For years optical development activity for the shorter focal lengths of 35mm was hampered by the primary requirement of reflex mirror clearance. The only potentially serious camera maker contender, Leica, which might have been immune to this problem, had for some mysterious inscrutable reason squandered its advantage with its M5 which had an insipidly conceived swinging arm photo sensor which, by design, spatially impinged on the rear most elements of optimally designed shorter focal length lenses. The legacy requirements of the M5 imposed a severe penalty on future Leitz/Leica lens designs for many years to come.

With this in mind, Kyocera/Contax introduced the G1 system in late 1994. With the exception of the 90mm f2.8, a necessary portrait lens inclusion to the line, every one of its lenses is optically design optimized in a way that could not have been done were reflex mirror clearance been a consideration. The result is an astonishingly sharp array of lenses that are extremely moderately priced as compared to their superb optical performance.

The G1 employs a passive autofocus "phase detection" system that electronically simulates how a split image (or microprism) is manually employed in a conventional manual system. In this system two CCD arrays detect fine peaks and valleys in subject matter light intensity and achieves focus by minimizing differences in patterns from the physically separated dual array sets. Though highly accurate, this early embodiment is slow and leaves much to be desired when the lighting is less than ideal.

The built in motor will do 2 FPS. It is capable of doing second curtain flash synchronization when a proprietary "TLA" unit is employed. Early-production G1 requires ROM update for 21/2.8, 35/2 lenses. The G1 body has a light and very strong aluminum frame encapsulated by a worked titanium shell.