numnuts
Member
Hi all! I'm looking forward to joining the rangefinder club, as I've made a deal for a G2 that I'll be picking up soon. It's essentially brand new with the 45mm lens and flash. After getting my DSLR, I'm finding my P&S and ultra compact digital cams are nothing but disappointment and will become paperweights, so I'm selling them. I thought film would be fun, and a rangefinder would be nice for discreet carry with no loss of quality.
I plan on adding the 90mm lens sometime soon. What's the word on the wider lenses, say 28 vs 35? I like that the 35 is f2. Why is the 21 so expensive? I'd love the zoom, but can't see giving up all that speed and DOF. I'm afraid to ask about the 16...
Recommendations for UV and CP filters?
I plan on adding the 90mm lens sometime soon. What's the word on the wider lenses, say 28 vs 35? I like that the 35 is f2. Why is the 21 so expensive? I'd love the zoom, but can't see giving up all that speed and DOF. I'm afraid to ask about the 16...
Recommendations for UV and CP filters?
physiognomy
Confirmed RF addict...
Welcome to RFF... I'm sure you'll love the G2. From what I have read they are great cameras. Sorry I don't have any personal experience.
In terms of filters, the brands most recommended here seem to be B+W and Heliopan. That said, I'm not sure if the filter sizes of the G lenses are standard ones.
Peter
In terms of filters, the brands most recommended here seem to be B+W and Heliopan. That said, I'm not sure if the filter sizes of the G lenses are standard ones.
Peter
numnuts
Member
Thanks! I spoke with the guy I'm getting the camera from, and he said it just takes 46mm filters, which are commonly available. If/when I add lenses, I suppose I'd go 35 & 90. The 21 would cost almost as much as the original kit!
I've been only shooting digital lately. I thought a UV filter was always good for film (and actually bad for digital), and have heard pros/cons on using one to protect the lens.
I'll definately post some stuff here when I take it. An image for the coffee thread sounds like a good start...
ManGo- curious, why do you say it's not a RF? Is it because there's no superimposed images to line up manually?
I've been only shooting digital lately. I thought a UV filter was always good for film (and actually bad for digital), and have heard pros/cons on using one to protect the lens.
I'll definately post some stuff here when I take it. An image for the coffee thread sounds like a good start...
ManGo- curious, why do you say it's not a RF? Is it because there's no superimposed images to line up manually?
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S
Socke
Guest
Yes 46mm filtersize it is. I'd recomend getting the hoods and the caps for the hoods, too.
As to lenses, I started with the 45 and added the 28 as my second lens, then the 90 and the 35 came last.
From the MTF charts the 35 isn't as "good" as the 45 and the 28 where good is a very personal and relative term. In my 2720dpi scans and Noritsu/Agfa/Fuji C41 prints up to 20x30cm I can't see it, with Fuji Sensia 100 projected through a Pradovit on a very good screen I think I can see a difference when I inspect the picture for lens faults
Before I had the 35 the 28 was my most used lens but I had to be very close to my subject since it was a bit too wide for what I want to achieve. The 45 on the other hand was a bit too narrow for my typical shooting situation, i.E. crowded clubs. No possibility too "zoom with your feet" when there is a wall behind you
So the 35 is my best compromise in FoV and certainly good enough for HP5, Tri-X and APX400, especialy when pushed one or two stops.
As my travel setup I use a G1 with the 28 and Sensia or Elitechrome and a G2 with the 35 and APX100 or FP4 in daylight and Superia 400 or 800 and HP5 or Tri-X in low light.
I have the 45 and 90 in a small beltpouch ready for an impromptu portrait session but I use them rarely.
And don't mind ManGo, his bridge has been torn down and he has to live under a christmastree for the time beeing.
One day he and I will agree on what is a rangefinder camera and the universe will vanish in a big puff and be replaced by something even more copmlicated in an instance.
In the meantime, the Contax G series measures distance by triangulation with the help of prisms and mirrors just like others, the difference is in the phase detection circuitry which detects the point of focus and a motor which turns the lens vs. you doing both.
In german we have different names and a Leica M or Contax G is a Messsucherkamera, meaning measuring finder, whereas a Barnak is not.
On the Barnaks you have a finder for composition and another one for triangulation.
Any camera with a finder which does not view through the lens but shows distance and exposure information is a Messsucherkamera, if it uses radar, laser, tachyon emiters or a setup of prisms and mirrors with two fuzzy images which have to be alligned makes no difference here.
If there is no distance information/focusing help in the finder, say a Rollei 35, then it's just a Sucherkamera, i.E. findercamera.
Anyway, you have to get used to focusing with the G2, it should be very acurate and well within DoF but you will come into situations where it hunts for focus and/or where it focuses on the wall some 10 meters behind your subject. On close distances it uses a sophisticated infrared rangefinder which can focus on a wall in a totaly dark room but that's only up to some 3 meters and it needs a lot of energy and will drain your battery pretty fast.
I try to find something contrasty, a dark vertical line against a light background is best but a face or clothes, say a dark collar over skin, usualy does it fine.
For critical focus for portraits the IR mechanism kicks in and is acurate enough to get an eye in focus with DoF shallow enough to blur the ear next to it.
If you want to get focus to be precisly on the tip of the third eyelash from the left, this camera is not for you!
The trick is to make practise focusing as much as possible, focus on anything what you see and check if the distance reading on the left top display makes sense, thus you'll find out where exaktly in the brackets the camera focuses.
Another caveat is that the viewfinder compensates for paralax and distance but the point where it focuses does not move with the viewfinder. On short distances the point of focus is not in the center but to the upper left, thats where I often have said wall behind my subject in focus
I found out that it is better for me to use the thumb button on the back to hold focus then pressing the shutterbutton halfways for focus and recompose.
All in all the G2 has a lot to offer, with the zoom it is the ultimate P&S, with a prime in full auto it is a damn fast shooter even with continous AF fast enough to follow the kids or pets and with care and some training it is exact enough for a portrait shot within the DoF of the lenses available printed up to 20x30cm if not more.
As to lenses, I started with the 45 and added the 28 as my second lens, then the 90 and the 35 came last.
From the MTF charts the 35 isn't as "good" as the 45 and the 28 where good is a very personal and relative term. In my 2720dpi scans and Noritsu/Agfa/Fuji C41 prints up to 20x30cm I can't see it, with Fuji Sensia 100 projected through a Pradovit on a very good screen I think I can see a difference when I inspect the picture for lens faults
Before I had the 35 the 28 was my most used lens but I had to be very close to my subject since it was a bit too wide for what I want to achieve. The 45 on the other hand was a bit too narrow for my typical shooting situation, i.E. crowded clubs. No possibility too "zoom with your feet" when there is a wall behind you
So the 35 is my best compromise in FoV and certainly good enough for HP5, Tri-X and APX400, especialy when pushed one or two stops.
As my travel setup I use a G1 with the 28 and Sensia or Elitechrome and a G2 with the 35 and APX100 or FP4 in daylight and Superia 400 or 800 and HP5 or Tri-X in low light.
I have the 45 and 90 in a small beltpouch ready for an impromptu portrait session but I use them rarely.
And don't mind ManGo, his bridge has been torn down and he has to live under a christmastree for the time beeing.
One day he and I will agree on what is a rangefinder camera and the universe will vanish in a big puff and be replaced by something even more copmlicated in an instance.
In the meantime, the Contax G series measures distance by triangulation with the help of prisms and mirrors just like others, the difference is in the phase detection circuitry which detects the point of focus and a motor which turns the lens vs. you doing both.
In german we have different names and a Leica M or Contax G is a Messsucherkamera, meaning measuring finder, whereas a Barnak is not.
On the Barnaks you have a finder for composition and another one for triangulation.
Any camera with a finder which does not view through the lens but shows distance and exposure information is a Messsucherkamera, if it uses radar, laser, tachyon emiters or a setup of prisms and mirrors with two fuzzy images which have to be alligned makes no difference here.
If there is no distance information/focusing help in the finder, say a Rollei 35, then it's just a Sucherkamera, i.E. findercamera.
Anyway, you have to get used to focusing with the G2, it should be very acurate and well within DoF but you will come into situations where it hunts for focus and/or where it focuses on the wall some 10 meters behind your subject. On close distances it uses a sophisticated infrared rangefinder which can focus on a wall in a totaly dark room but that's only up to some 3 meters and it needs a lot of energy and will drain your battery pretty fast.
I try to find something contrasty, a dark vertical line against a light background is best but a face or clothes, say a dark collar over skin, usualy does it fine.
For critical focus for portraits the IR mechanism kicks in and is acurate enough to get an eye in focus with DoF shallow enough to blur the ear next to it.
If you want to get focus to be precisly on the tip of the third eyelash from the left, this camera is not for you!
The trick is to make practise focusing as much as possible, focus on anything what you see and check if the distance reading on the left top display makes sense, thus you'll find out where exaktly in the brackets the camera focuses.
Another caveat is that the viewfinder compensates for paralax and distance but the point where it focuses does not move with the viewfinder. On short distances the point of focus is not in the center but to the upper left, thats where I often have said wall behind my subject in focus
I found out that it is better for me to use the thumb button on the back to hold focus then pressing the shutterbutton halfways for focus and recompose.
All in all the G2 has a lot to offer, with the zoom it is the ultimate P&S, with a prime in full auto it is a damn fast shooter even with continous AF fast enough to follow the kids or pets and with care and some training it is exact enough for a portrait shot within the DoF of the lenses available printed up to 20x30cm if not more.
R
Richard Black
Guest
Socke,
Thanks for that comparison. I see how the German language can be technologically explicit without the same baggage as English. Messucherkamera covers a wide range of focusing methods, wunderbar!
Thanks for that comparison. I see how the German language can be technologically explicit without the same baggage as English. Messucherkamera covers a wide range of focusing methods, wunderbar!