Contax G2 Cable Release

[Lincoln]

Hi Folks,

I am trying to understand how the cable release for the G2 works.

The release I have is a cable which screws into the bottom right side of the G2. The other end has a switch which consists of a slide with a button in the middle. If you press the button and move the slide back it shows a red line under the slide. On moving the slide back out, the lens immediately moves out to focus position and fires. It will hold the focus position as long as you keep the slide out.

I thought the idea behind the cable release was to allow the lens to focus and quiet down before you tripped the shutter. Am I using improper technique or is this just the way it works?

TIA

Lincoln

 

[uhligfd]

The cable release triggers the AF and the shutter just like the button on top of the camera would.

If you push the cable release button and hold it down (in B time mode) then the shutter stays open until you release the button. If you do not care to hold that cable button down for 3 minutes (if that is the required exposure time) then slide the ?? so that the red shows and slide the ?? back after 3 minutes have passed. Whenever you release the button or slide the ?? back and do not hold the button down, the exposure (in B mode) stops, the film advances, and the lens goes back to infinity. Ready for the next shot.

If you use the release in AE mode or with time set manually to a definite value, the remote shutter works exactly like the top of camera button. Be careful not to slide the release into red mode if you have C motor mode set for continuous exposure or the film will just run out before you know it with 3 dozen pics all the same.

 

[Lincoln]

The cable release triggers the AF and the shutter just like the button on top of the camera would.

If you push the cable release button and hold it down (in B time mode) then the shutter stays open until you release the button. If you do not care to hold that cable button down for 3 minutes (if that is the required exposure time) then slide the ?? so that the red shows and slide the ?? back after 3 minutes have passed. Whenever you release the button or slide the ?? back and do not hold the button down, the exposure (in B mode) stops, the film advances, and the lens goes back to infinity. Ready for the next shot.

If you use the release in AE mode or with time set manually to a definite value, the remote shutter works exactly like the top of camera button. Be careful not to slide the release into red mode if you have C motor mode set for continuous exposure or the film will just run out before you know it with 3 dozen pics all the same.

Thank You ULIGFD,

However, the cable release does 'NOT' perform exactly as the camer top release, since it fires immediately after advancing the lens to focus. With the camera top release you can depress slightly and move the lens out to focus- then you can complete the movement further for the actual shutter release. This allows the vibration from the lens movement to subdue before you actually take the image. I have unloaded my G 2 and tried to carefully release the shutter with the cable, but I cannot manage to move it out to focus before I trip the shutter.

Thanks for letting me know about the b(bulb) option, that could come in very useful. I tried it and notice that the timer on the top counts out the seconds for you. Cool! I didn't know about that.

Lincoln

 

[uhligfd]

Agreed, the cable release focuses and exposes without the camera release button's half way press for pre-focusing.

What you can do is use your thumb to prefocus on the camera body and then press the cable release: the lens would then be focused and the camera would simply expose. No shake.

But why would you want to use a cable relase in other than B mode? Maybe at slow speeds when the camera already is on a tripod? Say at 1/4 sec? Prefocusing by pushing the AF button with your thumb may add vibrations to the tripod mounted camera ... How big is the vibration of focusing anyway? Only proper tests can show whether there actually is any problem at 1/4 sec on a tripod with the cable release. Good luck.

 

[Lincoln]

Thank you,

I am trying to prepare bracketed images to use in HDR(high dynamic range) photography. In the setup for multiple exposures , it is apparently very important to record exactly the same scene at different speeds. I want to try as much as possible to not move or otherwise vibrate the setup between exposures. It seems that the safest method is to use the timer, since the timer prefocuses well before it fires the shutter. Apparently, vibrations can have more of an effect on image resolution than we think.

I still can use the cable release, but I just set the shoot mode knob to timer, trip the cable button and wait for the timer to fire the shutter.

However, thanks for your input, it has been very helpful,

Lincoln