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Taking the G to Central America Panama Is it a good Idea

Its a bad Idea to cary around some new shiny camerabag with contax in it.
Its like a bait to criminals, if you wanna catch them, good luck.

In mine opinion, if you are not expirienced with the G2 for around 50 rolls of film, I recomend to take some equipment with where you are sure to have a reliable Camera and Lenses.
The Contax G2 is not reliable to go traveling with, exept in a relaxing guided tour maybe.
My reasons:
Dont swap any Lenses betwen a G1 and G2 like it suposed to be.
The Lenscaps are faling apart when you travel, the glue doesnt hold. Cary superglue and 2 Pegs to fix it.
Sand gets in al gaps and slit and whe you move the weels after a day at the beach, it will sound like a pepper mill.
Risk of scratching the film.

Whe you hold the camera a few days in your hand and take lots pictures, you will need lots of bateries and when your hands are a bit sweaty the cheap material bolts pins contacts will corrode in a short time. Its worse than on my 10Year old Minolta wehre the bolts or screws stil arent rosty.
Use marine grade grease not to get the batery cap stuck because of corrosion or dont use the G2 in tropics traveling witout aircondition were you can dry the camera, but avoid condensation ! the G2 cant handle humidity over 65% for long.

The frame counter does bleed after short time of using.

On the Data Back the glue is not holding the magnets to secure the cover of the butonpanel.
1More time you could need the superglue! It should come with the Contax set, wich I paid new over US$3000$.

The Contax customer service is not very satisfying when you got a problem.

If you wanna have something reliable,good customer service, long lasting value, get Leica.

Smart when you got the Contax 2hand and saved over 50% of the New Price.
This shows for New Contax G2 Buyer, the Contax G equipment is a WOMBAT (I dont mean the animal in Australia)

Maybe the Contax Customer service can help me here with the problems.

Sorry about my poor english.
 
Picturetaker (Picturetaker),

That is the 1st bad thing I have heard about the camera. Seems strange that nobody else has noticed these things or pointed them out. If anyone else has expierienced these problems please let me know.
Colin
 
This 'Picturetaker' guy seems to hang out on this forum just to criticize the Gs, but doesn't offer anything positive. One wonders why he is on this forum at all if he is so satisfied with his Minolta. I've never seen a useful, informative, positive posting by the guy - although his first posting did contain expletives, for some odd reason.

My G travelled all over with me, never even used a proper camera bag - humidity, beaches, you name it. Never a problem, although, as with any camera, when near salt water, be sure to have it thoroughly cleaned when you return home. Sounds like p-taker is using his to make sandcastles, or perhaps tried some underwater shots with it. :)

Mark Edwards
 
>My 3 cents:

My G2 is solid as a rock. Its been all over the world with me and NEVER a problem. Its build quality is exceptional. It invariably gets taken out of the bag before my Leicas...plus you dont have to worry about scratching it up, unlike a Leica. It's the one camera I cant do without.
 
Ok OK
Maybe I expect too much, of course I dont go snorkling nor fishing with the Gs, and I dont hose the Camera after a day at the beach like a outbord motor.
A windy day at the beach without plasticbags to wrap the equipment in, it will kill your G1 G2 and your lenses wil sound like a peper mill crushing sandgrains if they stil focus.
Unfortunately I cant tel much positive about G1 & G2.
And it has been already postet by others the lenscap are faling apart.
Focusproblems on G1 and G2 because lenses from some series are not compatible on the G1 and also on G2.
You can get some more about on the Contax G website www.contaxg.com
 
by the way after i had a look through on the website.
There are many bad things wich hapen with G1 and G2 thats not because the user is doing something wrong. Does it hapen with Konika and Bessa or Leica ?
If i had been satisfied by the customercervice and not beeing ripped of, i would say its alright to buy a G2 but there are much better Cameras, especialy when you buy new, go overseas and no one wants to help you when you got a problem. I really dont need this anymore. I could have bought a Leica equipment instead the G1 & G2.
I am over it.,
Now I am in Australia and stuck with a not proper working kameraequipment wich did cost new around US$4500.
Is there a Contax customer service in Australia wich is fast and professional working to get the equipment serviced ?
 
Picturetaker,

I think we all would appreciate it, if you could be more selective in your expressions.
Everybody here has to respect the netiquette as you all know.

Regarding the focus problems and the G's. There is only one and that is with the G1 and the 90mm. This has been addresses with the G2 although it is not yet at the point where an SLR AF is. But it is still exact enough, if you know how to use it.

But this is an inherent problem of the comination of RF and AF. If you do not want to use AF, the G-system is not the right choice.

But as we all know, no camera is perfect. No matter which brandname is on it. And if you look long enough for it, you will find also something what you dislike. I think it is better to fokus on the positive things, learn to use the equipment and learn to work around the failures. At the end of the day, the target is mo make pictures, right?
 
Lynn said: "Oh, I forgot to suggest this before. If you are worried about the camera bag not being water proof, how about putting a zip-lock plastic bag around the camera and or lens, and placing that inside of the camera bag whenever you're in a place where water (or sand) contact might be likely? Cheap solution, but water proof for when the camera isn't in use."

This is a greeat, basic travel suggestion. I do a lot of long distance travel by motorcycle, including 6 weeks this summer in Yukon and Alaska.
I always remember to pack large "Freezer" plastic bags on these trips. In dicey weather or conditions, everything that doesn't like water gets wrapped up. I had a day last summer on the Parks highway in Alaska where it rained 6 inches and made the Anchorage paper front page. I had a G-2 kit, a Leica digital point-and-shoot, and a Mamiya 6 kit on my motorcycle and had zero problems. An entire box of 50 freezer bags compresses to about the size of a couple folded road maps and fits in a small envelope side pocket on one of my bags.
 
Lynn's suggestion to use zip lock plastic bags for protection is right on. It's one I have used successfully for many years. I also have used a neoprene bag to protect my camera and important documents when I go on long day hikes and am unsure of the weather. Actually, I tend to carry either a zip lock bag or a neoprene bag in my backpack all the time. I bought the neoprene bag at Moosejaw, an outdoor sports equipment store. The bag is available in three sizes, each of which can fit into a small backpack. I don't remember how much they cost, but they are not too pricey.
 
Colin,

The Nov. issue of Pop Photograph had a Kesseler article on a new bag he helped design. It is avaialable from the US dealer that begins with A****ma. Looks really good to me-I would get one if I needed one.

Ron in New Mexico
 
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