Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Contax G1

Contax (Kyocera) · Contax G mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film · 1994

Also known as: Contax G1 · Kyocera Contax G1 · Contax G-1 · Contax G1 green label

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
G1 (original) Contax G 1994–1996 — Unpublished
G1, green label Contax G 1996–1996 — Unpublished
  1. Production figures were never published by Kyocera; none of the sources consulted estimates one.
  2. The green-label lens list is disputed — see the variant note.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Five gold contacts inside the throat (the G2 has seven); focus wheel on the top plate; champagne titanium only
  • Green sticker in the film chamber = updated G1

G1 (original):

  • Champagne titanium; five lens contacts; manual-focus wheel on the top plate
  • No green sticker in the film chamber: takes the 28, 45 and 90 only

G1, green label:

  • A green sticker in the film chamber — the firmware update that drives the later lenses

Specifications

Format
24×36mm on 35mm film
Finder
Electronic viewfinder-rangefinder: a zooming optical finder (28–90mm) with automatic parallax correction, 0.59×, about 90% coverage, LCD for distance and shutter speed; passive phase-detection autofocus through twin windows, manual focus by wheel on the top plate · 0.59× magnification · automatic parallax correction · 90% coverage
Shutter
Vertical metal focal-plane, electronic · 16 s – 1/2000 on aperture priority; 1 – 1/2000, B on manual · flash sync X at 1/100 · self-timer
Film advance
Built-in motor, single and continuous
Back
Hinged
Meter
TTL centre-weighted silicon cell, aperture priority and manual, exposure compensation, AE lock
Weight
450 g
Dimensions
133 × 76.5 × 35 mm
Country
Japan
Original price
US$2,210 with the 45mm f/2 (1995, Popular Photography via Wikipedia) (today $4,550)

Where sources disagree

Lenses admitted by the green-label update
  • The 21mm, 35mm and 35–70mm needed the update, and the zoom still cannot be used (camera-wiki)
  • The 16mm and 35mm (Casual Photophile)

Better supported: The 21mm, 35mm and 35–70mm list

Camerapedia's Contax G page says the same as camera-wiki — the original G1 'is not compatible with the 21mm, 35mm and 35-70mm lenses', the upgrade is marked by the green sticker, and the zoom stays out even after it — so two sources stand against Casual Photophile's one. The 16mm Hologon is manual-focus and is not on either list.

What reviewers say

History

The first new interchangeable-lens rangefinder-type camera since the Leica M of 1954, announced at Photokina 1994: a titanium body of 450 grams with a zooming optical finder that frames whatever lens is fitted, passive phase-detection autofocus through two windows, a motor, aperture priority, and Carl Zeiss lenses built by Kyocera in Japan with a German Hologon at the top. $2,210 with the Planar 45 in 1995. It was aimed at photographers who wanted a Leica without the focusing, and it drew the professionals’ suspicion that autofocus through a rangefinder base could not be trusted — which with the 90 was fair.

A 1996 firmware update, marked by a green sticker in the film chamber, let the G1 drive the Biogon 21 and Planar 35 that arrived that year; the zoom of 2000 needs the G2’s seven contacts and no G1 will take it. Drew Chambers prefers the G1 to the G2 — “the G1 is simply a much smaller camera” — and finds it focuses well with the 45; Bob Janes loves the object and cannot trust it: “the camera stops me — and for me that is an issue.” Kyocera left cameras in 2005 and nobody can repair the electronics.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Photographs

Contax G1
Contax G1 with the Planar 45mm f/2 — lexly87 aka Duc N. Ly, via Openverse (flickr) (BY-SA 2.0)

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $850 across 44 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $550–$1,100). Tracked since 2026-09-10, 2 days: unchanged from $850.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$850$550–$1,10044
2026-09-10$850$550–$1,10044

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 96 more listings

Listings updated 2026-09-11. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Contax G2

Lenses for this body: Hologon T* 16mm f/8 (Contax G) · Biogon T* 21mm f/2.8 (Contax G) · Biogon T* 28mm f/2.8 (Contax G) · Planar T* 35mm f/2 (Contax G) · Planar T* 45mm f/2 (Contax G) · Sonnar T* 90mm f/2.8 (Contax G) · Vario-Sonnar T* 35–70mm f/3.5–5.6 (Contax G)

Sources (6)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this camera, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.