Contax G1 Newb Q's

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I just today took possession of a G1 with 28mm biogon, and I have to say I am very, very excited about it. I wanted a compact RF I could use to take wide angle shots in aperture priority mode, using a really really sharp lens, and this camera looks like it's going to be perfect. It's not much bigger than my Canonet! And the viewfinder everyone complains about looks fine to me, quite sharp in fact.

Three things I want to ask that the manual doesn't address, or doesn't address very well.

1) Is this viewfinder supposed to represent accurately the frame of the 28mm? Looking through it, it appears the way I'd think it should for this lens. Does the frame change automatically with longer lenses, or do framelines appear, or do you just have to make the adjustment in your head?

2) AF mode seems perfectly straightforward. I can see immediately what the quirks of it will be, and should have no problem adjusting to them. But...I must say that I don't understand manual mode. I bought this camera as an AF camera, and intend to use the AF...but I feel a little at sea without the usual RF manual focus. If anybody wants to share their experiences using the focus modes, I'd appreciate it.

3) Am I going to want a hood for the 28mm? How is it with flare?

Thanks everyone!
John

 

[Larky]

Hello.

I love the G1, don't have a 28mm but am after one. I'm sure the VF alters depending upon the lens, mine changes if I stick the 90 or 45 on anyway.

Autofocus is great, never had any issues. The manual focus is also great, I use it all the time. Basically, preset it (zone focus) to something that is approx correct, for street I use 2m. Then semi-press the shutter, this will focus the lens. When you see a shot, raise, press, instant bang, lower! With practice you'll get super fast.

Enjoy it.

A.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Soooo...."manual focus" is just autofocus, except you're choosing an approximate distance first? I assume the advantage of this is quicker AF?

 

[Rick Waldroup]

It has been a few years since I shot this system. Yes, the viewfinder will change according to what lens you mount on it.

I found the autofocus system to be the weak point of the camera. It's not bad, but it could have been better. And manual focus is a bit tricky to use.

However, I loved my Contax G cameras and, by far, the strength of the system is those wonderful Zeiss lenses. Top notch glass. Some of the best lenses I have ever owned.

I sold all my rangefinders when I went digital and out of all of them, I missed the G's the most.

Have fun. It is a great little camera and you will soon learn to appreciate the quality of those lenses.

 

[Socke]

Soooo...."manual focus" is just autofocus, except you're choosing an approximate distance first? I assume the advantage of this is quicker AF?

More focus by wire. The lens is set at infinity as soon as you release the shutter and set to the preset distance when you half press the shutter.

Manual focus is done with a LCD bar at the bottom of the viewfinder, pretty accurate by the way.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

More focus by wire. The lens is set at infinity as soon as you release the shutter and set to the preset distance when you half press the shutter.

Manual focus is done with a LCD bar at the bottom of the viewfinder, pretty accurate by the way.

So, not to belabor this issue, but OK, so you get the little row of squares and the arrow, and when it's in focus you will see one arrow under one square, right? And you are turning the focus dial on top of the camera to focus?

Unintuitive, but I get it.

I've read people complaining that the focus is too loud on this camera, but it doesn't seem too bad to me. And the shutter makes a very nice click. Just a very solid piece of equipment all around.

 

[Socke]

Mine looks like this:

and works like a charm.

 

[Socke]

oh, the 28, I almost forgot.

I use it always with a hood on. It vignettes but I haven't had flare.

 

[Bob Michaels]

3) Am I going to want a hood for the 28mm? How is it with flare?

The Zeiss lenses are very flare resistant but buy a hood so you never have to worry about lens caps.

Get the CG-2 hood which is supposed to be for the 45mm lens but use it with your 28mm. Ignore what Kyrocera said. It does not vignette with the 28mm and no filter. I've been using the 45mm hood on my 28mm for many years.

 

[Bob Michaels]

1) Is this viewfinder supposed to represent accurately the frame of the 28mm? Looking through it, it appears the way I'd think it should for this lens. Does the frame change automatically with longer lenses, or do framelines appear, or do you just have to make the adjustment in your head?
John

There are no traditional framelines but the view in the finder adjusts automatically with the lens. What you see in the VF is what you are going to get on film

 

[Bob Michaels]

2) AF mode seems perfectly straightforward. I can see immediately what the quirks of it will be, and should have no problem adjusting to them. But...I must say that I don't understand manual mode. I bought this camera as an AF camera, and intend to use the AF...but I feel a little at sea without the usual RF manual focus. If anybody wants to share their experiences using the focus modes, I'd appreciate it.

The ContaxG was made to be an autofocus and not a manual focus camera. The autofocus works great, the manual focus does not do near so well.

Don't fight it, learn to use the AF. It's very accurate and very easy to lock in then reframe. Use the manual focus for zone focusing work only.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

The ContaxG was made to be an autofocus and not a manual focus camera. The autofocus works great, the manual focus does not do near so well.

Don't fight it, learn to use the AF. It's very accurate and very easy to lock in then reframe. Use the manual focus for zone focusing work only.

That's my intention, thanks!

 

[joachim]

Hi John,

welcome to the club. It is nice to see that new people are still joining the system. I have my G1 since autumn 2001. It is a very nice camera I hope you will enjoy yours as much as I do mine.

1) Is this viewfinder supposed to represent accurately the frame of the 28mm? Looking through it, it appears the way I'd think it should for this lens. Does the frame change automatically with longer lenses, or do framelines appear, or do you just have to make the adjustment in your head?

It is a zoom finder, similar to a zoom compact. The need thing is the automatic parallax correction, which uses the info from the AF and masks off what will not appear on the photograph. This is most important for the 45mm and 90mm lenses, which offer the smallest field of view.

2) AF mode seems perfectly straightforward. I can see immediately what the quirks of it will be, and should have no problem adjusting to them. But...I must say that I don't understand manual mode. I bought this camera as an AF camera, and intend to use the AF...but I feel a little at sea without the usual RF manual focus. If anybody wants to share their experiences using the focus modes, I'd appreciate it.

As others wrote, it is mainly an AF camera. The manual mode is as you describe, you turn the distance wheel until the bar disapears. That works quite well, but the wheel is underdamped and easy knocked out of place. I use it occassionally in situations where half pressing the shutter over a long period of time isn't easy, e.g. on a tripod. Though I rarely use my G1 on a tripod, I feel it doesn't like it.

3) Am I going to want a hood for the 28mm? How is it with flare?

The hoods for the shorter lenses are not very effective. Though I have them all. To me it is more to have the front element deeper and offer it some protection.

As I wrote earlier, enjoy your Contax.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Thank you, Joachim. I shot half a roll yesterday and the camera feels great. AF seems to be working fine--though time will tell. I found the GG-1 hood on eBay, too.

I realize that one of the disadvantages of this camera is the limitations of the "system." But really, I'm not much of a lens nut. If I want versatility, I'll get out my DSLR. At the moment I'm just thinking of the G1 as an amazingly awesome fixed-lens wide-angle camera, and as such, I'm enjoying the hell out of it.

I'll post some photos here when I get them back!

 

[joachim]

Thank you, Joachim. I shot half a roll yesterday and the camera feels great. AF seems to be working fine--though time will tell. I found the GG-1 hood on eBay, too.

I realize that one of the disadvantages of this camera is the limitations of the "system." But really, I'm not much of a lens nut. If I want versatility, I'll get out my DSLR. At the moment I'm just thinking of the G1 as an amazingly awesome fixed-lens wide-angle camera, and as such, I'm enjoying the hell out of it.

I'll post some photos here when I get them back!

Hi John,

Glad you are enjoying your new camera.

I would give things a try. If you want to use the hood on a regular basis, you might want to consider buying a gk54 cap, which goes over the hood. This way you do not need to screw in the hood prior to picture taking. These caps are a bit dear though and pretty popular when they pop up in a second hand shop or on ebay 🙁

What limitations are you talking about? Just the usual rangefinder system limitations (parallax problems at close up, no long lenses)? Yep, for these you need an SLR.

However as far as rangefinder systems go, I think there is not much missing from the Contax G system. There are six lenses available covering the range from 16mm to 90mm. This are about as many options as in any other RF system. Sure compared to the M systems there is no choice of speed, but apart from the 16mm lens, I think the G lenses are reasonably fast. They are not high speed but with 2.8 or 2.0 they are not slow either.😎

 

[joachim]

Mine looks like this:

and works like a charm.

This looks like you had a lot of fun with this one already. Mine doesn't look as beaten as yours. But your pictures just show what a nice camera the G1 is. To me it has very elegant lines, which are missing form the G2 (which is a nice camera in different ways).

 

[joachim]

More focus by wire. The lens is set at infinity as soon as you release the shutter and set to the preset distance when you half press the shutter.

Manual focus is done with a LCD bar at the bottom of the viewfinder, pretty accurate by the way.

Actually it beyond infinity. This way (unless you are using CAF) the last movement is always out. This makes it easier to calibrate the lenses if there is a tiny amount of slag.

 

[wayneb]

I used the 28mm a bit and have never had a hood and never had any flare issues.

Regarding the manual focus, I never really understood the point of it except setting it at infinity to leave it there, you are still using the AF to tell you if it is in focus or not.

With the 28mm lens on it, the G1 is a beautiful camera that is a really nice size and weight. The lack of manual focus on the G system is the one big thing that makes it less than perfect. I'm OK with the autofocus issues, 90-something% of the time it jfw. Less important, but on my list, is the autofocus, shutter and film advance noise, which make it quite a loud camera.

Enjoy it!

 

[sepiareverb]

Do note that the VF gives only about 90% or so, you'll get a little more than you see. I had problems knocking the focus wheel out of AF mode and missing lots of grab shots with the G1. That was what changed my mind on the G2- for how I worked the AF mode was better placed.

Fantastic glass throughout the range- if you're at all tempted by the 21 you will not be disappointed at all- one fantastic lens. I was not too impressed with the 35, but the rest I did (never tried the 16 or zoom) are just great.

 

[joachim]

... I was not too impressed with the 35, but the rest I did (never tried the 16 or zoom) are just great.

What did you dislike about the 35mm? It was my first G lens and it is still my WA. I never regretted buying it. Typically I use it around f/5.6 and rarely at f/2.0. But at f/2.0 also the 45 is not up to the performance it displays stopped down.