I have once again been reminded why I wrote a post saying this was my favorite analog camera system in a blog post I wrote for KEH Spotlight.
I like it because it ticks many normally disparate boxes.
- A rangefinder… but not really.
- Technically a rangefinder, but focusing is done for you. Heresy to some. Just fine for me.
- Have heard folks complain about the G!’s AF, but as I have documented in the past after owning both I found that:
- AF is just fine to me.
- Some say the G2 is the only choice, but G1 AF is quite serviceable for me.
- Looks premium, feels premium, but has a reasonable price.
- Talking about the G1. G2 prices seem to be steadily climbing.
- Proper melee weapon sturdy, and looks the part in standard titanium trim as well as the more expensive black trim.
- Zeiss lenses at not so Zeiss-y prices.
- Native manufacturer lenses can be had for hundreds rather than thousands of dollars.
- Exceptional optics. There is a reason these are being re-housed for M mount.
- And these can be adapted to mirrorless digital also.
- Surprising tech.
- You get the rangefinder perk of the full view of the scene while peering through the viewfinder and then when you focus the viewfinder is automatically masked to approximate the scene that will actually be captured like an SLR. I may not have explained that well, but if you ever get to try one you will understand how cool that is.
- Consistent performance.
- None of the above would matter if it could not take a pleasing photo. And it does so consistently. It is quite common for every single photo on a roll to come out as I expected it to. That is something I cannot say about many other cameras I have. I hear others complain about using this camera, but I have had no issues at all getting on with it just fine from day one. Exhibit A below are two of the first photos I ever took with a G1.
As a result, there are many more captures in this camera system’s Flickr album than any other film camera I have owned. At well over a thousand images this rivals and even bests some digital cameras I rather like. That right there is confirmation that this is my favorite analog camera system.
Please note that I am not saying this is the best analog camera. That is a fight I have no interest in. Different strokes for different folks and all. Just that this camera is the perfect balance of the features of all of my favorite analog camera systems. If there were one left behind film system I wish had made the jump to digital this would be it. If such a thing existed and it was well executed it may have taken precedence over a traditional rangefinder setup.
Ok, ok. Enough of that. I can go on about this camera for another post worth of rambling so back to the task at hand.
As stated before Harman Phoenix 200 is an interesting film.
As stated in the last post, I find myself on a minor mission to try it out with different cameras. Started with an SLR before the rangefinder, point and shoot, and a compact rangefinder. And now this G1. A functional mashup of the cameras I just listed.
The short version is:
- This is a new from scratch film rather than a possibly modified repackaged existing film.
- I really like the sample photos.
Once again developed with Cinestill CS41 and scanned the film. Nothing Earth shattering. Photos taken just knocking about. Missed one pic due to careless user error. To mix things up I left my favorite G lens, the 45mm f/2, at home and went with the also excellent 28mm and 90mm. Some of these are do- overs of a recent film I did not get along with as well. Here are the survivors.
Zeiss G 28mm f/2.8
Zeiss G 90mm f/2.8
Last thoughts.
I like this film. I have a note to add. Over these rolls, I have noticed that this film is very forgiving. Over exposed images are easily recovered to the point that you would never know. Not so much an issue with this roll, but with other cameras. Underexposed areas and shadows can be raised without much issue. And in both cases there is none of the “splotchiness” or white spots I have seen with other films that either cause me to use Lightroom to fix them or ditch th image all together depending how sever. Cool.
As stated previously I can already say that this film can now be added to my list of favorites.
Well done Harman.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 