Re: Leica M6 and Contax G2

["Lee Yan Zhan" <yzlee@cyberway.com.sg>]

Larry,

I own both system and is about to use G2 less.

My reasons are :

Camera
- -----------
Plus points
1.	It has all the latest cool things.  But I hardly used the motordrive or
1/6000 shutterspeed.
2.	Auto-bracketing is useful.
3.	Servicing in my country is better than Leica 1000%.  (Leica - Pls read
this!)
4.	The shuttle is actually quite silent by SLR standard.
Minus points
1.	I cannot see what I am focusing and that affected my confidence in
important shots.  I end up
	using it as an expensive P&S.
2.	At low light, the focusing may not be accurate because according to
Contax, you need to 
	"get used to it".  Sometimes the IR takes over too soon.  I put a tape on
my IR.
3.	I cannot see beyond the frameline and thus, I have to "chase" my
subjects like in SLR.
4.	I do experience blackout sometimes - 5%.
5.	Under low light, the viewfinder can be dark.  According to Contax, it
doesn't matter because
	the rangefinder is electronic....back to Pt. 1.
6.	Because it is electronic, I tend to slow me down surprisingly since I
have to always look at the
	exposure determined by the system and do a quick mental calculation to see
if they make
	sense to me before firing the shot.....may not be a problem to G2
professionals.
7.	This is subjective.  The moment I take it out the bag - everyone looks
at you.  (Could be a
	plus point for some!!).  I cannot take pictures unnoticed.
8.	I know one case of reliability problem - one of my friend managed to
convince the service
	centre that his new RF is out of sync after 2 months and many shots.  It
was fixed
	promptly.  Its not perfect on QA too.

Lenses - 21/28/35/90
- ------------------------------
Plus points
1.	The lenses are great.  But the "looks" of the pictures is different from
Leica.
2.	Price - its at least 50% cheaper than any Leica equivalent.
3.	Lenses are relatively light and small.
Minus points
1.	Lowest speed is f2.  May not be a problem to some but there is no
choice.
2.	The lense mount is different from Leica.  A friend of mine "twisted" the
lense wrongly and
	need to get it fixed.  In the process, both the bayonet and some
electronics were damaged.
	BEWARE of this....but its probably an isolated incident.
3.	I found the pictures were better without using Contax filters. 
Surprisingly, Leica or B&W is better.
4.	Autofocus is noisy and irritating because it has to go back to its
original position.  There is actually
	a time lag between shots because of this.  The focusing is actually noiser
than the shuttle.
5.	The 90/2.8 lense hood is not built in and big.  The 21/2.8 comes without
a hood.  
6.	Again, this is subjective because with the electronics built in, I don't
know how long the
	lense will last.  In fact, I am using my lenses more cautiously then Leica
because I fear dropping it.
	It has a lifespan and I don't know how long Contax will keep the parts.

My wish list for G3 - Should be in next year
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
1.	Lense should be manual focus without electronics.  This way, I can
change the body every
	2 years and still keep the lenses.  Also, no noise.
2.	Frameline should be illuminated in low light like my 28Ti.
3.	Should have a choice of black titanium body.
4.	Bigger and brighter viewfinder.

This is also my first email and I hope is helpful to make your decision. 
There is an excellant G User page.
You should check it out too.  

For me, I am considering seriously to sell all my G2 gears and waiting for
Contax to get it right next time.  I am sure they will.  I am not saying
that M is perfect.  It depends on your needs and preference.

Regards,

Lee