I have a GF£ with a 14-42mm lens. Im going to NY and Chicago in a few months and am going to try make the most of the camera. How do you find the camera in low light? would you recommend a better lens.

I’ve a GF3 and a G3 with a small collection of lenses for them, the 20mm F1.7 pancake lens is good in low light but its really slowww focusing compared to other MFT lenses including the 14-42 so not ideal if you want to take pictures of any street action etc.

If you are in the city and in museums then you’ll find that you can end up just in 14mm all of the time to get everything in frame and then have to bump up the ISO just to get something in a sensible (no tripods allowed etc) sort of shutter speed.

So my advice give it a go with what you have, but if you want something that’ll work a bit better in low light than the 14-42 and would make a good travel lens due to its size then the 14mm F2.5 pancake might be worth a try.

Cheers Russell, What i wanted to here i guess. Do you miss the zoom when you use the 20mm lens? Ive been playing around this evening and am getting tidy photos but a tad difficult to stop blurring. If i went to 2.5mm would that be alot faster? twice as fast etc…

I had the 14mm F2.5 and now the 20mm F1.7, After having the 20mm for a while I found I never took it off the camera, its an awesome little lens.

You just have to think about where you position yourself more, you can’t be lazy and zoom in/out. Here’s some taken with the 20mm >>

Needed to step back a bit and use 14mm for this thou >>

You just have to think about where you position yourself more, you can’t be lazy and zoom in/out.

This is total garbage, can’t imagine why it keeps getting trotted out!

Zooming in is not the same as moving closer to the subject! You get a different picture!

Oh I agree that position compared to zooming in/out are different, but if you have not got the option then you have to use your head/feet a bit more, perhaps not the best choice of words to explain that.

I’ve had this discussion before on here 🙂

If you want a particular shot framed a particular way then no amount of footwork will create it if you haven’t got the right focal length available!

It dramatically limits the pictures you can take. Some people like that, maybe it gives them a particular challenge to which to respond. I don’t think like that when taking pictures so I don’t like the restrictions.

The auto-iso will have a fairly conservative upper limit by default, try upping that, or manually setting it to a high enough ISO to get a shutter you can shoot blur-free. As a rough guide, 1/focal length x2 as a slowest speed (with the IS that’ll be plenty sharp). But experiment, I’ve had as slow as 1/8th sharp enough at 14mm taking care.

Also set it to sequence mode, and hold the shutter to take a few pics each time. Increases your chance of a sharp one.

I have a G2 and the 20mm pancake is superb, very good in low light, leave it on most of the time now, but yeah focus is slow and noisy compared to the bigger lens. There is a new zooming pancake lens which I’ve not looked at properly but might be worth a look, probably not cheap tho.

How do you find the camera in low light?

Wait till your eyes adjust and then look on the table.

I’m trying to decide which one I am, love my 14-140 for the flexibility but I’ve come up with a cunning plan to get a cheap 14mm F2.5 to carry when I’m out on my bike as I like landscapes and fitting the 14-140 in the Camelbak doesn’t leave much spare room.

Was trying to find a good example of low light with the 20mm pancake but too many to go through! This one was in a very dark cathedral though. Even in the crypt I got a few pretty much shake free shots.

Very nice shot, sir.

Agree, look at it full size and the windows look v/good indeed

Nice shot, however you could’ve got the same shot* with the kit lens.

That’s ISO 250, 1/60th at f 1.7

For most use, on a GF3 you could go to at least ISO 800 no-bother (probably 1600 if it’s just for the web/screen viewing/small prints), also at 20mm on the kit zoom, you could drop to 1/30th and still get a good shot as the IS is excellent.

So, you could shoot at ISO800 on the kit lens and you’d probably not need to drop quite as far as 1/30th. Yes, you’d have greater DoF but in that picture that’d not be an issue.

*yes, not quite the same, it’d be a touch noisier, and greater DoF, but basically it’d be fine IMO.

I have the GF3 and G3 as well.

I now solely use the powered zoom pancake lens – X- its called.

means camera remains pocket size friendly (as it does with 20mm or 14mm pancake). The powered zoom goes from 14-42mm, focuses super quick, have achieved some cracking shots with it. Is only lens I now use, having sold on the others.

Must admit much prefer the G3 camera to the GF3 for whats it worth.

GF2 and 14-42 plus 20mm lens for me, 90% of the time I keep the 20mm lens on the camera, means it can be kept in a zipped up coat pocket and I think the clarity of it is excellent

I have a 25mm pancake for my somewhat (but not much) larger Oly E-600.

It only goes on when I want to take it biking or be portable. By default I use the kit lens.

yeah the kit lens would have been OK in the main bit of the cathedral, but it always amazes me how low a light you can still use it in without a tripod. the depth of field is amazing, it’s superb for portraits. good bokeh man