the Contax G1 again

[Brian Reid <reid@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>]

There were a few comments traded on this list about the Contax G1 a few
months ago. I recently had a chance to use one to shoot a test roll of
film, and I have to say, I'm in love. Currently my workhorse cameras are a
Leica IIIf, a Canon P, and a Nikon S, which all share a set of Leitz
screw-mount lenses and one Sears Roebuck "Tower" 135mm screw-mount lens
(and the wonderful 2.0/50 lens that came with the Canon P). My Leica CL
sits on the shelf unused for some reason I can't quite remember, except
that I gave its 90mm lens to my brother for a wedding present (it fits
his Minolta CLE).

But my children are getting to the age at which I find myself missing
pictures of them while I'm piddling with my light meters and things. I
bought a Canon T90 robo-camera, but I don't think I'm made out of
whatever it takes to learn to like an SLR.

I spent half a day in Palo Alto's Keeble and Shuchat camera store,
looking at everything and trying everything, and the Contax G1 came out
on top. I am distressed that I liked it better than the Leica M6, but I
did. I can't put my finger on what it was about the M6 that put me off.
The Contax G1 felt like it was designed just for my hands and my eyes.
The focus mechanism was less than perfect, but I will confess that I've
bungled a lot of Leica shots through the years with incorrect focus, so
I can't hold that too much against it.

Have any of you actually used the G1 for any length of time? Its lenses
are incontrovertibly wonderful; the issue seems to be its useability
and adaptability.

Brian Reid