It is set in a raised block on the rear of the body which helps to avoid smooshing your nose too much against the body. The viewfinder is fairly good, although it can be a little darkish compared to a Leica.
There is a 35-70mm zoom lens in the range – as you zoom the lens, the optics in the viewfinder zoom to match. I probably still like a traditional viewfinder with framelines, as you can see what is happening just outside of the frame.Īs a result of having an optical zoom, the G2 is the only rangefinder I am aware of that can effectively use a zoom lens. So whatever you see in the viewfinder is pretty much what is going to end up on the film. When you lock in a lens, the viewfinder optically zooms to the correct view rather than bringing up framelines. Contax made the G2 very different to a Leica. Setting the lens to f2 and being confident of the results enabled me to concentrate on the images, and not my settings. Wandering deep into the light challenged Hong Kong’s back alleys and laneways, the G2 delivered great results. I find the G2’s autofocusing perfect for lower light daylight conditions. I am unable to comment, as I have never used one. This body has a reputation for hunting when on autofocus and very slow. There was a Contax G1 body also manufactured prior to the G2.
I find that manual focus rangefinders can be a bit of a struggle in low light conditions – it takes a couple of seconds to manually focus which can cost you a passing opportunity at times. In lower light conditions, the autofocus combines with the large apertures to enable fast shutter speeds for sharper results. The G2 has a superb range of Zeiss lenses that mostly have f2 or f2.8 as a maximum aperture. The downside is having to use higher aperture settings to maximise the zone in focus, often f8 or f11 – meaning you need some decent light to get the shot. If you get it right, you just virtually point and shoot. One of the things I love about using a traditional manual focus rangefinder is setting up for zone focus or hyperfocal distance. You can recompose whilst keeping focus by holding the shutter button down, but it can be a little annoying. The only downside is the focus point is not moveable – and it is dead centre in the viewfinder.
The first generation G1 body apparently was quite slow to focus, but I have never had the chance to try one out. There is a school of thought on the interwebs that the G2 is a bit slow on the focus – I have never missed a shot waiting for the focus, but it can occasionally “hunt” a little bit. Don’t ask me to explain it any further than that… Way too techy for me.Īll you need to know is that the autofocus is pretty quick and precise. The G2 autofocuses using some serious gadgety systems – a focus infrared light supported with a passive system.
Unlike Leicas, Voigtlanders etc it has no focus patch in the viewfinder. Being a rangefinder, it is compact without compromising the quality of the images. You can read more about rangefinders here. The only one of it’s kind… The G2 (yeah, ok, I am including the first model G1 here too!) is a one of a kind goody. The Contax G2 is a fascinating little unit – an autofocusing rangefinder! The word “unique” gets bandied around a lot by people who have a limited grasp of it’s definition :ġ. being the only one of its kind unlike anything else. Every one that I have had a chance to handle was a pure joy. Prices certainly haven’t been helped when the likes of Chris Hemsworth tells his 45 million followers on Instagram that digital is dead, he only shoots on film, and his camera of choice is - you guessed it - the Contax T2.I wish Contax was still making cameras. Rather than being snapped up solely by film photography enthusiasts, the T2 suddenly became the choice of aspiring social media influencers. The T2 was always a popular choice but, as Kummerfeldt discusses, it received a massive spike in popularity when Kendall Jenner pulled one out to photograph Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show in February 2017 (full video here). Jason Kummerfeldt of grainydays is the proud owner of a Contax T2 but this video explains why he only takes it out to shoot on very special occasions, despite the camera’s intended purpose as an everyday compact. Why do they cost so much and are they worth the investment? Contax no longer exists and T2s now sell for thousands of dollars.
The Contax T2 was a luxury compact rangefinder released in 1991, combing excellent image quality and controls that have since made it a desirable option for film aficionados.