G2 Camera Body

I grew up on film cameras and traveled Europe with a Minolta 35mm film system with AF in the early '90s. Moved to a digital Kodak around 2000 and have not looked back at film until recently. Have gotten more interested in photography of late (just got a Fujifilm X-T2 which is fantastic) and read web commentaries about the high quality Contax G model series as an "inspiration" for the Fuji X-Series. Thought I restart my film experience and got a Contax G2 camera with Carl Zeiss 28mm & 45mm lenses. As sure as the sun shines these write-ups praising the G series are on target. The Contax G2 is a beautiful, well designed and convenient camera that is fully automated - range-finder type autofocus, auto film advance and rewind - it is quaint by today's standards. There is a manual focus mode but can be tricky because the a) it is not an SLR through the lens viewfinder (there is a alignment guide in the viewfinder to assist) and b) a wheel on the camera body is the method to focus the lens instead of the traditional on-lens ring. There is also a Continuous shooting mode for taking multiple photos at low or high speed - have not tried this yet. With either the 28mm or 45mm Carl Zeiss G lenses attached you will get superb photos - sharp, "contrasty", wonderful color and exposure. The G2's light meter is almost supernatural in getting the exposure right. The AF is a little noisy but so far has been accurate. The CZ lenses have a aperture ring that determines the shutter speed which is displayed on a yellow bar at the bottom of the viewfinder along with a distance meter. A very simple and effective setup. Draw backs are purchasing film (Amazon has a good selection) and getting it developed. No 24 hour turnaround shops these days - must mail it to a central location - takes about a week to get the scanned photos on-line, two for the negatives. About $16 per 24 frame roll. It adds up but you will enjoy the process and the results.

I owned a G2 from new about 10 years ago and bought most of the lenses except the zoom and the super wide 15mm (?). I shot mostly Fujichrome Velvia and Kodachrome 64 and needless to say the slides were stunning when projected through my still going strong late 1970's Leica Pradovit projector. I have a load of slides dating back to the late 1960's and they show no sign of deterioration. The build quality of this system wreaked of German style with Japanese attention to detail. For a fraction of the price of a Leica, the Contax was untouchable. The camera, 21mm, 28mm, 35mm, 45mm and 90mm all fit in a small Lowepro Nova 5 bag and was a delight to carry compared with a Nikon SLR of that era. Sadly, I sold it as digital makes sense these days but there is no replacement for the Contax G2 in digital (forget Leica--too expensive). If Contax could be resurrected with a G2d and full size senor that allowed you to use all the old G2 lenses it would trash all the competition in a single blow! I have often wondered if it might happen and whether it might be a good ideas to buy a few G2 lenses cheap on ebay ahead of a G2d announcement and sudden hyper-demand for the Zeiss glass.

The camera is nice and clean, and at first I took five pictures successfully, but then it turns out that the gear of the shutter is broken. I feel really frustrated and I don't know where to fix it. Hope I can find a place. It's just made me feel so sad cause this is my first time buying a stuff as expensive as this.

its fraud because Amazon used a black Contax g2 on its site in the photo why did you do this on amazon

I've owned a Contax G2 since they were first produced, and I've loved the camera and its lenses. I spent months comparing Contax and Leica before I bought, and despite a life-long lust for a Leica, I decided any lens or functional superiority the Leica might have would be minimal, and chose the Contax with three lenses (I passed on the superwide and the zoom). I have never, ever regretted the decision. Zeiss lenses for the G2 have a magical quality to them. They create prints with texture and light that are almost 3-D. I've shot hundreds of rolls, mostly of children at play, and once I became familiar with the way the camera focuses, and the manual and automatic options in focusing, exposure, and depth of field, I rarely ruined a picture - and any picture-ruining has always been my own doing. Unfortunately, digital cameras offer so much now, and film seems so cumbersome. A little point-and-shoot digital is incredibly handy. However, I don't know how much I'd have to spend on a digital camera and lenses producing pics like my Contax does, and I'm spoiled by the quality. For now, I'm sticking with my Contax for quality shots, and with a point and shoot for convenience. The Contax will someday end up on my shelf, but it'll remain with me forever, like the antique cameras from 60 years ago that people collect for their beauty.