Sophie's choice: Leica M4-P or Contax G2

[Richard Jepsen]

I just re-read that the original poster has a M4-P, shoots color, and lacks funds for more Leica glass. Buy the G2 or just hang a Rokkor 40 on the M4-P and concentrate on making photos.

 

[elekm]

There's a lot of good gear out there for reasonable prices. If you can't afford a lens for the Leica, stow it for a bit. Put some money into an inexpensive SLR. And when you have the money, buy the lens that you want for the Leica.

It's a good thing to be able to choose between an SLR and a rangefinder.

And as others will say, it's not really about the gear. It's about taking photos.

 

[Xmas]

making do with a Cosina Voigtlaner
40mm MC 1.4 (great fast lens!)

If you need another focal length buy another CV lens, or even a Canon LTM lens, 12, 15, 21, 25 ,28, and 35mm are all available..
You may not be able to use a Contax G1 or G2, unless your photos are all deliberate.

Noel

 

[cloneroom]

QUICK UPDATE

I have had a week with the Contax G2 and must say I am LOVING it. I haven’t picked up either Leica M6 TTl or M4-P. It is fluid and handles great, I am glad I have not found the viewfinder to be an issue and Focus has been a pleasant surprise.. spot on so far even the 90mm.As soon as I get some images scanned I will post a few for people to peep at.

It is such a shame this camera did not catch on in time iIf there was A CONTAX 3 DIGITAL FULL FRAME CAMERA brought on the market today ... I think the Leica M9 would have a bit of healthy competition on it's hands.

Then again all the current lenses would skyrocket..

Simon

 

[mrisney]

I have had a week with the Contax G2 and must say I am LOVING it. I haven’t picked up either Leica M6 TTl or M4-P.

Agreed Portra 160 NC , scanned from the lab with a Noritsu Koki QSS,
to 18mb .tiff files. Very impressed. The G2 is going to be one and only 35mm film rangefinder,
time to sell a CLA'ed M4-P in excellent condition.
The Contax is a better camera for my 35mm film usage.
Faster to focus, good metering,
and these images pretty much confirm what I suspected.
The Zeiss lenses are remarkable. (If you click on the images, you will hyperlink to my Flickr page for this image)


Using the 28mm, sharp




Testing the metering, a little out of focus on the girl
who I was trying to focus on, but good shadows, great color





Confirming that it can focus through the glass windows,





The Portland house. looks great, but I like Kodak Portra for just
that reason, sharp, very sharp, and enough latitude to be forgiving.





Obligatory Kitty shot






This camera rocks, I'm sold, this is my first roll, and I get the sense there are a few things to learn.
But I'm a convert, great camera- and the lenses ? Oh man, something else ..

 

[2F/2F]

How is the G2 for eyeglass wearers? Might make a good gift for a friend of mine...

 

[Lee L]

Agreed Portra 160 NC , scanned from the lab with a Noritsu Koki QSS, to 18mb .tiff files. Very impressed. The G2 is going to be one and only 35mm film rangefinder, time to sell a CLA'ed M4-P in excellent condition.
The Contax is a better camera for my 35mm film usage. Faster to focus, good metering, and these images pretty much confirm what I suspected.
The Zeiss lenses are remarkable. (If you click on the images, you will yperlink to my Flickr page for this image)

But the really pressing question here is which station in Portland warrants an FT-101.

Lee

 

[mrisney]

But the really pressing question here is which station in Portland warrants an FT-101.

Lee

Good Eye, KBOO keeps me entertained but I went from Totem Acoustics to B&W 805S
and love my Magnum Ft-101

I do tend to switch gear about, until I am content. Amplifiers and speakers, took many iterations, from Cary to Western Electric,
back to solid state, and satiated for the moment with Mark Levinson 28 & 29.

For analog camera's - I have had in the past:
Leica M4-P, Mamiya C-220, Polaroid 600 SE, Mamiya 645 Pro TL, Fuji GW690II, Rollei 6003, Nikormat EL, Pentax ME Super

I think I am done with the search for the perfect camera - Mamiya 6 and the Contax G2. Rangefinders are as good as gets with handheld camera's - no mirror, small and discreet, and images that really make me happy. I like that both camera's have a set amount of lenses, you can complete the kit. And they compliment eachother, each offering something that the other doesn't.


I will be considering the rumored Canon 3D this fall for digital, but these two film camera's : 1 for 135mm and 1 for 6x6 are the right fit for me.

 

[apconan]

Those pictures are spectacular... I might have to try 160nc as I only ever really use superia for 35mm and it is never that sharp. I know a bit of it has to do with my lab's scanner though- A Fuji Frontier SP-2000... makes the images very very grainy due to oversharpening I think.

Also the Mamiya 6 is a lovely camera... lusted for it for a while, but I have decided that if I am to commit that much money to medium format, both in terms of gear and also the higher price of 120 film, it would have to an SLR for the precision and the reassurance that I am seeing what the lens is seeing... But for everyday shooting I love my G1.

 

[mrisney]

I don't understand why it took me this long to stumble across the secret world of the Contax G. It's really a remarkable camera, and in this day, what with the economy, film gear what it is, and with the Leica snobbery that dominates the RF world. This little camera is hidden away like the gem it is. It's pretty much through word of mouth, or these forums that you stumble across it. A month ago, I was seriously irritated with my manual focus Leica after trying to get some holiday pictures with film, and was considering the famed Yashica T4 P&S. Through this forum and rangefinderforum, I got that, the Yashica T4 is a fine camera, but to go a little further, and go for the Contax G1 or G2. The more I read the more I was intrigued. Since Contax is no more, there is no marketing, no advertising, you have to read and look through the Flickr groups, to get an idea of what it can do. I kept hearing how great the lenses were, even by die hard Leica'philes, Erwin Puts, and Ken Rockwell all raved about G and it's lenses. The cost of G's are rock bottom, but maybe they are going lower, who knows, but to get one, and then a friend had a complete kit, who somehow got in his mind he wanted a mechanical Leica, it seemed like a good trade, no - I have no doubts. I like that this is a cult camera, and that very few people "get it" outside the rangefinder film world, and even those in that world, seem to be not too aware. Again, what an amazing camera, I wonder why it took me so long to discover it.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I "got" it way back when when they first came out and I was working in a camera store and couldn't afford them. I like the system so much now that I sold off my Contax SLR gear to complete my G2 system. I'm only missing the zoom and the 16mm, which is very much the oddball lens in the system anyway, and would probably never use enough to justify the expense. Another great film to put behind the G lenses is Fuji Reala. I shot my entire Barcelona trip with it, and got some amazing 12x18 inch prints that are tack sharp and grainless.

 

[Tom Kershaw]

Scott,

What is the 90mm f/2.8 like and what do you see are the advantages over a small 35mm SLR, - mostly ability in handheld low light conditions?

Tom

 

[coigach]

Scott,

What is the 90mm f/2.8 like and what do you see are the advantages over a small 35mm SLR, - mostly ability in handheld low light conditions?

Tom

I mostly shoot medium format landscapes, but I've got a G2 with 28, 45 + 90mm lenses for street and travel photography. The 28 and 45 are both incredible lenses, probably the 2 best I own.

The 90mm is a good lens when I can get the focus right. I've struggled a bit with the focussing on the 90mm, sometimes it's bang on, other times a mile off, despite me being familiar with the slightly quirky focus and thumb-locking technique of the G2. :confused: Never had a problem with the other 2 lenses and I'm used to 'shooting from the hip' quickly with these lenses for street stuff...

Cheers,
Gavin

 

[Lee L]

Good Eye, KBOO keeps me entertained...

Thanks. Streaming them now on my Chumby One, which means I can listen in the darkroom. Since Clearchannel and the like completely ruined 99.9% of commercial radio it's hard to find good local stations, and community radio / NPR affiliates / college radio seem to have the good music programming.

Glad you found your camera. It's all about what fits your hands, has the lenses you prefer, and works best with your way of working/seeing. If you're fighting your camera, you're probably not able to do your best work.

Lee

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Scott,

What is the 90mm f/2.8 like and what do you see are the advantages over a small 35mm SLR, - mostly ability in handheld low light conditions?

Tom

Tom-

The 90 is an excellent lens. It gives beautiful portraits hand-held, with very nice bokeh (out of focus areas). I have not had major issues with focusing it on the G2- it is fussy on my G1, but that is a known issue.

The biggest advantages over an SLR are that since there's no mirror in the G2, you can hand-hold to a slower shutter speed, thus using the lens in natural light even with a slower (read iso 100) film. It is also quieter than an SLR again because of no mirror slap. I have a shot I took in the workshops and vault of the Sagrada Familia cathedral with the 21 mm lens - hand-held for 1 second. It is tack sharp, even enlarged to 12x18 inches. I'll look around on my HD and post a scan of it when I get home. I found it was very easy to hand-hold the G2, regardless of focal length used, down to 1/2 or 1/3 second. I wouldn't think about that with an SLR.

 

[twinsfan]

I have the G2 with the 21, 28, 35, and 90 (and the TLA200 and TLA 360). The 21 is my favorite lens, so much so that I am now forcing myself to use the other lenses when I go out. Lately, I've just been leaving the house with only 1 lens, rather than bringing the kit, and it can't be the 21! I used to have the G1 and the 45 as well, and sold them as a kit on ebay. Don't ask me why, I can't remember. It was about 8 years ago.

I am looking at getting another 45. There was a used one at Bromfield Camera in Boston, I put it on my camera in the shop and shot a quick grab shot of my fiancee. Man, that lens is tack sharp! Not that the other ones aren't great, but that 45 is a great little piece of glass.

On another note, I had to send off the G2 and the 21 to TOCAD this fall after I banged them on a rather large piece of granite in the White Mountains. Ouch. The 21 wouldn't focus after the smash. The other lenses seemed to work ok, but I sent both in anyway. They did a total CLA on the G2, replacing the LCDs too, not that they needed it. The 21 was indeed the problem, and they were able to repair it too, $175 for the lens Vs. ~$600 on KEH. Everything seems happy and is working well now. KEH did a great job and was very helpful on the phone when working through the problems. They also did a great job on my Contax 645.

Glad to see all the G2 users, and this thread about this camera.