The G2 carried over the same lens mount and the auto-adjusting viewfinder and basic form factor. When the G2 saw release in 1996, the G1 ceased production. Most coming from the slow speed and low light performance. But they faced several issues with the camera with most of the complaints coming from the passive phase-detection autofocus system. The G1 would win the Grand Prix award in Japan the same year. Their first attempt at a new class of rangefinder came in 1994 with the Contax G1. The other two cameras in this lineup included the Contax N-1 and Contax 645AF.
Meter: TTL Meter, EV1 – EV19 ASA-100, ASA-6 – ASA-6400Īutofocus: Active & Passive Phase Dectection using infrared beamĬontax G2 – Carl Zeiss Biogon 2.8/28 T* – Eastman Double-X (5222) – Kodak Xtol (stock) 6:30 20C Contax G2 – Carl Zeiss Biogon 2.8/28 T* – Eastman Double-X (5222) – Kodak Xtol (stock) 6:30 20Cīack in the 1990s when Kyocera decided to release a new series of cameras that took on the original Contax name, the Contax G-Series would be among three different cameras produced during the timeframe that leveraged the capacity to build Carl Zeiss autofocus lenses. Shutter: Electronic Metal Vertical Travel Focal Plane Shutter, 16″ – 1/6000″ A Contax G2 mounting the Planar 45/2 lens in titanium, along with a fantastic Belgium Pilsner on a street cafe in Antwerp. And while I have since given up the G2 it will remain a touchstone camera within my own personal photographic journey. The G2 quickly became the camera of choice when space was a sticking point, a camera to keep in the car, take on photo walks all culminating in my 2015 trip to Europe where I took one of my favourite photos that I’ve ever taken. And actually one of the first rolls of film I shot through the camera was my final roll of Kodachrome. I don’t remember exactly what drew me to the G2 when I first got my hands on the camera back at the end of the first decade of the 21st-Century so right near the start of my return to film. But it’s a rangefinder and a dressed-up point-and-shoot, in reality, it’s a camera that’s in a class all of its own, the Autofocus Rangefinder (AFRF). When you first lay eyes on the Contax G series of cameras you’re going to wonder to yourself, what sort of camera are these? Are they rangefinders? Are they some kind of digital camera? A dressed-up point and shoot? Well the G Series is sort of both, well it certainly is not a digital camera.