Probably only put 20-30 rolls through it in that time. I've had the camera for around 2 years and loved using it. Comes with the Contax G2, 45mm Planar lens, contax branded caps and lens hood.A quick look at the Contax G2 Camera System by Steve Huff35mm. Shutter count is only 4,000 which is crazy Lens is immaculate and looks like new. The cameras and lenses sell for very small sums of money and reward with superb performance Prices below are the approximate amount one should expect to pay for a Contax G lens or camera in excellent, but used, condition.Glass & body should be clean and without scratches or marks.Condition of the body is excellent overall with some very minor cosmetic wear. The Contax G lenses and cameras may just be the greatest value in used 35mm film equipment today.
Contax G2 Camera vinyl sticker, Vintage analog film camera stickers for photographers. TGIFF! Yes, this means THANK GOD ITS FILM FRIDAY! I am out with my family on vacation right now but through the magic of the internet I wrote this a few days ago and scheduled it to post today so you guys would have something new to read while I am away! Cool huh?Add to. The camera has just got back from a service from Nippon in the US so is working.
Of course I jumped at the chance! I always wanted to try out the G2 so this was awesome.To those who do not know what it is, the Contax G2 is an Auto Focus rangefinder camera that was a direct competitor to the Leica M6. He was curious to see what I thought of it as he knows I love Leica rangefinders. 5 out of 5 A very cool friend of mine called me up while I was on the road traveling from IL to AZ and said “Would you like to try out the Contax G2”? He wanted me to try it since I am now deeply into shooting film.
But that is not to say it is a bad camera, quite the opposite.The G2 is well made, had kick ass lenses, is fully auto meaning focus, exposure and advance is all automatic. Those who want the Rangefinder Experience will not get that experience with the Contax G2. It’s more like a small SLR or point and shoot viewfinder.
I found them all to be fantastic and they had the Zeiss color, pop, and 3D thing going on. It’s just of you want a rangefinder experience, forget the G2.What I really LOVED about the G2 were the lenses. Coming from a Leica this was a weird experience, which is why I say it is more like shooting an SLR camera than a rangefinder.Overall the camera is a great buy and as I said, I did in fact enjoy the camera. One slight touch and you hear that “SNICK!” – Another thing I was not used to was the auto advance and auto rewind. I was shooting through the film much faster than with my MP as the G2 has a “hair trigger”. It appears you must set the lens to F8 or smaller to take off OR mount the lens.In any case, I shot with the G2 for a little while and ended up really enjoying my time with it though it did seem a little too fast.
If you are wanting to shoot film but do not want to spend an arm and a leg you should seriously consider the G2. The metering seems to be just about perfect.Anyway, this was not meant to be a detailed review, just my thoughts on the camera. I did not get any “serious” shooting in with the G2 but the silly stuff I did shoot all looked great. The cool thing is that the G2 has a 1/4000s shutter so you can shoot wide open in daylight, something you need an ND filter for with a Leica film M.I tinkered with the idea of finding one of these for myself but a guy like me only needs ONE film camera system, even though my one MP and 35 costs MUCH more than a G2 with 5 lenses. The subjects were sharp but not too sharp and the background melted away into a very nice blur when shot at F2. The 35 rendered in a classic way much like a pre-asph Summicron.
I have no first-hand knowledge of the product, but it appears to be a big improvement over the tiny-wheel ebay version.The G Vario Sonnar was quite a technological achievement. I’m not sure that bit of brutality is for me.Here’s a link to an adapter maker in the States. Evidently, some folks are also using the Biogons digitally as well, but only after surgery on the little light tabs that extend past the back element. What a blast of fresh air it was and those lenses….I’ll have to dig it out to run through my last Kodachrome rolls (once I liberate them from whatever corner of the freezer they’re hiding in).I have hopes of revisiting the Planars and the Sonnar via a ♔/3 adapter.
The shutter itself might not be that loud, but the wind-on noise is also really, really loud – and it has an annoying high-frequency pitch as well. In other words, you can’t just leave it set at 3 metres and F/8 to avoid the focusing noise, as you would with a Leica M. Yes, the pre-focus noise is extremely attention-catching, and the way the AF works is that the lens will always return to infinity, once you let go of the shutter button. In the end I sold it because of the noise. I had the G1 with the 35/45/90 lenses for about a year (there is an 16/8.0 Hologon and a 35-70 zoom as well for the G system). It’s a much more elegant solution than the Tri Elmar and its massively complex dedicated finder.Nice write-up, Steve.
I’ve a G2 as well with the 28, 45 and 90 mm lenses all packed in a beautiful small bag from Camera Care Systems UK. Except for busy streets, of course 🙂I’ve been very surprised to read an article about this camera on your site. To compare, my current D70 is much less noisy than that F70, while my Leica M3 is obviously the most silent of the bunch… So there is really a world of difference in how discreet you can be with an M relative to the Contax G.
But even the E-P2 iwhich is available in SILVER since today would be a nice combination.“Small VF … hehehe, you should try the G1 Steve then realise how big the G2 VF is. They would perfectly fit to the champagne E-PL1. At that time I mostly shot diapositives with Fuji Velvia film.Anyhow since I bought into the Olympus E-System in 2004 the Contax remains hidden in my sideboard simply because of the fact that I do not want to spend the time waiting for processing the diapositives and I’ve to admit that I got used to the convenience of the digital workflow with Lightroom.I wish someone invented an Adapter for MicroFourThirds including a microchip for autofocus which would allow the use of these lenses. It has always been the perfect travelling camera for me.
The one known flaw to look for with these (Or indeed any other Kyocera built Contax of this age) is the LCD readouts on them, sometimes suffer from “bleed” but even if they do it’s not always a problem so long as it can be read but better be on the safe side and look elsewhere if you find one like this.Also just to mention there are *2* other lenses in this system that you did not mention and that’s the 16mm f/8 Hologon which comes with separate flash mounted viewfinder VF-16, it’s a non variable aperture lens and costs a bomb! The other is the zoom which is a 35-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Vario-Sonar which is more a curiosity really with it’s high aperture and can be had fairly cheaply compared to it’s new price these day’s. Agree with you the 45mm Planar is the best lens, I think it was one of the sharpest lenses ever tested when it was launched and you just get that great Zeiss image pop too.Even though they are all electronic I’ve never had a single failure or problem, they just plain work.
0 kommentar(er)
