Is there a better camera for me than the G1?

Bob,
I have used a friend's G1 and have been tempted by the current prices on eBay. My friend enthuses about it ad nauseum (he did pay about 900 pounds for the camera and 45mm lens!). My main critisism of the camera is the viewfinder and the focussing which can be off in low light. Also the manual focussing is "not satisfying" when compared to a co-incident rangefinder.

I also have a...
Canon QL 17 III: great for price, sharp lens
Olympus 35RD: great size and handling, suffers from sticky shutter problems
Olympus 35SP: excellent 7 element Zuiko lens (f1.7), spot meter

All three require 1.35V batteries (designed for the original mercury type battery, now obsolete), so metering can be a little difficult using modern 1.5V batteries but there are ways around this.

Finally, please try out an old Leica M series camera such as M6. If the budget will stretch this far, I would recommend one of these.

Kind regards.

-
Monz
 
They seem to go for $920 and up on ebay, I tend to use Keh as the arbiter on current average price. This is a great lens as well, the G lens I use more than any other.
 
DCP said:
How much is a 21mm worth?

$500? $600? 800? 900?
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Sepiareverb has it right - I also use KEH pricing to gauge current value for gear.

I bought an EX-condition G-mount Biogon & finder from KEH several months ago for $775 - not a mark on it.

As we all know eBay auctions can skew value. For example, the other day some idiot got caught in a last-second bid-up on a new-in-box LTM 21/2.8 Kobalux and paid over $1000 (sadly, I can comment and criticize authoritatively in this case).

On the other hand, today on eBay a ZM 21mm Biogon with a BIN price of $1,000 did not sell because it was only bid up to $710, which was below the seller's reserve.

- John
 
The people who bid are those who come to forums like these. The more we hype up, the more we pay. Personally, i find $500 as the limit I would go. Sooner or later, someone will sell at a cheaper price. I've seen the 21 being sold as low as S$900 (usd500). Think I'll wait.
New in the box G lenses go for 300-350usd. Why should we pay premiums based on our own hypes?
 
foto_fool said:
...I bought an EX-condition G-mount Biogon & finder from KEH several months ago for $775 - not a mark on it...- John
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Now you see that I didn't check Keh before I posted- I must say I don't much like their revamped site interface- that search function is a real pain.

$775 seems like a steal for that set-up John, I got mine via ebay about three years ago for +/-$900- which seemed a good price at the time. Turns out to be a very heavily used lens for me.

Once again Keh EX turns out to be nicer than you expect- happens nearly every time- even after you expect it to be better than expected they manage to surprise you.
 
sepiareverb said:
I must say I don't much like their revamped site interface- that search function is a real pain.
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KEH's search-only setup probably works against them. If there were a less-specific "browse" I might go there for one thing and end up with another! ;)

Based on the price of a new ZM Biogon I was ready to pay $900 for the G-Biogon with finder (what, finder alone is $175 from CV and more than $300 from Leitz?) so when I saw the $775 I jumped on it. They had an EX+ for $890 but I can't imagine I would have seen any difference between it and the EX I received - the EX was pristine.

I just got back my first test roll (Fomapan 200) with the Biogon on the G1 and I'm just astounded with the sharpness, and lack of distortion and vignetting. I can see why you keep yours on your G2 so much!

I hope the OP is still getting some useful information from this discussion!

- John
 
Two years ago I was shopping for the best f/2.8 21mm I could afford, and the Biogon-G was it... even factoring in the G1 body to put it on. Got the kit from KEH; the lens was BGN quality for $465. Looked perfect to me, but my local repair tech found (under magnification) a tiny scratch on the rear element that must be the reason for the rating. So, in my case anyway, the 21 Biogon was my whole reason to enter the Contax G system, and I don't regret it for a second!

Here's a shot from my first roll...
 

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foto_fool said:
I hope the OP is still getting some useful information from this discussion!

- John
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Certainly am!

Carry on I'm learing lots.

I'm feeling a lot of love for the G system here ;) and It's making me revaluate my relationship with it.
If the sun shines tomorrow I think I'll definately have to get some quality time in with the G1.
Not least so I can justify a new lens!
 
sepiareverb said:
The ZM 28 is even better than the G 28. Shocking as that may seem.
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What is the source of your wisdom, if I may ask? The graphs published by Zeiss tell otherwise.
 
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joachim said:
What is the source of your wisdom, if I may ask? The graphs published by Zeiss tell otherwise.
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Perhaps is is my examples, but I've noticed a definite uptick in quality from the G28 to the ZM. Nothing chart based, or even direct comparisons of the same subject, but a definite increase in fine details in the negs. I have only printed a few things large from the G28, and nothing but 810 proofs from the ZM as of yet...

Now you have me wanting to see for myself- not that I'm the biggest tester among us. I believe I have some slides from when I got the first batch of G lenses of the shingles on the front of the house- something I did with new lenses when shooting stock stuff as a bit of a check for the best f-stops for flat field sharpness. If so I can easily run some of the same film through the ZM 28 for a more direct comparison. I'll dig in the files tomorrow.
 
foto_fool said:
Later, I should think. ;)
- John
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Hehe. I was willing to pay up to $800 for it but my wife asked me to get a dedicated film scanner instead. Besides, we're all only bidding against ourselves. If we work together, we can all get one at a better price sooner or later :p

Good luck :)

BTW, the one in KEH looks interesting too but its price higher and presumably its cleaner.
 
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sepiareverb said:
Now you have me wanting to see for myself- not that I'm the biggest tester among us. I believe I have some slides from when I got the first batch of G lenses of the shingles on the front of the house- something I did with new lenses when shooting stock stuff as a bit of a check for the best f-stops for flat field sharpness. If so I can easily run some of the same film through the ZM 28 for a more direct comparison. I'll dig in the files tomorrow.
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Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I am curious to see what you will come up with.
 
Found the slides this morning, and I do have some E100GX in the freezer, so this can be a pretty direct comparison. Weather is not the best right now, but should be better tomorrow so I will give it a go.
In looking at the film on the light table just now I was quite pleasantly surprised at the G28. Seems better in testing than in current use- perhaps I need to have it looked at? I think I'll run the G28 again to compare it's current state and it's pristine new state. It has been around the block a few times since then...

So assuming I get the sun back here (mostly sunny forecast for tomorrow) I'll run some films!
 
Well the film is shot- ran views of the front of my house, shingles & texture both at a medium distance- 12' and a closer one- all shingles, at about 2.5'

It will be a little bit before I have enough for another shipment for the lab, but when the films are in I will post back. I'll see if the lab can do some good scans for us also, as my scanning is amateurish at best.
 
Xmas said:
Bob

The G2 has the option of a different focusing action this may be the key.

Noel
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? Another focus mode?

After I'd been using the G's for a while, and noticed that the 45 and the 90 seem much sharper than the other lenses- the 21 is pretty darn close, but the 28 has been leaving me wanting more- thus the move into the ZM 28 for the M's. The VF is another part of this, but that's another story. I am anxious to see the two Zeisse side by side on the light table.
 
sepiareverb

It has a relocated manual focus wheel (control), with 'tacticle clicks' but also a button to lock (with options), one can auto focus and hold much more readily in abstract

G1 P&S
G2 HCB might have used, i.e. he would not have used the G1...

But I've only got a G1, for a Hologon, so I'm not troubled by focus problems.

Noel
 
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