{"id":1882,"date":"2015-06-04T08:10:33","date_gmt":"2015-06-04T12:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marcsworld.ca\/wp\/?p=1882"},"modified":"2015-06-04T08:14:59","modified_gmt":"2015-06-04T12:14:59","slug":"contax-g1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/marcsworld.ca\/wp\/?p=1882","title":{"rendered":"Contax G1"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a number of fully manual cameras; \u00a0a Pentax SP500<\/a> (purchased for $12 CAD @ Value Village), a beautiful 500 C\/M<\/a>\u00a0(\u00a0acquired\u00a0in trade for my Fuji x10<\/a> digicam) and a Braun Gloria<\/a>\u00a0I received as a gift this\u00a0Christmas past. \u00a0All great cameras and all taking interesting pictures in their own right. All have helped me become quite comfortable with the technical aspects of film photography once again\u00a0–\u00a0not made me an expert – but once again I feel comfortable shooting film. \u00a0Like coming home.<\/p>\n

I wanted a nice, compact, sharp and easy to use range-finder style film camera that would autofocus and provide some level of auto exposure. \u00a0I wanted to\u00a0simply concentrate on the craft of shooting film, of making pictures and bringing a\u00a0vision to life, not the technical side of photography. \u00a0I wanted a camera that looked and felt like my beloved Fuji x100s<\/a>. \u00a0The camera I decided on was a Contax G1 and lens. \u00a0I bought the body via Henry’s Ebay site ($107 CAN) and the 28mm Biogon lens via Ebay from someone in Toronto ($375 CAN). \u00a0I had a Zeiss lens a while back on my Sony F707<\/a> and F717<\/a>\u00a0and found the 3 dimensionality and colour rendition<\/a> to be exceptionally appealing. \u00a0I am on the hunt for the 45mm lens but it will have to be an exceptional value, as I think I may have put enough money into this film system.<\/p>\n

I was also hoping for point and shoot convenience in a high quality package and I haven’t been\u00a0disappointed. \u00a0I’ll be\u00a0primarily shooting black and white and developing and scanning at home. I’ve\u00a0experimented with shooting\u00a0colour film (Ektar, expired Fuji Superia and expired Kodak Gold) \u00a0and with the exception of a few overly red \/ pink skin tones with the\u00a0Ektar, I have few\u00a0complaints. \u00a0The images are as sharp and have the\u00a0level of contrast that I had hoped for. The camera has an undeniable heft that belies its size, it fits well in my (admittedly large, not bragging) hand, is fast enough to focus (for me) and very intuitive to operate. \u00a0I shoot mostly in Aperture Priority for now, as I learn the camera, and I’ll branch further when I need. \u00a0I’ve also found, over the course of a few rolls of film, that the G1 \/ 28mm combo has a certain working range or sweet-spot wherein the images sing. \u00a0The G1 has become my daily driver. \u00a0I hope you enjoy these recent images and I look forward to posting many more on my website.<\/p>\n