Contax G1 in China

Images shot on Lomography Color Negative 100 film

Is the Contax G1 the perfect 35mm travel camera?

Tipping the scales at 450g (16oz) just for the titanium body, it’s more than twice the weight of my premium point and shoot cameras.

I’ve taken the G1 to both China and Japan in the last 6 months. On both occasions I only shot a single roll of 100 speed film: Fujicolor 100 in Japan and this set shot on Lomography 100 in China.

On both trips I took the 28mm Biogon lens and the 45mm Planar, but in China the latter stayed glued to the G1 the whole time. The 90mm doesn’t seem to play nice on my G1 so it stayed on the shelf at home.

The Contax G Planar 45mm F2 lens is one of the best lenses ever produced for the 35mm format.

It produces sharp images, and when shot close to wide open, the images have an almost 3D effect.

They say it’s all down to the micro contrast that the Zeiss lenses have on this system: the famed ‘Zeiss pop’.

The elephant in the room is the G1’s not so stellar reputation for focus. I’ve had my share of out-of-focus images. I’d suggest half the time they were my fault and the other half the G1’s. I’m pretty sure I focussed on the green fruits in the foreground of the above image, but I’ll give the camera the benefit of the doubt and say it was my fault that the red fruits at the back are in focus.

When the G1 gets focus right, which is most of the time, the results are outstanding.

The last couple of shots above and below were on a morning walk in Shanghai. I needed to finish the roll before I got back on the plane home.

Look out for a full review of the Contax G1 coming soon.

Watch on YouTube

See more shots from this roll in the video below.

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Matt