Results tagged “Panasonic 20mm f/1.7”

This blog article is of a trip to the Himalayas with a Panasonic GF1 in tow. The photography is excellent, and the article itself is a great blend of a trip report and a review of the camera. I found the writing to be a bit choppy in places, but appreciate the magazine-like layout of the site. Worth a read.

Photo-John recently posted his list of the top five cameras for mountain biking on MTBR, and given how well that hits two of my favorite hobbies, I couldn’t help but re-post it here.

I haven’t used any of these cameras, but the choices and reasons for making them seem sound. In my case, I’ve opted for the GF1 in place of P-J’s #2, the GH-1. The GF1 gives ground to the GH1 in EVF quality and it shoots video at 720p instead of the GH1s 1080p, but is smaller in size and comes in a kit with the lovely 20mm f/1.7. I can see someone going either way.

His #1, the Canon 7D is also a good choice of DSLR based on reviews I’ve read (and being a former Canon 30D user). I use the Nikon D700 as my DSLR, which has the advantages of being full-frame, better in low light and better sealing (and, IMO, handling). It gives up ground on being much more expensive and doesn’t do video at all.

In any case, it’s a good list and worth checking out if you’re in the market.

Grab it here.

Christopher Lane is in a similar situation, equipment-wise, that I am. I love, love, love my D700, but it’s just not practical to carry around. As anyone who reads this knows, I supplemented my Nikon with a Panasonic Lumix GF-1.

I completely understand Lane’s worry about the EVF; there’s no doubt that it is indeed “soulless”. However, in my opinion, it’s the best camera of its kind out there, and it’s one that I’m having fun carrying and shooting with. The lens really does make wonderful pics, and soulless or not, the EVF makes it feel like I’m shooting with a “real” camera instead of a P&S toy.

I've ridden with the camera twice now, and have also gotten to walk around with it a bit, so I've got some more impressions. Certainly, I'm still forming opinions and finding things as I work with the camera, so here are those thoughts that have occurred to me over the last few days using the GF1.

• It seems to tend to underexpose. Not in all circumstances, so I'm still trying to figure it out. When it does, it's noticeable--say 2/3-1 stop under. Exposure compensation is easy to use on this camera, so it's easy enough to dial out when it happens. One theory is that the camera is trying to protect the highlights from blowing. I'm shooting in raw, so I'm less concerned about being fanatical about that since I can recover a slight overexposure in Lightroom.
• It has fairly noisy shadows, starting at ISO 800. Combined with the first point, this means that if I don't get more data on the right of the histogram and rely on post to fix an underexposure, I'm going to have to be more heavy-handed on the noise reduction.
• The noise is uglier than the Canon G9's that I'm accustomed to. Don't get me wrong--the quality of the pics is generally higher than the G9's, but the noise I tended to see had a structure that I found more pleasing. The GF1 seems to have at least 1 stop more headroom before the noise gets objectionable though.
• It's nice to have more choice in aperture. The G9 maxed out at f/8 while the GF1 with the 20mm f/1.7 goes to f/16 in 1/3-stop increments, so there is more flexibility. I was shooting in some landscapes bright sun and it helped tame the bright light as well as the DOF benefits.
• The 20mm f/1.7 is a gem compared to the lens on the G9. Fast and sharp while shooting wide open.
• The camera in Program and Aperture Priority modes tends to favor opening very wide with this lens, sometimes even to the point of taking the shutter speed uncomfortably low. It's easy enough for me to shift the shutter speed up, but I expected a camera that's ostensibly a P&S to play it safer on the shutter speeds.
• The RAW files tend to need more work than I'm used to, but they have a lot of data, and really pop once you put that little bit into them.
• So far, I love the handling. It really feels solid in the hand, and the controls are easy enough to use, even with bike gloves on.
• AF performance is great. The G9 doesn't even come close.
• I got to shoot for a couple of minutes with a buddy's G10 at the same time I was using the GF1. I'd say the G10 wins points for having exposure compensation as a nice dial on the top deck and the live histogram on the LCD is nicer on that camera. The G10's controls were very intuitive, but coming from a G9, that makes sense. The GF1 felt as solid and more responsive in general. The LCD on the GF1 is way nicer.

That's it for now. My Flickr photostream has some pics from the GF1. More to come.

I have my GF1. Oddly enough, a local camera shop got it ahead of Amazon--well ahead, apparently, since Amazon isn't supposed to get the 20mm kit I pre-ordered for some time. Initial impressions, with ~50 shots of random crap:

• Build quality is excellent, but not over-done. It's a nice package. It's a little bigger than the Canon G9, but not so much so that I'd put it in another category. I have a case that I use to store the G9 on my CamelBak while riding--the GF1 fits in it without the 20mm lens on, but not quite with. Pretty close, though.
• The rear LCD is amazing. It updates very quickly. It think it might be even better than the one on my D700. I'll have to look at them back-to-back.
• The menu system is pretty good. In general, I like the G9 menu system better, but that could be because I'm used to it.
• The camera reacts very quickly. It's a much more agile handling camera than the G9.
• The focus modes are a nice surprise. It has a "lock, then follow" mode that works very well with the baby running around.
• The _f_1.7 lens is nice. Leads to a nice bright image on the LCD, even in low-light conditions. I haven't shot enough to tell how sharp it is, but that'll take some time.
• The shop I bought it from didn't get the optional EVF in stock, so I've still got my order placed with Amazon. This camera cries out for it; I keep feeling like I should put it up to my eye, even though I rarely did that with the G9.

More to come....

I've mentioned the darned thing enough times that you might think my site is a link farm promoting the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1.

This is obviously not a link farm, but it's certainly true that I've had this camera in my head since it was announced. I have a great SLR with great lenses, but there's no getting around the fact that it's big. One of my main uses for a camera is that I want one to take mountain biking with me. To that end, I've owned most models in Canon's G-series. They're fine cameras, to be sure, and the recently announced G11 looks great. But the GF1 is only a little bigger (which I'm painfully aware can be a slippery slope), but has a significantly bigger sensor. That'll undoubtedly lead to higher quality RAW images, which is of critical importance to me. Of lesser, but still significant importance, are the benefits of interchangeable lenses and the optional viewfinder, which I've also pre-ordered.

A good camera for photographing on a mountain bike ride requires, in addition to the obvious benefit of small size, speed when taking pictures. The small size enables me to wear it on my chest (in a case that I clip to my CamelBak), so I can access it easily. But the action is usually fast and often takes place in dark, covered places. So the f/1.7 lens that accompanies the kit that I've pre-ordered is exactly the kind of thing I want. An even wider-angle, fast prime would be great, too. That challenging lighting environment should also highlight the superior sensor, given the dynamic range frequently involved.

As secondary motivation, I intend to use the GF1 as my "go-everywhere camera". I imagine I'll typically leave the viewfinder attached when using it this way (as opposed to leaving it off to minimize the size when biking). I can further imagine that the GF1 will find itself taking many images of my daughter while we're on the go and the SLR wasn't on the packing list. As they say, the best camera is the one you have with you, and I hope I'll do better at taking this one with me than I have in the past. I'll probably try and make a semi-formal project of taking the camera with me frequently, but that can be a post for another time.

As for the pre-ordering itself, it's the first time I've ever ordered a camera before I've held it. One thing that was holding me back was the lack of support of its RAW format in my image organizer/editor of choice, Adobe's Lightroom. Alas, they just announced support for it in Lightroom and Photoshop (via Camera RAW 5.5), handily removing that obstacle and further backing my choice to switch from Aperture to Lightroom (many revisions ago). Besides, I ordered it from Amazon, so I know that the return policy is good if the handling turns out to be abysmal. I'm hoping that the camera is everything it seems to be.