Mid Flight on a Hot Summers Day with The Contax G2 90mm Sonnar T* and Ektachome E100vs – A One Shot Story

By Ibraar Hussain

25 February, 2026

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One Shot Story

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90mm lens Contax G2
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I haven’t taken many action shots with my Contax G2 but this was one of the few that I ever took. (I did photograph a Polo match  with a wide angle 21mm and a couple with the 90) in slow Fujichrome Velvia 50.

I was very pleased with this, as it was taken with the 90mm Sonnar T* at I think f11 on Kodak Ektachrome E100VS.

The 90mm Sonnar is probably the poorest lens in the Contax G lineup, the sole reason being the really poor AF on it. It simply is very inconsistent and is generally all over the place.

Try portraits at f2.8 with it and 9 times out of 10 you’d have wasted a precious frame. It has to be the most frustrating lens I have ever used. In theory it should be perfect as it’s a classic portrait lens, and a Zeiss G.

But with some patience, when it actually behaves itself and nails the focus you can get some very pleasing photos with it.

This was one such example, I shot two frames of these lads taking a dip in the Upper Jhelum Canal, one with the 45mm Planar and the other with this, with both I managed to capture the boys in mid flight, but this was perfect – I nailed him. If I had had shot at f8 I reckon I’d have frozen him even more, without a hint of motion blur. I shot at f11 to be safe as I didn’t want to risk a wasted frame with this dratted lens. The very very bright light gave me a very fast shutter speed, even at f11 to capture motion and have everything in focus.

It was hot hot day with 100’F temperatures, so I too took a dip and was hanging around with my Contax, just looking for something to photograph when I saw these boys and knew I’d be able to get something nice.

Contax G2, Carl Zeiss 90mm T* f2.8 @ f11, Kodak Ektachrome E100vs, July 2007

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About The Author

By Ibraar Hussain
Ibraar aka Ibbs formerly from London, but now a long way from home in the Suffolk border in East Anglia England. An anarchist at heart with a liking for photography, especially travel snaps in both film and digital. Contax and Olympus DSLR’s are my go to shooters.
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Comments

Andrew on Mid Flight on a Hot Summers Day with The Contax G2 90mm Sonnar T* and Ektachome E100vs – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 25/02/2026

Nice picture- you caught the decisive moment as Henri Cartier- Bresson would have said!
I was out at my vintage car club lunch today, and took along my newest acquisition- a much maligned Nikon 1 series J5 with its 10-30mm power zoom lens. And I am… astonished! I knew that the autofocus was fast, but it’s mind bogglingly so. All you have to do is tap the screen where you want it to expose and focus and the picture is taken in 1-2 10ths of a second. And always exactly in focus. I’ve never had a camera do that. And the resulting pictures are lovely. There is more noise than you would get from a larger sensor, but the noise looks like film grain and isn’t objectionable at all.
But, and there always is a but, I had to try 3 examples of the lens in order to find one which worked ok- the others had decentering issues and awful coma and astigmatism. And just about every other lens type for this camera (including the 10-30 manual zoom) is now dead with a failed aperture motor gear- or if it isn’t dead it shortly will be!
So, I can’t recommend the camera unless you have the patience to try several before you buy, but if you want astonishing autofocus, this is it!
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Ibraar Hussain replied:

Comment posted: 25/02/2026

Thanks Andrew Sounds like a speed demon!

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David Kieltyka on Mid Flight on a Hot Summers Day with The Contax G2 90mm Sonnar T* and Ektachome E100vs – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 25/02/2026

Yes, shooting with the G2/90mm combo could be an exercise in delayed frustration. I'd get a roll or two of film back from my local developer and find the camera's AF system had swung & missed more than it hit. I don't think it was the lens' fault, aside from being a focal length the G2 seemingly wasn't equipped to properly focus at closer (and sometimes further) distances. When it did hit focus the results could be lovely, though.
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Ibraar Hussain replied:

Comment posted: 25/02/2026

As a lens, optically and in terms of resolution look character and sharpness is superb Lovely portrait lens But really only good for static objects combined with being aware of the distance scale in the lens

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Tony Warren on Mid Flight on a Hot Summers Day with The Contax G2 90mm Sonnar T* and Ektachome E100vs – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 25/02/2026

Really well caught action and the very slight movement actually helps with the result I would say. Super colour and the image quality is top notch so it is a shame if it has this annoying tendency to mis-hit. A C-B moment indeed.
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Ibraar Hussain replied:

Comment posted: 25/02/2026

Thank you Tony!

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Jeffery Luhn on Mid Flight on a Hot Summers Day with The Contax G2 90mm Sonnar T* and Ektachome E100vs – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 25/02/2026

Ibraar,
Very well-timed shot! A lens that doesn't focus well is a pain in the ...neck. As you will see in an upcoming post, I had an AF 85mm Nikkor lens that always missed focus. I found a way to fix it by a menu item on my D-610 and suddenly it's super sharp. This is not an option on a film camera, but keep it in mind for misbehaving lenses on digital cameras, especially Nikons. It allows for an adjustment on any AF Nikkor lens, and the body recognizes the correction when that lens is mounted. Brilliant!
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Ibraar Hussain replied:

Comment posted: 25/02/2026

Thank you my friend, the 90 is annoying and it’s a shame as it should be used more And that’s one of the benefits of advanced computing in modern digital Thanks again

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Walter Reumkens on Mid Flight on a Hot Summers Day with The Contax G2 90mm Sonnar T* and Ektachome E100vs – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 25/02/2026

A great snapshot, I really like the photo, Ibraar. I don't have a G1/G2, but as you can read, there have always been problems with focus accuracy. Not only with the 90mm Sonnar, which is certainly a very good lens. As I've read, for more distant subjects, only "passive AF without infrared radiation" is used, which could cause problems in certain contrast and lighting conditions. Perhaps this is even a general problem with rangefinder cameras. And SLR cameras have become the norm for professional photographers (reportage/sports photography). I don't think autofocus really suits rangefinder cameras. Thanks for sharing, Ibraar.
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Ibraar Hussain replied:

Comment posted: 25/02/2026

Thanks Walter The Sonnar was an exception, great lens quality but extremely poor focus on both G1 and G2. I can confidently tell you that in 13 years with the G2 the focus on the 28, 21 and 45 was extremely fast and accurate even in near darkness Much faster than any manual RF. I have had a couple of manual RF Inc the Contax T and hardly ever used the RF m, too slow and cumbersome, used Zone focus instead. Thanks again my friend

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David Pauley on Mid Flight on a Hot Summers Day with The Contax G2 90mm Sonnar T* and Ektachome E100vs – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 26/02/2026

A gem of a photo, Ibraar — suggesting not just the heat of the day but the grace and insouciance of youth. I make enough focusing errors with MF lenses as it is, and would be beyond frustrated to have an "assist" from a camera as befuddles as I! Thanks again.
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Ibraar Hussain replied:

Comment posted: 26/02/2026

Thank you Paul Yes, you’d expect it to at least perform accurately the majority of the time But its the other way round!

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Geoff Chaplin on Mid Flight on a Hot Summers Day with The Contax G2 90mm Sonnar T* and Ektachome E100vs – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 26/02/2026

Yes, a great shot! But that water appears to be flowing very fast - I'd be more worried sbout the boy's safety than the fisfunctional lens.
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Ibraar Hussain replied:

Comment posted: 26/02/2026

Thanks Geoff Water was deep and fast and quite dangerous for anyone whom isn’t a very strong swimmer I only strayed in at the banks These guys were very strong swimmers and effortlessly enjoying themselves

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Gary Smith on Mid Flight on a Hot Summers Day with The Contax G2 90mm Sonnar T* and Ektachome E100vs – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 27/02/2026

Great shot Ibbs!

I never bothered with the 90 for my G1. I have the 45/2 Planar and the 28/2.8 Biogon.
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Ibraar Hussain replied:

Comment posted: 27/02/2026

Thanks Gary! Get yourself the 21 - you’ll thank me!!

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Alexander Seidler on Mid Flight on a Hot Summers Day with The Contax G2 90mm Sonnar T* and Ektachome E100vs – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 27/02/2026

Great shot Ibraar !
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Ibraar Hussain replied:

Comment posted: 27/02/2026

Thanks Alex!

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