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View Full Version : Gonna start saving my pennies...



EasyEd
January 9th, 2010, 11:52
Hey All,

...for one of these! You can have your big ol monstrosity Nikon/Canon bodies.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/PanasonicGF1/
(check out the conclusions page - this sentence says it well "Another clue as to how much we liked the GF1 is that people in the office have actually been shelling out their own money to buy them, something almost unheard of in an office with cupboards full of all the latest cameras.")

For a guy who's "current" dream camera is a Leica M9 (but doesn't have an "extra" $7000 for just a body lying around) this is a micro4/3rds camera which has what I mostly want. Ultra portability, performance and some HD video ability. I would get it with the fast 1.7 40mm (35mm equivalent) lens. I have it's big brother - a Panny G1 with 14-45 and 45-200 (28-400 35 mm equivalent) lenses - that I use at work and love it.

Can't help but wonder how some of the longer lenses would be on a body this small. (and I know Oly's EP1 body is even smaller!) Can't wait to see one in person and find out.

Even this camera is not cheap though - about $750 for the body.

Here is a field review of it's use in the Himalayas.

http://craigmod.com/journal/gf1-fieldtest/

His section on "Why I photograph" describes me pretty well also. I'm not one for making picture taking a gear toting expedition/safari. In this day and age post processing becomes much more important just like it always was/is with film black and white. The idea that most of the work is done in composing the picture is simply BS - it is and should be in my opinion much more a 50/50 split. Don't get me wrong the basics need to be there in composing a picture but it shouldn't be everything like it tended to be with color film photography since you had so little control over the rest of the process.

I really like where these cameras are going.

-Ed-

Panther_99FS
January 9th, 2010, 13:24
Unlike some other forums,
The Nikon forum that I belong to isn't in to bashing other brands. In fact, some favorable things have been said about Panasonic, Sony, Canon, Leica, Pentax..etc....to include quite few positive comments about the GF1...and all from Nikon owners - (some of whom own a GF1 along with their Nikon gear) :mixedsmi:

EasyEd
January 9th, 2010, 14:23
Hey All,

Bashing? No bashing here I just prefer small. And it is a very very wise Nikon owner who has a Panny as a second camera!

-Ed-

Panther_99FS
January 9th, 2010, 14:38
:icon_lol:....
EasyEd,
It's not uncommon to see some of the Nikon owners in the Nikon Forum that I belong to have a secondary non-Nikon camera....:mixedsmi:

Panther_99FS
January 9th, 2010, 14:52
I should add that I'd love to have the Leica M9 also.....but phew! :isadizzy:

Snuffy
January 9th, 2010, 15:27
I'm a long time Nikon owner ... ( or was before it fell ... ) I also own a canon.

JorisVandenBerghe
January 10th, 2010, 00:36
I thought about getting the GF1 as Christmas present for my father, but I didn't like the fact that the sensor is exposed to dust and whatever else during change of lenses. If it would have a sensor-cleaning system like a DSLR, my father would have got that one instead of the Sony HX1 (a bridge/superzoom camera). Looked at the Olympus Pen EP-1 too but it's slow to focus, the Panasonic is a whole lot faster.

I really like the concept of Micro Four Thirds. It's really handy, extremely compact, near DSLR quality,...

It must be said that it is still rather expensive - the GF1 + 14-45 kit costs about € 730, you could buy a DSLR of that money. Or a lens for a DSLR...

EasyEd
January 10th, 2010, 17:34
Hey All,

Joris you are right the GF1 is expensive. It does have a sensor cleaning system though. One comment I would make about the small size of the GF1 body and the relative "exposure" of the sensor is that it makes the use of "old" lenses like Leica M primes much better as the sensor is so close to the lens. You can't have everything with any system. I'm hoping the cost of M4/3rds camera systems comes down over time.

-Ed-

Panther_99FS
January 31st, 2010, 09:39
Hmmm....
The Ricoh GXR seems poised to be a strong competitor to the Panasonic..

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/RicohGXR/