Help! Contax G2 "lens" issue?! Camera unresponsive with lens mounted.

pete_mod · Jun 24, 2014

Hi all,

I have a problem with my Contax G2 and 35-70mm lens (my only lens). The camera acts normal without the lens on, it autofocuses, the viewfinder display lights up and displays properly... etc. HOWEVER, when I mount my lens, it becomes unresponsive. It turns on, and the top left LCD display comes on, however that is it in terms of functionality. The shutter button is unresponsive, and the viewfinder display doesn't turn on. Sometimes I can get it to work by fiddling with the dials/lens, or removing the batteries for an extended period... however once I turn it off, it once again becomes unresponsive when turned back on.

I read a thread about a similar problem here, so I thought maybe someone can help shed some light. Like I said it works great without the lens mounted. It's a black G2 and lens, so hopefully it's repairable.

Right now I have the batteries out. I'll put them back in a few hours and hopefully it will work. I then plan to leave it on for an extended period of time and maybe that will 'fix' something...

I appreciate the help.

sepiareverb · Jun 24, 2014

Give TOCAD an email, they'll do you right.

pete_mod · Jun 24, 2014

Thanks for the quick reply. That will be my next course of action. I'm just wondering if there is a DIY fix out there first.

Richard S. (rich815) · Jun 24, 2014

Never heard of this with my G2 in over 10 years. Are the contacts on the lens and the body clean?

Richard S. (rich815) · Jun 24, 2014

You have another G lens to try with it? You did not put your location in your profile so anyone who might live nearby with a G lens can't figure out if they live nearby to see if they can help

pete_mod · Jun 24, 2014

Richard Sintchak (rich815) said:
Never heard of this with my G2 in over 10 years. Are the contacts on the lens and the body clean?

Contacts are mint on both the lens and body. I just manged to get it to work again by playing with the exposure compensation switch, I left it on... however it turned off automatically after a few minutes and now it is again inoperable (just with the lens on). Again, it works fine without the lens on...

I'm in Oshawa (Toronto area). I found a fellow G2 user about an hours drive away, however if there is anyone closer then that would be even better.

chip j · Jun 24, 2014

The lens has to be in the 35mm position to mount on the body.

pete_mod · Jun 24, 2014

chip j said:
The lens has to be in the 35mm position to mount on the body.

Yes, I am mounting it in the 35mm position. I also tried this:

1. turned the camera on without the lens on (worked normally).
2. mounted the lens while the camera was turned on. Viewfinder display stayed on, shutter speeds could be changed and were displayed properly. However, shutter button was inoperable (as was autofocus).
3. took the lens off and the camera functioned normally again.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

pete_mod · Jun 25, 2014

pete_mod said:
Yes, I am mounting it in the 35mm position. I also tried this:

1. turned the camera on without the lens on (worked normally).
2. mounted the lens while the camera was turned on. Viewfinder display stayed on, shutter speeds could be changed and were displayed properly. However, shutter button was inoperable (as was autofocus).
3. took the lens off and the camera functioned normally again.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

MORE experimenting:

The camera works fine with the lens 'on' the body, but as soon as I rotate the barrel to lock it in place, it becomes unresponsive... It start becoming unresponsive after about halfway to 'full lock'...

I will update this thread as I track down and potentially fix the problem.

EDIT: When the contacts of the lens and body touch, that is when it becomes unresponsive. Locking it into place simply brought the contacts close enough to touch. I'm thinking its either: a) dirty contacts, although unlikely, I will get some decent contact cleaner tomorrow. b) a micro processor in the camera is crapping out. c) circuitry in the lens itself is crapping out (perhaps a cold solder joint). A & C I can fix, so hopefully its not B.

This situation makes me appreciate my all mechanical cameras just a little more...

Richard S. (rich815) · Jun 25, 2014

Something is wrong, send it to Tocad.

TheFlyingCamera · Jun 25, 2014

Try a good pencil eraser to clean the contacts before you go buying cleaning fluid.

pete_mod · Jun 25, 2014

Camera was turned off overnight (with the batteries inside). Turned it on and it worked fine. Turned it off, and back on, and it again stopped working.

I'm pretty sure it's a problem with the camera itself. Time to contact TOCAD.

Richard S. (rich815) · Jun 25, 2014

I think it's the lens. Wish you could try to mount another.

pete_mod · Jun 25, 2014

Richard Sintchak (rich815) said:
I think it's the lens. Wish you could try to mount another.

I am going to meet a fellow G2 owner in the next day or two and try out his lenses... I will post what I find out.

pete_mod · Jun 25, 2014

FIXED... (sort of)

I discovered that the camera will turn on fine (with the lens attached) when I slowly turn the power switch. If I turn it fast (regular speed) the camera will be inoperable, but when I try again immediately after by turning it slowly it works fine. After a few successful 'slow' power ups it will even work when I flick it on quickly.

I will use it this way until I can test it with another lens. At least it works!

pete_mod · Jun 25, 2014

So I met a fellow G2 owner about an hour ago. His 45mm and 90mm lenses worked on my body just fine, and my 35-70mm worked on his body just fine. However, my lens and body combo did not work fine. The only possible conclusion is that my contacts are dirty and causing the body to go haywire when the lens is mounted. I will clean the contacts and hopefully that should clear things up.

elekm · Jun 25, 2014

Sounds like the contacts are far from "mint." It is possible that you need to clean the backside of the contacts but that's just a guess.

With cameras that rely heavily on electronics, its sometimes just too difficult to diagnosis these types of issues.

The fact that other lenses work fine on your camera and your lens works fine on a different body makes it even more confusing.

pete_mod · Jun 25, 2014

elekm said:
Sounds like the contacts are far from "mint." It is possible that you need to clean the backside of the contacts but that's just a guess.

With cameras that rely heavily on electronics, its sometimes just too difficult to diagnosis these types of issues.

The fact that other lenses work fine on your camera and your lens works fine on a different body makes it even more confusing.

Yeah, my biggest fear was that it was a micro processor in the body on the fritz. The contacts look very clean to the naked eye, but I guess there could be microscopic oxidization preventing a good connection. There is also a possibility however that my body just doesn't 'like' the 35-70mm and there is a glitch when identifying the lens. My father owned an electronics repair shop, and once aged electronics start failing... that's pretty much it.

Richard S. (rich815) · Jun 25, 2014

Maybe you have one of those rare G2 bodies with a silver sticker inside the film chamber. ;-)

pete_mod · Jun 28, 2014

AHHHH...

Well it doesn't seem to be the contacts. I cleaned them with Deoxit and it is still acting up. Furthermore, now the shutter doesn't want to fire... it will focus and advance the film, but the shutter won't fire (it did so after I loaded a fresh roll of film, just prior to cleaning the contacts). And the shutter won't fire regardless of whether the lens is on or not.

Hopefully I can get this fixed for a reasonable price.

brendanmega · Jul 6, 2014

With my G2, I cannot get the shutter to fire when I mount the 45mm lens unless I give the aperture ring a few good back and forth cycles before I mount it. I thought I had a problem with either the contacts or the lens itself, but this solved my problem. Perhaps try that? I also have had good experience with TOCAD recently for a shutter replacement.

Kiri · Apr 7, 2016

Hi all
I recentley purchased a mint G2 with a 45mm and today I went and bought a 28mm, which worked fine on the G1 from the person who I bought it off, but sadley doesnt seem to work on my G2.
Same exact problem like you Pete... not fully locked in the G2 body it detects the lense, but focus and shutter dont work. Fully locked in the body, doesnt detect at all
Was wondering if you found a solution to this problem. Would super appriciate your help!

Abutate · Apr 24, 2016

Any luck boys?

lanuevabasura · Jan 18, 2023

Hi everyone,

i had the same problem... after reading a lot and trying out many different things, i found out a solution, and it's VERY EASY.

basically, when the camera works without the lens and stops working when you mount the lens is because the camera is not recognizing that the lens is attached properly, so it stops working.

in my case, the whole problem has because this little pin was in the middle instead of in the left position, as you see in the picture I'm attaching.
You need to push it to the left to leave it ready to recognize the lens when it's attached.

hope this works!

xb

warden · Jan 18, 2023

lanuevabasura said:
Hi everyone,

i had the same problem... after reading a lot and trying out many different things, i found out a solution, and it's VERY EASY.

basically, when the camera works without the lens and stops working when you mount the lens is because the camera is not recognizing that the lens is attached properly, so it stops working.

in my case, the whole problem has because this little pin was in the middle instead of in the left position, as you see in the picture I'm attaching.
You need to push it to the left to leave it ready to recognize the lens when it's attached.

hope this works!

xb

What a first post! Welcome and thanks!

Help! Contax G2 "lens" issue?! Camera unresponsive with lens mounted.

pete_mod

sepiareverb

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Richard S. (rich815)

Richard S. (rich815)

pete_mod

chip j

pete_mod

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Richard S. (rich815)

TheFlyingCamera

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Help! Contax G2 "lens" issue?! Camera unresponsive with lens mounted.

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