G1 viewfinder

[cameratos]

just got 2 used G1s one with 90mm and the other with 28mm.They were in mint condition and got it for $200 a piece; which was incredibly cheap.However when I tried to look at the camera loaded with 28mm I noticed there was a kind of a stain in the lower right hand of the view finder. When I tried the auto focus,the stain reflected some sort of mechanism.The other camera with the 90mm looked fine and clear.So what I did inter changed the lenses from each camera.The viewfinder where I had the 28mm previously and now the 90mm was clear from the smudge looking stain.Where the the camera now with the 28mm showed the stain but significantly smaller on the same lower right hand side.Therefore I assumed it must be the lens in relation to the camera then..but i thought this is not an slr but a rangefinder.So what do you think it is.I will make my first test shot tmorrow see if the stain affects the negatives....

 

[BTMarcais]

Just a thought... you're sure it's not the lens itself that you can see in the lower right hand corner? You'll see some of the 28mm, but not the 90, since the viewer zooms out to match the angle of view of the lens. When you focus, the lens will move, so if you're focused closer you'll see more of the lens than when it's not focused yet (the g lenses park behind infinity focus until you actually focus on something)
I know I can see the lens in my G1 and G2... I do use the hoods too though, which make the lens a little more obtrusive.
-Brian

 

[uhligfd]

Tap the outer ring of the 28mm lens in front (left top area and keep finger off the glass!) and see the scene through the viewfinder. Case solved; you are viewing the edge of the lens. (totally out of focus, of course)

 

[cameratos]

oops you are right...feel so stupid.The G1 is great.Realy realy like it.I own an M3 and M2.But the results I got yesterday from my 2 G1s were comparable if not even better. The only thing is the exposure seems to go haywire sometimes. I have to learn how to use the compenation knobs and metering expecially when using the 28mm.One part is realy well exposed but the other part is a wash out.It doesnt seem to take the average reading.Does it take the reading of the focused object alone?

anyway the feel of this camera is out of sight.I plan to get the G2 with 45mm in the next few months after I unload my M3.

 

[uhligfd]

Careful, cameratos, when you say: "especially when using the 28mm. One part is really well exposed but the other part is a wash out. It doesn't seem to take the average reading. ..."

I think you are experiencing excessive contrast in your scenes and that no camera/film/sensor can handle as well as the human eye.

And we as photographers need to become conscious of what we want properly exposed in a pic and how the light meter/auto exposure/ .. suggests the exposure to us and then modify accordingly. With the M2/3 you probably used a light meter and knew how to compensate towards getting what you wanted. With the G2 (and any other camera) you now need to learn what and how its built-in meter measures. Take a few rolls and look at the developed film to learn when and how to compensate ...

Good luck. Yes, the +- exposure wheel is one of the most used for me. (on any modern camera) So what?