Contax G2 w/45f2 blown away by the sharpness

[randall_pukalo]

<p>Last night, after I pulled my slides from the developing tube (its easy to DIY!) and let them hang to dry in my kitchen, my photographic world was rocked! As I peered thru my loupe, the astounding sharpness of the Contax 45mm lens was incredible. I was testing my new G2, and did a bunch of f2 snap portrait shots of my kids, and some focus testing at f2 of a Minnesaota state map on the wall. Perfect focus on the eyes in every shot (dont know how the camera does this so well), and razor sharp detail in the maps shots. The map shots in particular blew me away. I can see micro detail, and its all super sharp!<br>

I will try to scan and post a sample.<br>

But for those wondering as I was, a good used G2 has super accurate focus, and the lens is sharper than a razor blade!</p>

[carbon_dragon]

The Zeiss designs tend to be very good. I think the G designs are based on the Kyocera Contax SLR lenses, the

Contarex lenses, and the old rangefinder lenses. They have been evolving and improving over time. Carl Zeiss lenses do

have more cost compromises than Leica lenses, but they are still fine lenses.

 

With any lens being adaptable to mirrorless and 4/3 cameras, old lenses are retaining their values so don't expect big

bargains.

[pensacolaphoto]

Now the SONY A7 and A7R offer full frame photography with any lens.

[philip_wilson]

<p>Contax G lenses are very good - the 90 is a great lens as is the 21. I think the 35 (which gets a lot of bad press) is on of my favourites. They are fiddly on digital bodies for three reasons. Firstly the adapter has to allow manual focus of the lens usually by rotating a ring although cheaper designs have a fiddly little wheel. Secondly the wider angle lenses will probably not work with a Sony style sensor as the edge illumination will be very poor. Finally the lenses go very deep into the body of the camera. If you want to use the 12mm and 28mm on M43 you need to cut off the plastic tabs that protect the rear lens element (I did not bother). I suspect it will be the same with the Sony - part of the issue is that the rear element of the lens moves as you focus.</p>

[robert_landrigan]

<p>I can always tell my G2 pics from the neg sheet - about 90% in focus, and those razor sharp. Love that combo. The 90 is a great lens as well, but honestly, the focus was fiddly enough that I preferred the M6/ 90 elmarit combo. I really wish Sony had skipped the whole Minolta acquisition and bought out the Contax line - imagine if they had started the NEX line on G mount lenses:) Fun, fun camera!</p>

 

[jim_douglas1]

<p>Absolutely love the G2 and those wonderful lenses....Years ago I bought a "kit" which included the body, the 28, the 45, and the 90, and a really nice leather case to hold it all....Still use it often!</p>

[philip_wilson]

<p>Robert I find the G2 is much better with the 90 than the G1 (as you can use the focus button on the back). That said the G1 is a great bargain as it is almost as good as the G2 but a lot cheaper these days. I have also noticed that the lenses have appreciated a lot since it became possible to mount them on mirrorless systems. At one point KEH had the 90 at for about $120 (now about $280) and the 45 for $225 (now about $450). I have not personally used the zoom but the IQ is supposed to be very good - handling and speed not so good.</p>

[Uhooru]

<p>Great cameras and lenses, enjoy! I only have the 35mm. Let see some of your pics.</p>

[d._l._scroggins]

<p>Randall, welcome to the world of beauty (belatedly on my part) that is the Contax G 45mm. It's a truly amazing lens. I will also vouch for the 28mm Contax G as well. It's not as close to flawless as the 45 but it's also a very good optic. </p>

<p>If you use the wayback machine i.e. https://archive.org/web/web.php and go to the old photodo.com reviews. You'll see that the 45mm planar has one of the best MTF scores they ever tested. I found their tests to be quite accurate and I, like you, remember the first time I looked at my slides from the 45mm with a 10x loupe and was blown away. </p>

<p>I rented a Sony A7R a few months ago and tried out the 45 and it performed quite well. I did find the focusing as pointed out by others to be a little daunting at first but once I figured out the manual magnification/focus peaking methods and became adept it really wasn't all that bad. </p>

<p>I have also been using the 28mm on my Nex 5n for a few years now and I've been very happy with its performance as well. It doesn't do well on the full frame sensor but on the crop frame (APS-C) of the 5n it works just fine. </p>

<p>Anyhow, good luck with the lens and happy shooting.</p>