Contax G1 - focusing

[evb]

I did look at the test chart website:

1) How good was your 45 degree angle in the test set-up? A bit off and you worry for nothing ... It is hard to get that 45 degree angle precisely without an optical bench ...

Thanks for your reply!
My 45 degree angle was imprecise but on any other AF system there was no problem. Nevertheless I would admit that here I was not right if the normal shots would be OK. But 95% of them are out of focus 🙁

2) The Gs focus best on vertical lines, not horizontals.

Mine doesn't focus on any 🙁

 

[Socke]

just tried it with my silver sticker G1, very worn and still not serviced although I planned it some 4 years ago, and my G2. G1 shows 88cm and G2 shows 87, tapemeasure reads 87.4 cm. Good enough 🙂

And I too like the 35, IMHO better for B/W then the 45 which I like better on slide film.

 

[evb]

just tried it with my silver sticker G1, very worn and still not serviced although I planned it some 4 years ago, and my G2. G1 shows 88cm and G2 shows 87, tapemeasure reads 87.4 cm. Good enough 🙂

My camera seems to show correct (or near to correct) distance, as far as I tested it. But real shooting gives results with blurred main object 🙁

 

[mcgrattan]

I shot a test shot with my new G1 - real world test. Focused on the text on the bottle of cooking oil. Wide-open. Looks accurate enough to me.

Any softness is a little hand-shake. It was hand-held at a pretty slow shutter speed.

 

[Issy]

just tried it with my silver sticker G1, very worn and still not serviced although I planned it some 4 years ago, and my G2. G1 shows 88cm and G2 shows 87, tapemeasure reads 87.4 cm. Good enough 🙂

And I too like the 35, IMHO better for B/W then the 45 which I like better on slide film.

I would use the camera distance scale as a ballpark only... don't try to assess focus accuracy/repeatability by it. The proof is indeed in the images.

b

 

[Socke]

My camera seems to show correct (or near to correct) distance, as far as I tested it. But real shooting gives results with blurred main object 🙁

So there is something wrong. Hard to find if it's the focusing mechanism in the camera or in the lens without another lens or body.

I'd try and locate another lens, I'm sure that a missaligned lens is more probable than a missaligned focus mechanism in the camera.
It is made to start at infinity and relies on the lens to be set to infinity when not focused.

I have frontfocusing issues with an old Sigma lens on my 5D and I have never experienced something like that on both my Gs.

 

[evb]

So there is something wrong. Hard to find if it's the focusing mechanism in the camera or in the lens without another lens or body.

I'd try and locate another lens, I'm sure that a missaligned lens is more probable than a missaligned focus mechanism in the camera.
It is made to start at infinity and relies on the lens to be set to infinity when not focused.

I have frontfocusing issues with an old Sigma lens on my 5D and I have never experienced something like that on both my Gs.

Thanks for your post.
I've had some back/front-focus issues with my DSLRs and it seems to me that the situation might be a bit more complicated. So, I had some lenses which focused well on one camera and wrong on another. And I had cameras which worked well with one lens and wrong with another.

The 45/2 lens was bought in LN condition so it's very difficult to imagine any real problems with it.

I've arranged a meeting with a person who owns several G-lenses at the end of this week, so soon I hope to know the reason 🙂

Unfortunately KEH hasn't answered my question yet...

 

[joachim]

I would use the camera distance scale as a ballpark only... don't try to assess focus accuracy/repeatability by it. The proof is indeed in the images.

b

I second that. E.g. the problems with the look-up table will not show up on the read-out. One has to see the images.

 

[evb]

OK, now I have to only wait for an answer from KEH. No answer yet 🙁

 

[wayneb]

I don't really have any advice about whether this is a problem but a real world example might be a useful "second opinion". For example a person where you want the tip of the nose to be in focus, a second shot where the eye is in focus.

Focusing on a piece of mostly white paper in a dark room, especially if you just did it based on the distance scale in the viewfinder, seems like a test where you might need to take several readings/shots before getting it correct.

 

[evb]

I don't really have any advice about whether this is a problem but a real world example might be a useful "second opinion". For example a person where you want the tip of the nose to be in focus, a second shot where the eye is in focus.

I've already shot and processed 2 rolls of film. Most of shots where I pointed to the model's eye, are sharp somewhere near the ear. I can show some of them here but I don't know if it makes any sense...

Focusing on a piece of mostly white paper in a dark room, especially if you just did it based on the distance scale in the viewfinder, seems like a test where you might need to take several readings/shots before getting it correct.

I focused pointing the brackets at the thick black line and then pressing the shutter release button. I used the distance scale only for reference, not for focusing.

 

[Socke]

This is a snapshot in a bar with incandescent light and fill flash with the G2 and the Sonnar 90/2.8 on Fortepan 400 developed in Tetenal Ultrafin Liquid. So neither made for sharpness nor small grain 🙂
But one can see that the camera focused perfectly well on the rim of her glasses 🙂

Not the cameras fault, but as I said, it was a snapshot and I didn't plan for it nor had I time to focus on her eye.

http://www.hett.org/gallery2/v/Menschen/marcia.jpg.html

 

[evb]

This is a snapshot in a bar with incandescent light and fill flash with the G2 and the Sonnar 90/2.8 on Fortepan 400 developed in Tetenal Ultrafin Liquid. So neither made for sharpness nor small grain 🙂
But one can see that the camera focused perfectly well on the rim of her glasses 🙂

Not the cameras fault, but as I said, it was a snapshot and I didn't plan for it nor had I time to focus on her eye.

http://www.hett.org/gallery2/v/Menschen/marcia.jpg.html

Thanks for your photo. I've already understood that I'd better have taken G2 instead of G1. 🙁

 

[Socke]

Thanks for your photo. I've already understood that I'd better have taken G2 instead of G1. 🙁

I prefer the G2 over the G1, it is only slightly bigger but I like the focusing wheel and the separate shutter and exposure compensation dials better.
I use manual exposure often, especially with flash, and sometimes zone focus, so the G2 control layout fits me better.

The G1 is my backup or second body with the lesser used film or lens.

 

[jaap]

In the range of 3meter and less it's allmost impossible to make out of focus shot that are caused by malfunction of the camera (contax G2)

 

[evb]

In the range of 3meter and less it's allmost impossible to make out of focus shot that are caused by malfunction of the camera (contax G2)

I sent my G1 to KEH and am about to buy a G2 instead.