Contax G2 ISO setting, possible to restore if LCD is broken?

[Freya Esders]

Hi everyone,

New to the forum and Range finding in general, Im a photographer (Slr 35mm Leica systems) and filmmaker and had just recently bought a g2. I received it in the mail in anticipation last week and was very much looking forward to shooting a test roll through before flying over to Iceland for an Artist in Residency program.

All seemed to be fine aside from a tiny almost unnoticeable crack in the LCD- I went to manually change the ISO and after holding the button down and winding through the focal knob the screen no longer displayed anything at all.

I then continued trying, all the while having no idea what the ISO was setting too. I took the batteries out overnight and replaced them to no avail.

I know this is a long shot but does anyone know if there is a way of restoring DX setting or is the ISO is is not set at (I have a vague idea of roughly what it might be via what the automatic settings are now suggesting shutter speed wise). The roll that was shot through it was a bit of a mess and I'm really disappointed as I was dying to get into a more cinematic wider rangefinder aesthetic.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated, even on where I could send it to be repaired (I'm located in Aus).

Thanks Guys.

Sorry for the long post :bang:🙂

 

[sevo]

You probably pressed too hard, and made the PCB lose contact - or the LCD split apart. The ISO setting rolls over and is stored in nonvolatile memory, so it is impossible to set it blindly from the top unless you know the current value. Does the G2 have some way of discrete entry, or are you stuck with the data entry through the focus wheel? Does it immediately display the metering change as you alter the film speed?

On the G1, the problem is solvable - DX sits between ISO 6 and ISO 6400, so there are evident jumps in the exposure value displayed in the finder to either side of the DX setting (provided you use a mid-speed film). And even though the G1 will not display exposure at the new speed until you leave the ISO setting mode, it does incrementally change values, so a long series of "enter setting mode-increment ISO-leave setting mode-check" sequences will eventually iterate to the DX position (the one spot with a very much higher and very much lower reading to either side). If the G2 can do discrete entry or has a immediate display, a similar strategy would work. If it has neither, you can only try random alterations until the metering results agree with an handheld meter or second camera or until you happen to hit the DX spot.