder of the Contax is better than a modern M? A friend told me the viewfinder is the G2's Achille's heel (i.e. smaller and less luminous).

Thanks!

The G2 viewfinder is truly awful. It is like looking down a long dark tunnel. I sold my entire G2 millenium set and bought an MP with 50 summilux. Now I am a hopeless leicafile.

I currently use both the G2 + lenses and the Leica MP + lenses. The noise of the autofocus on some G lenses is obvious, but on others it's barely noticeable. My Planar 45mm is a whisper, whereas my 90mm Sonnar is obvious. I agree that the viewfinder is significantly a different concept for G2 vs. Leica. I grew up with Leica-type viewfinders in a variety of rangefinder cameras. The G2 works the concept differently and is incredibly accurate in dim light with its autofocus. Couple the G2 with the Vario-Sonnar and it's an outstanding, quick user for travel & candids! Leica viewfinder and methodology are different and cause me to work slower and diligently . . . not bad things. Coupled with a Summicron or Tele-Elmar, it's unobtrusive and incredibly quiet.

Lens quality with G2 vs. Leica is competitive and qualitatively different, but both systems yield extremely fine results on paper. I am afraid I will be keeping both systems . . . The G2 21mm Biogon is a keeper! The Vario-Sonnar is a keeper! I really love the ergonomics of the Leica & lenses, but there are times when the G2 rocks! Oh well.

It's autofocus. Slap a brightline finder on it.

Well for all of those who poo poo the G2 viewfinder: On the G2 I can use all the lenses with my glasses on, from 90 mm down to 16mm. On the Leicas i could not see any edges (wonderful brightlines for un-spectacled viewers, no doubt) at 28mm and 0.85, 0.72, ... What good did a Leica finder do me? None. Sorry you non glasses wearers enjoy Leica!

 

And at .58, the image gets so small in Leica finders - where is it, I asked myself.

 

The G2 always covers the whole field with its selfadjusting telescopic finder, not just the center dot in the a .58 Leica finder for 90mm, with the G2 I can compose acurately with any lens.

 

The only alternative was the Nikon F100 which I have used for the past several years. But the lenses, colors, weight, pictures themelves are so much better from the G2!

 

So to each his own. Those with Airforce pilot eagle eyes can delight in Leicas, those with handicaps (glasses) can delight in Contax gear and high eyepoint viewfinders.

I'll second Frank's remarks on the ease of use with the viewfinders. I am constantly switching between eye & glasses. There are times when the G2 IS that much easier compared to any other camera, SLR or rfdr. Sometimes my eyes are so tired that a 6x7cm groundglass is welcome!

:-)

I'd like to also sing the praises of the Contax system. I have owned a couple of G1 and G2 outfits, and sold them each time, frustrated with the noise, low battery life, af misfires, and crappy finder. But honestly if you can get past all that, they really are stellar cameras. The lenses are sharp as all hell, and get this, no other rangefinder can focus a 45mm lens down to 0.5meters. The G1 can! That is wicked, and makes the price of admission worth it on its own.

 

Then you can focus and fire this sucker with one hand, I could get my left arm blown off by a land mine and still get great shots with the G. Try that with an M6!

 

You get ttl flash, 125 on a G1 and 200 on a G2, try that with a Leica!

 

The G series made around 10-15 years ago are still twenty years ahead of Leica! And best of all, I got my G1, with 45mm lens and 90mm lens plus TLA140 flash, for $250! An M6 with a 50mm summicron, 90mm Elmarit and whatever TTL flash, not to mention winder, would cost, what, in the same condition, ten times as much...

 

I think it is a great pity Kyocera stopped making this super camera. I would love to see a film/digital capable G3.

 

I plan to use this camera until it breaks, and buy some other lenses and a G2 if I can ever afford it. My strategy is to stockpile the batteries, which are the Achilles Heel of this camera. They are certainly cheap enough, but I wonder what their shelf life is?

A couple of very interesting facts about CR2 batteries the types used in the Contax G cameras.

 

Firstly, apparently the unused cells contain lithium which people who run illegal methamphetamine labs use to prepare crystal meth. So some states have tried to clamp down on the sale of lithium batteries, but this is hard as so many people need these batteries for cameras, etc. so the stores stock them. However in a few states sales are limited to three per customer. That's a relief I am in Japan, no one will suspect when I go to the store to buy ten packs for my Contax!

 

The second interesting fact is that the lithium batteries have a ten year shelf life! Cool! That is different from Lithium ion, which discharges by itself.