I finally got a Contax G1!!!

3 ContaxG tips:

1) The ability to autofocus is greatly impacted by the cleanliness of the viewfinder windows. A smudge from a thumbprint will really mess up the autofocus.

2) New batteries fix almost all of the funky behaviors if they happen. Low voltage batteries will mess us functions that you never imagined would be impacted.

1) & 2) came directly from Contax factory support back when it existed. I have found them to be very true.

3) The 21mm, 28mm, 45mm and 90mm lenses are spectacular. I have found equals but nothing better. the 35mm lens is very very good.

I shot with the ContaxG for seven years and wonder why I ever set it down.

Oh, the ContaxG is a marvelous autofocus camera. Use it's strengths and don't try to make it a manual focus.
 
Good for you!

Good for you!

I'm a recent owner myself, and after a 4 rolls learning curve I'm getting results I'm proud of. Don't give up if the first roll only has a handful of keepers or the viewfinder looks too dim compared to the M6. You will soon get the hang of it.


Note on the lens mounting question: DO NOT turn the black plastic part or you will strip/bend the lens contacts! As a mnemonic device look at the way the black plastic part looks when the lens is mounted. Note how the flat edge lies parallel to the camera's bottom plate. Always mount the lens keeping the plastic part oriented parallel to the bottom of the camera and you won't have any problems.

Good luck and share some shots (also on zeissimages please!)
 
Bob Michaels said:
3 ContaxG tips:

1) The ability to autofocus is greatly impacted by the cleanliness of the viewfinder windows. A smudge from a thumbprint will really mess up the autofocus.

2) New batteries fix almost all of the funky behaviors if they happen. Low voltage batteries will mess us functions that you never imagined would be impacted.

1) & 2) came directly from Contax factory support back when it existed. I have found them to be very true.

3) The 21mm, 28mm, 45mm and 90mm lenses are spectacular. I have found equals but nothing better. the 35mm lens is very very good.

I shot with the ContaxG for seven years and wonder why I ever set it down.

Oh, the ContaxG is a marvelous autofocus camera. Use it's strengths and don't try to make it a manual focus.
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Absolutely spot on Bob - particularly the last comment.
 
whitecat said:
You won't be able to sleep at night if you don't get the 21mm and the finder.
Click to expand...

Tell me about it! LOL :D

The worst, and in many ways best, about that very true comment is that earlier this year I found a Mint boxed 21mm Zeiss at a dealers and he was only asking £299 for it - I even had the money for it too. I kept putting off buying it all day and then another online dealer I check in on a regular basis had a beautiful & recently serviced Leica M2 and only wanted a crazy £290 for it so I bought the M2 ....... which I of course now love.

The 21mm Zeiss also sold that day and I've never seen one anywhere near that price again. Ah well. :(
 
:D

I really decided on this nick when I only had leica gear...It was my first rf and lenses before I discovered the other gems through this site!

So yes I really need to change my nick :D

HAHA, any other reasonable suggestions?

Maybe it will evolve through time like,

leicaforever, leicasometimes, then leicasucks??
 
I wandered into a store in this city and was handed one to look at. As soon as I held it I was gone on it. Just holding it is nice. I do actually put Tri x through it. As for those lenses? Any sharper and you'd cut your fingers on the prints. Enjoy your purchase.
 
Steve M. said:
The next time you have the lens off look and see if there's some blue deposits on the camera's lens mount, the electrical contacts, and the lens's mount as well. If there is, clean it off w/ some alcohol. The camera relies on a good contact there to get accurate focus information, and the blue stuff will give you hit or miss focusing and possible shutter lag unless it's wiped clean.
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I don't agree with above statement. The "blue deposits" is actually a green factory-applied lubricant that helps to maintain the lens's and camera's mount. It's very good if it's visible on the mount itself. It shouldn't be on gold-plated contacts, though. I'll clean the contacts with pencil eraser, or with a Q-tip sprayed lightly with a Contact Cleaner. In the past cleaning the contacts like that removed a problem I had with lens not focusing when the shutter was depressed on G2. Simple maintenance, and I was ready to sen the camera to ToCAD for $150 fix. They said the autofocus mechanism would have to be changed.
 
The 90mm Sonnar is an excellent lens. I love it for portraits of children since the AF gets their continuous moving around during a session.
 
Here are some examples from my first roll!! 45mm ofcourse!

img048.jpg


img049.jpg


img055.jpg


img051.jpg
 
No it is not...It came from the same roll, apx 100
:)
It looks like because of strong sun light on some leaves I suppose...that is my favorite shot too...I will compare the sharpness of this shot with elmarit 21mm
 
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