Contax G2 35mm Rangefinder Camera

In this day of "megapixel envy", when digital camera models arrive on the scene to great fanfare and then become obsolete faster than your desktop computer, it seems anachronistic to be writing a review of a film camera. It's especially true if the camera in question is no longer in production, is only available used, and is rangefinder focused to boot. After all, didn't the SLR make all rangefinders obsolete years ago?
Well, I'm sure the legions of Leica owners would probably have something to say about it but too many of them are more collectors than users and that's a whole different thing. Me, I'm a user and I buy cameras to make photographs with. Now, like many, I have partially succumbed to the siren song of the digital age and must confess to owning a digital SLR - which has effectivly relegated my pro-level film SLR to the status of an expensive, rapidly depreciating, paperweight. On the other hand, I am also very aware of the fact that film has a different look than digital - not better, just different - and for some situations I think the look works.
The Contax G2 (like the G1) is really all about the lenses. Small rangefinder cameras with fixed focal length lenses are really a different approach to the hobby of photography to begin with. Rangefinder cameras lock the photographer into a certain set of limitations inherent to the equipment and, consequently, encourage him/her to "see" differently. Given these limitations, the only rationale for owning either model of the Contax G is to have someplace to mount the superb Carl Zeiss optics that were made for them. Yes, it is the only autofocusing rangefinder with interchangable lenses I'm aware of. Yes, it's robust construction and build quality make it a joy to hold and use and have translated for me into absoloute reliability (I own both models)for years. Yes, I can carry a camera and four lenses, 28, 35, 45, & 90, in an Eddie Bauer traveler bag the size of a hardcover book and it weighs maybe a pound - or I can stick a body with lens and a spare lens into a couple of coat pockets and walk around for hours and not even notice they are there. All these things are true but would mean nothing were it not for the quality of the optics. Imagine, 21mm and 28mm f2.8 wide angle lenses with essentially ZERO distortion! Try pointing your favorite zooms at a brick wall and watch what happens to the straight lines at the wide angle end. Imagine, a 45mm f2.0 normal lens that is one of the sharpest lenses ever tested by a couple of independant testing sources! Round out the stable with a 35mm f2.0 , a 90mm f2.8 and (for the truly devoted) a 16mm f8.0 and you have a true "system" camera with high quality, very, very, sharp optics.
One side effect of the digital dementia has been a drastic depression in the resale value of film cameras. Who would have thought a few years back that a $2500 pro SLR like the Nikon F5 would be routinely selling for $500 in like new condition? The Contax line is no exception and has suffered the same fate - making them very attractive as an extremely compact "second" system for the film or digital SLR photographer.