Hi William,
>>> but I would like to say that I use both Leica and Contax, and they both make great cameras and lenses! >>>
Me too!. When people ask me what lenses or which camera do I prefer, I always reply: "Both!!". I use the Contax G1 with 28mm Biogon, 45mm Planar and 90mm Sonnar. For the Leica part, I use both a Leica Ic and a IIIf with 21mm Voigtländer, 35mm Summaron, 50mm Summicron and 90mm Elmar. Probably there is an M2 in my future, too
>>> Can you tell us which Contax you use, and in which situations you might find one camera more suitable then the other? >>>
Elliot, both Leicas give a better "decisive moment". Please, visit the following picture taken with my IIIf:
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=1330986&size=lg
Only a meters away from me there was a person shooting his F5 at 8 fps. I'm sure I got a better image than him. I also would like to point out that the Ic, old as it is (back from 1938) offers a nice viewfinder that allows you to watch what's happening outside the frame.
On the other hand, AF helps some time (the G1 is not hard to manually focus, although) and the motorwind is a godsend in some ocasions. The following is a picture taken with the G1:
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=1187031&size=lg
I know Contax fans "fight" from time to time against Leica fans and viceversa. This is no sense for me. Both makes are the best on 35mm photography and I would like to invite any M user to also enjoy a bit the G system. A used G1 on e-bay with the 45mm Planar is usually offered at excellent prices.
Bottom line: enjoy both worlds!
Cheers, Luis Argüelles