Disappointed by Contax G

[LeicaFoReVer]

Sorry for your trouble - I don't understand however, why you would force yourself to use a camera you don't feel comfortable with, you do have an M6, right ? If you like the glass, the 45 is easily replaced with a 50/2 ZM, the 90 Sonnar with a 90/2.8 M-Hexanon (same formula).

Roland.

Yes I am closer to giving up but will give one more try...It was my backup body, like I load one with BW other with color, and yeah the glasses are great, ZM glasses are close but they are more expensive you know...I can not buy both ZM lenses if I sell G1 kit. only 50/2 ZM maybe...Or like I said, I can buy 28mm and keep the body as focusing would not be a trouble with 28mm. Contax 28mm f2.8 is the cheapest 28mm you can get considering its size, speed and quality, right?

 

[kknox]

I also had a G1 body that would lock on the focus with the shutter button 1/2 way down. Then I would push it the rest of the way to take the shot, then the lens would then move out farther to make the pic out of focus. The camera was bad, the shop did exchange it for me. Just as I mentioned in my above post I have never had out of focus shots with the new body. Check it out to see if you camera stays locked on the same focus as you push the shutter all the way to take the shot.

 

[LeicaFoReVer]

I have been trying in my room now without film. The room is well lit. I try to focus in S mode on a frame almost facing flat to me and it gives consistently 2.2 meters. I fill different proportions of the brackets but still the same which is good. And yes it locks the focus when I half depress.

 

[womby68]

I have been trying in my room now without film. The room is well lit. I try to focus in S mode on a frame almost facing flat to me and it gives consistently 2.2 meters. I fill different proportions of the brackets but still the same which is good. And yes it locks the focus when I half depress.

Fantastico...!!! I hope it continues positively... The G system is a fantastic perfomer...🙂

 

[jawarden]

Contax 28mm f2.8 is the cheapest 28mm you can get considering its size, speed and quality, right?

In my humble opinion, yes. The 28 is a fine lens, and a natural for hyperfocal shooting if that's your thing, which of course removes the focus issue. I'd practice a bit with the lenses you have first though just in case that's the issue. It'd be a shame to sell the 45, which is such a nice lens.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

 

[sevo]

I also had a G1 body that would lock on the focus with the shutter button 1/2 way down. Then I would push it the rest of the way to take the shot, then the lens would then move out farther

It will do so even in manual - the lens does not move along with the AF, but is only brought to the metered, stored or manually selected focus after releasing, immediately before firing the shutter.

to make the pic out of focus.

Well, no. You may have had a dud with broken focus drive, lock switch or generally confused electronics. But that it moves the lens before exposure is the regular, expected behaviour.

 

[cidereye]

The G2 is much better with focusing and the pre-focus button in the back is a must use.

Agreed, as much as I like my G1 it's always the G2 that goes into the bag these day's unless I'm going on holiday and say want to shoot BW & colour and just use 1 camera system + lenses.

In fact so confident in the G2 & it's focusing I gave it my very last ever roll of K64. All slides look razor sharp so far as I would expect on first inspection.

 

[sepiareverb]

Some G1 bodies have too loose a detent on the AF wheel- so that just carrying the camera knocks it into MF mode. I gave up on my G1 because of this. Not many others seem to have this happen, but it happened all the time with mine. COuld be how I put it in the bag or something I guess. Worth checking, because the G glass you have is magnificent.

 

[LeicaFoReVer]

But I dont use G1 in manual...never, it feels weird. Those bar indicators just dont seem accurate in my eyes...

 

[elmer3.5]

Been there

Been there

Hi, the g series are awesome i was seduced by them and bought at least three with lenses.
After a while i found the same issues you state.
Wrote some threads about and the best answer i could find was that in some cameras AF sensors are not aligned with the focus spot on the viewfinder.

After selling it for that reason i discovered my shots were in fact coherently misfocused, it was always on the left side above from the focus spot.
I think i could have learned to focus properly, but was too late.
G2 has so many features 1/6000 speed is so useful.
At last i bought a manual focus G2, a Konica hexar RF and cannot be more happy about it!!!

Bye!

 

[drewbarb]

Contax G: excellent lenses sabotaged by a cumbersome over-designed and under executed pair of bodies .

 

[mrisney]

IMO, I prefer the Mamiya 6 over Leica. For 35mm, I like the autofocus of the G2, it's an almost no fuss camera when I shoot 35mm. The lenses are amazing, no regrets. It's the only and last 35mm film camera I will own. Content with the G2 - the 21mm is amazing. I stumbled across the 35-70mm vario and thats a great lens as well - who knew.

 

[Nikon Bob]

I never had any of the Contax G series cameras but I can say that using an AF camera is not always P&S easy. Seems each system operates slightly differently and it take a while to learn how it operates and what it likes for a focus target. That is not to say that there can't be something physically wrong with an AF system. They can be out of align just like a RF can be. Maybe just practice with the AF some more.

Bob

 

[raid]

My last roll with the G1 had many OOF images in it.

 

[LeicaFoReVer]

So why do you think it happened Raid?

 

[froyd]

Got my G1 focus wheel fixed by a local tech and now it had enough resistance that I can trust if for times when I prefer to zone focus.

Some G1 bodies have too loose a detent on the AF wheel- so that just carrying the camera knocks it into MF mode. I gave up on my G1 because of this. Not many others seem to have this happen, but it happened all the time with mine. COuld be how I put it in the bag or something I guess. Worth checking, because the G glass you have is magnificent.

 

[raid]

So why do you think it happened Raid?

This is the first time that it happened. I am at a loss to why it happend.
Maybe I took better care in framing the images with earlier rolls of film in the G1.

 

[StefanJozef]

My first couple of rolls with my G1 contained a lot of OOF images but they're almost always in focus these days. I love my G's.

 

[kuzano]

The best perfect answer to this dilemma....

The best perfect answer to this dilemma....

Contax G: excellent lenses sabotaged by a cumbersome over-designed and under executed pair of bodies .

Super lenses attached to a poorly executed body. I never regretted selling the two Contax G kits I owned. I absolutely hated the wasted time dealing with the focus issues, rather than subject and composition considerations. That's just bad photography.

However, now I am a bit disappointed that I don't have the three lenses, since the Olympus Pen series and the Panasonic GF1 now have a manual focus adaptor for the Contax G lenses.

I really like my Olympus E-PL!, both with the supplied zooms and my legacy OM lenses from the OM-1 and 2 cameras.

I have heard good things about the G lenses on the micro four thirds cameras. These cameras could be a real reprieve from the Contax G body shortcomings.

 

[misterb]

Traded the G1 towards a G2 for the better focusing, viewfinder, and added features, and then quickly sought after another G2 body. With a nearly full complement of lenses (only lacking the 16mm and 35-70 zoom), this system is absolutely brilliant with color film! With an understanding of how the focusing system works, I get 98% sharp images. The only weakness as others have mentioned is the viewfinder, so I alternate with my Leica M's to give my eyes a break.