More on that below.įocusing is accomplished in the standard way – you simply press the shutter button half way. The second dial is for focusing – either leave in in “AF” or turn it to the distance the subject is from the camera. When set on “Auto,” the dial also allows quick and easy exposure compensation, up to 2 stops in either direction in 1/3 stop increments. Good thing I use aperture priority 99% of the time for my work no matter what camera I’m using. Auto means aperture priority – there is no shutter priority or any other auto option. One dial is for either Auto exposure or to set the shutter speed. On the right of the top there are 2 dials with the shutter button nestled between, and slightly forward, of the dials.
#CONTAX G2 FLICKR ISO#
There is a small screen in the top left hand corner of the top of the camera where you can see what ISO you have set, whether the film advance is set for single, continuous, or timed, and check the battery status. One of the high points of the Contax is its simple and intuitive control layout. I think the auto focus and auto film advance sound like metal gears driven by turbo because they are high torque metal gears. The camera too exudes quality – it is a finely finished little functional box with simple, intuitive controls. And the pictures they produce have a quality that none of my other lenses seem to approach. The lenses are like small, metal clad jewels. Every time I buy a new digital camera I tell myself I’m going to sell the Contax on Ebay, but then I start handing the pieces, laying them out to take a picture of them, and I fall in love again and so they go back in the bag. So, what’s to love? Plenty if you are not trying to be stealthy.įirst, there are the gorgeous Zeiss lenses. Its flashiness, auto features, and noise really puts the camera at the opposite end of the rangefinder spectrum from its rival, Leica. In fact, given that its autofocusing sounds like metal gears revving, and its automatic film advance sounds, well like metal gears revving, stealth is not its forte. It is made of titanium and, with a look rather like that of nickel, it is not discreet despite its size. It came out in 1994 and if you get one you want to be sure it has the “green sticker” inside – meaning it is compatible with the 35mm Zeiss lens that did not come out until the G2 was later introduced. It is a good looking camera, albeit in a 1990s fashion. The first thing that one notices about the G1 is its looks.
#CONTAX G2 FLICKR UPGRADE#
And never saw any reason to upgrade to the G2. As it turned it out, I did like the camera. My plan was that if I really liked the camera, with its known quirks, I would eventually get the slightly larger, faster focusing G2. So for about $800 he sold me his Contax G1 with 35mm and 90mm Zeiss lenses. He wanted to buy Nikon’s latest digicam at the time – which was running $900+ if I recall correctly. It has probably been close to 10 years ago that I bought my little Contax G1 used from a guy that lives about an hour and a half away from me.