#Contax g2 set manual#

Compared to the Leica M6, IВ donвЂ™t have toвЂ¦ I bring it up to my eye, hit the back-button-focus and trip the shutter.

Shooting with the Contax G2 is a rapid-fire affair. The Contax G1/G2 systems were the only ones that met all these criteria.ДЄll in all, itвЂ™s the quality of a Leica (in terms of body AND lenses) with the convenience of a point-and-shoot. I wanted a camera that I could take together with my digital cameras, so it needed to be compact. Sure there were many film SLRs that could do this but their sizes put me off. Basically the handling convenience of a compact camera, with high quality lenses. I wanted an autofocusing, AE-capable, interchangeable lens, film rangefinder. Those settings let me to capture anything from 2 paces to infinity with reasonable sharpness.

#Contax g2 set manual#

Zone-focusing with the Contax G2 is somewhat more fiddly (but still possible!) than the M вЂ“ when IвЂ™m shooting with the 28mm, IвЂ™ll stick it to f5.6 or f8, set manual focus to 2m and push my film to 1600. Manual focus aficionados who rely on muscle-memory and pre-focus their lenses can get faster results, but itвЂ™s a skill that takes a some time to master. The G2 AF system works like a charm and once youвЂ™ve gotten used to the duration of the sound that the focus motor makes, you canВ ensure that the AF is locked onto your subject and not infinity/MFD. I found this a great help for framing and composition. The Contax G2 viewfinder is tiny, bordering on point-and-shoot territory but it also has something called a вЂzoom-finderвЂ™ which means that the image you see in the VF is representative of the focal length. IвЂ™d be very surprised if anyone can tell the difference in the resulting print made from these two setups. Compare the prices of a champagne G2 + 45/2 lens with the nearest equivalent, an M7 + 50mm/2 Planar and the difference is pretty stark.

The way I see it, IвЂ™m not sacrificingВ quality by switching systems. I figured if I didnвЂ™t like the new system, I could always turn back for little to no loss anyway. A black Contax G2 with 3 (very beautiful) lenses cost just a few hundred more than what my M6В body could fetch in the local market. Why did I switch from the M6, widely considered one of the best film cameras money could buy, to the G2? Three things mainly: I sold off my Leica M6 to fund the purchase of the Contax G2. In this particular marathon however, I brought along my Contax G2 with the 28/2.8 and 45/2 lenses to capture personal photos and leave the main workload to my other digital cameras. Colour-consistency is a major consideration, which is why I very rarely shoot commercial projects with film. IвЂ™veВ beenВ asked if thereвЂ™re any special considerations when youвЂ™re using both film and digital formats for an assignment.