Light meter reading is too slow in my Contax G2

[david_richardson12]

<p>Love this camera so much and it's been through a lot. But I was casually taking a photo and it started whirring. At first I thought it was rewinding, but it wasn't. So I think it may have been the auto focus mechanism so to stop it I had to remove the batteries. After putting them back in, the focus seems to work ok, but the problem now is that the light meter reading in the LCD was very slow, 1/20 staring into a 40 watt bulb. I have never heard anything like this.<br>

Does anybody have any ideas?!<br>

<br />Thank you </p>

[lotuseaters]

<p>Difficult to say without knowing aperture and film speed. 1/20 sec could be about right if you're using slow film and a small aperture. Why not take a few test frames to find out if the meter reading is off? I'd be more concerned about why the camera started whirring. Try a different lens and if that doesn't work have the camera serviced.</p>

[david_richardson12]

<p>Thanks for the reply Tom. I was using 200iso and 2.8. I never thought about trying another lens on it. The whirring was very strange. I fear it my be the electronics.</p>

[lotuseaters]

<p>1/20 sec at ISO200 and F2.8 seems odd indeed. Have you tried cleaning the mount and lens contacts with a Q-tip and some alcohol? Could well be a case of the lens not passing on the correct information (aperture setting) to the body's electronics. What lens did you use?</p>

[rgerraty]

Swap to a new battery......?

[jens_g.r._benthien]

<p>As long as the camera is 'whirring', the batteries appear to be ok. </p>

<p>Cleaning the contacts is a good idea. Use coffee filter paper, it's lint free and a bit rough to eliminate any dirt on the contacts of the camera as well as the contacts on the lens.</p>

<p>Use another lens. Still whirring? Does the AF axle connect to the lens, or does it stick in the camera body? You can remove the lens and half press the shutter to see if it moves out and rotates or not. If not, you might try to lubricate it with Ballistol oil or a tiny portion of WD40 applied to a Q-Tip and then pressed into the hole of the axle. Never spray it directly into any part of the camera - it can cause short circuits.</p>

<p>If it's only with one particular lens - does the AF coupling end flat with the bayonet or is it pushed a bit into the lens? If the latter is the case, you need to have your lens repaired.</p>

<p>Try to set the ISO values and the exposure manually and shoot one image before and one after. Still the same problem with slow readings? Both readings should be identical.</p>

<p>If you look into the camera through the lens mount, you can see a tiny window in the bottom - that's the light meter cell. Try to clean it with a Q-Tip and some alcohol. Over the years some dust and lint are collected in that tiny frame...</p>

<p>Well, as far as I know this is all you can do.</p>

<p> </p>