I have been happy with my wee Nikon for the last couple of years,at the weekend I was loaned a Canon g12,which provides far more depth than my wee compact.

So question, what alternatives are there. It must be pocket sized(ish),as I will be taking it a few places I wouldn’t want to try and unpack it from a rucksack. I have to admit fancying a pen with a pancake lens,but would welcome alternative suggestions. Thanks,Stuart

We looked at loads when my OH wanted one recently. Ended up with a Panasonic Lumix GF2. Small, light, and there’s a kit which comes with a decent walkabout lens (14-42 IIRC, same as an APS-C 18-55) and a 14mm pancake.

Great piece of kit, she adores it.

I’m a big fan of the Lumix G series cameras too.

Very happy with my GF1, i think the thing to remember it is the camera user not the camera that makes the biggest difference.

There are some great deals on GF3’s at the moment (£199 inc. kit zoom lens after rebate)

Yup, and Tesco are doing the G2 with 14-42 kit lens for £200. Not sure on these deals but some come with a free copy of Lightroom as well.

That’s an amazing combination of size/price/image quality IMO.

iodious – where on earth are you finding that GF3 deal? i am there! (once you kindly show me the link which will be much appreciated)

http://www.cameraworld.co.uk/ViewProdDetails.asp?prod_code=PON11F000067

nice one dude, thank you very much, il have a little think about ti buy i shall most likely be purchasing one of those asap! have you bought something from this shop before, its legitimate and all…? fantastic price

I bought one from this shop, very good to deal with, i’d recommend them.

More new camera toys Nick? 🙂

There are some great deals on GF3’s at the moment

Rightly or wrongly, the guy in the camera shop recommended we steer clear of the GF3. Something about the position of the flash means larger lenses get in the way of it. Course, it could just’ve been that there were none in stock and he wanted to sell us the GF2.

The GF3 is really very very small indeed. Depending on your preferences it could be a bit too small.

Kind of makes sense with the pancake lenses or the power zoom attached, but not any of the bigger lenses.

If you want good pics and a small size the Panasonic GX1 with the 14-42 powerzoom is hard to beat. The lens collapses to the size of a pancake lens. More pricey though but much nicer to use than a GF3. IMO probably the best IQ for size available at the moment.

I have the epm1 with 14mm pancake, its very small and ideal for sticking in the pack to take biking, and manages some pretty decent pics even in thick forest.

The power zoom model is about £100 more than the standard 14-42. Personally I’d rather put that money towards a 20mm pancake for a truly compact camera.

All the reviews are saying the GX1 is the true successor to the GF1 which was highly rated.

I’ve been to camera world and tried both the gf3 and gx1, they are both good but the gx1 is the better of the 2.

The power zoom lens isn’t getting stellar reviews at the moment, maybe a firmware update will fix it/maybe not.

There have been deals knocking about recently for the GF3 with a 14-42 and a 14 prime for £299 at Jessops once you take the cashback into account. The GF3’s flash doesn’t pop up that high but it’s very easy to hold the flash at an angle with one finger to bounce the flash.

Second the 20mm lens cracking bit of kit.

I got a G3 in the week for £379 with £50 cashback and 3year warranty from Mathers http://www.mathersoflancashire.co.uk/

Right I have narrowed it down to two choices, obviously spending more money than I had planned…Panasonic gx1 with pancake and normal 14-42 or Canon gx1…can be hade for sameish money.

Depends on budget really.

I’ve been eyeing up the Olympus E-PL3, but the E-PL1 is a pretty good deal currently. I think they are way nicer than the Panasonic ones in terms of niceness.

And I presume you mean micro 4/3 rather than 4/3. If you’re not specifically in need of a m4/3 camera then the Sony NEX ones are generally considered to be excellent.

I’ve not used the Canon G1X, but from reviews it sounds slow – slow AF, slow burst mode, slow lens aperture. And you can’t change lenses.

One of the great joys for me was using really nice old MF lenses with adapters on my GF1. Cheap, fun, good for learning, and very satisfying. Some of them have great IQ as well.

NEX looks good but the lenses are quite big, and not as good as the m4/3 range I believe.

Where can you get a powerzoom 14-42 for £185?

I got a G3 in the week for £379 with £50 cashback and 3year warranty from Mathers http://www.mathersoflancashire.co.uk/

Is this correct? The Panasonic website seems to indicate that the rebate is only if you buy a camera and a lens (separately as I read it)…

GF2 user here and very, very happy with it.

frogstomp your offer is from last year, this is the one you want

http://www.lumixlifestyle.co.uk/cashback/lumix-g/

Ah, thanks for that.. the new 14-42mm pancake lens is tempting with the cashback offer…

To throw another spanne in the mix Panasonic have released the gf5, which is the same specs as the gx1 but with less mps and a better rear screen.

There’s lots images for comparison on this site

So.. lots of people mentioning Panasonic here – why go for them over Olympus?

Not really answering your question here as I went with Olympus but to me, the Olympus felt like a more solid camera and I didn’t like the touchscreen system on the Panny, got to love those Panasonic pancakes though. I just posted these in the other thread but these are some pics in the forest with EPM1 and 14mm F2.5 lens, all quite high ISO (1000-1600) trying to capture some fast movement in the forest.

Panasonics tend to be cheaper than Olympus, they seem to be more widely available. I don’t see Olympus in Currys or Comet when I wander through, but I do see Panasonic everwhere!

I’ve played with some Panasonics in the shop and whilst cheap, they did look a cheaper and the rear screen menus and such looked awful. Couldn’t argue with value for money though.

Pepper.. I have also noticed that. I think Olympus are not a particularly big company though, which might have something to do with the supply deals going on.

Some randomly assorted thoughts on m43 cameras based on my own experience:

Panasonic menus are easier to deal with than Olympus (used both, panasonic was a hands down win, far more intuitive).

Olympus in camera JPEGs are arguably better than Panasonic, especially if you use the art filters such as sepia, BW, moody, etc. Raw is a tie.

Panasonic video tends to be better than Olympus, especially in the higher models and even more so when used with Panasonics HD lenses.

Panasonic bodies tend to be better at correcting for chromatic and spherical aberration artifacts, especially with panasonic lenses.

The OLED screen on the E-P3 is better than any Panasonic offering if you require the best image for composing your shot or high quality playback in camera.

Although interchangeable, m43 lenses work better on their respective manufacturers bodies, particularly wrt focusing speed and inbuilt correction of lens aberrations.

If you are after a small camera for biking and can afford it I’d personally get the Panasonic GX1 with powerzoom 14-42mm. The OH has a GF2 with this lens and it is the best compromise I’ve seen for portability vs. picture taking prowess. The GX1 would make it more so. If you want a viewfinder then the G3 is similar to the GX1 in performance and handling but has a plastic body. I personally don’t like the ergonomics of Olympus PEN series cameras (E-P3 excepted) or the smaller Panasonic offerings but I have big hands and like viewfinders.

I think the GF3 is too limited as a “real” camera, for not much bigger size I’d rather get the GX1/G3 and have much more control, better pics and ergonomics. If you can cope with the rather tiny size the new GF5 may be a good middle ground although it lacks features a full camera would (should?) have such as a hot shoe, iso button, etc. Long lenses on the GF3/5 and smaller PENs get unwieldy due to the body size/grip.

At the end of the day go into a shop and try some, it’s the only way really.

I bought the GF3 with the 14mm pancake for £250 last night… 😀 Then read shackleton’s post….. 🙁

Basically paid half the price of the gx1, which did seem better. I think it will be easier to learn to use the GF3. Anybody want a perfect condition coolpix s3000 with Lowepro case for £40?

I have the Pana G1 and also G2, and I have been very happy with both, but if I was starting again I think I’d buy the Sony NEX-7, which has had rave reviews about image quality, even if less than glowing reviews about menus, ergonomics etc.

Shackleton, you didn’t mention image stabilisation. A big factor imo, and Oly have it in the bodies.

molgrips – I’ve just logged on to add that very point! I remembered it as I was drifting off to sleep but thought it could probably wait until my morning coffee break to add it…….

Oly have stabilisation in body so any lens is stabilised, panasonic is in the lens so only panasonic lenses are stabilised. Not really an issue for short or fast lenses but is noticable with longer ones or dim environments.

duckman – sorry to put a downer on, I didn’t mean to. The GF3 is a good camera and if you want an interchangeable lens camera for biking then it is geat as it is tiny. If you want an interchangeable lens camera that you can also take biking then I think it lacks some functions and facilities. But nothing that will hold you up and for that price I’m tempted! And if you want a fancier body later on you don’t have to change lenses.

You are right about the brands being better with their own lenses. They work with each other’s, but I dunno why you’d actually purchase a mixture given the niggly issues. So the range of lenses available would be a factor for me – but as an Oly fanboi I’ve never looked at Panny’s offerings 🙂

I still think IS is handy even with fast lenses. No matter how fast your lens there are always situations where there’s not enough light.

I am only kidding, I had done a lot of reading, but was put off the olympus by the fact that having decided on a pancake lens, the price of eq olympus spec to what the lumix offers was scary. It would have cost more than a gx1. I did wonder about the stabilisation, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. I am going to learn to use this one properly and at the end of a couple of years, if it is scrap, better a £250 camera than a £5-600

Your camera won’t be scrap! The presence of better cameras doesn’t make any camera worse. It’ll still take the same (lovely) pictures.

molgrips – Member
Your camera won’t be scrap! The presence of better cameras doesn’t make any camera worse. It’ll still take the same (lovely) pictures.

Posted 10 minutes ago # Report-Post

You haven’t seen how bady I ride a bike… 😀

If anyone’s interested, I am thinking of selling the Panasonic G-1, body only, for 100 (about what they go for on ebay, so we all save the PayPal tax), posted (TNT) ….