Panasonic GF1 thoughts?

All these photography threads have gotten me in the mood for a new camera.

The shop assistant suggested a canon 1000 slr with a 50mm lens as an alternative to the GF1.

It doesnt have the video, its not as stylish but they said it would take a better pic and is £300 cheaper, does the collective agree?

edit double post

does the collective agree?

fat chance on that on any topic 🙂

The shop assistant suggested a canon 1000 slr with a 50mm lens as an alternative to the GF1.
It doesnt have the video, its not as stylish but they said it would take a better pic and is £300 cheaper, does the collective agree?

well, it's hardly a reasonable comparison, is it?. One's a DSLR, and the other's a compact with removable lenses. As to the Canon taking a ‘better pic’, well, that's a moot point. Certainly I expect technically most people would have difficulty telling the results apart if all settings were the same on a test subject; after all, the sensor is the same size, whereas an actual compact has a much smaller sensor. Yes, there's a £300 difference, but the point is the GF1 isn't a DSLR, and that in itself is enough to sell the camera. If I went into a shop looking to buy a camera like a GF1, and the guy tried to sell me a DSLR on those grounds I'd politely ask him to prove his statement, reminding him that what I'm actually looking for is an alternative to a DSLR.
[edit] As an owner of a DSLR and a compact, (D60/Lumix TZ3), I could really use some thing like a GF1 or the Sony. I regularly take lots of photos in circumstances where I could do with the larger sensor size, but a DSLR is a real liability, to the extent that I have been specifically told to stop taking photos, whereas a compact wouldn't attract attention. I'm talking concert photography, where security apes get snotty about cameras that look professional.[/edit]

Thanks CountZero – bigger version here.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4412625750_cbf4f2de68_b.jpg

It's Claife Heights in the Lakes – went out on the bike for the first time in months today (with Shoei off here) and had a great time.

Matt-P – I've got one of these for the reflective screen issue – works a treat. http://www.clearviewer.com/

starseven – I would agree with CountZero's take on it. I'm sure a Canon DSLR will take great pics but it's a different animal really. I would certainly question that the Canon will necesarily 'take better pics'. I have certainly taken a lot of pics that I like that I just wouldn't have taken with a big SLR.

Just to be pedantic, the size of the GF1 sensor is actually smaller than Canon's 1000 sensor. Bigger than most compacts, smaller than mainstream and full frame DSLR sensors.

If you care about size get an LX3, if you care about flexibility get a small DSLR if you want a compromise between them get the GF1. Make sure you have plenty of cash though, the moment you will need more zoom or a wider angle is the moment you've spent 1000£+

The difference in size between the APS-C sensor (which I think is what the Canon 1000 will use?) and the GF1 sensor is pretty negligible really – and that's mainly an issue just in low light situations anyway isn't it?

The GF1 has more megapixels too 😉

Thanks everyone,
Sounds a bit like theres a Shimano v Campag thing brewing here :-).

The shop assistant was really helpful. Im a novice with the cameras and asked her to suggest some alternatives to the GF1 with the emphasis on picture quality. She also said I could take in a memeory card use both and compare the shots in my own time which struck me as good service.

I think they were pretty straight really telling me the features of the GF1 the Canon. The GF1 felt like a real quality piece of kit but was a lot more than the canon. Im going to take a look at the LX3 balance up the facts, consider the features then choose something random just like always.

Cheers

The difference in size between the APS-C sensor (which I think is what the Canon 1000 will use?) and the GF1 sensor is pretty negligible really – and that's mainly an issue just in low light situations anyway isn't it?

The GF1 has more megapixels too

Actually the difference is big enough for the crop factor to increase from 1.5 to 2 (ie a 20mm lens is 40mm on a four thirds camera while only 30mm on a APS-C sized sensor camera). More pixels + smaller sensor will give a lot more noise in low light situations which is a big drawback of the GF1.

My other main problem of having the GF1 as your one and only camera is the lack of native wide angle lenses – native as in without adaptors. The only wide angle lens is a 1000£ job from Leica. So I think I will stick to my opinion, it can be your second or third camera otherwise it requires a lot of money and compromises.

Having said all that I still want one but can't justify a third camera at even the 570£ with the rebate. Maybe when the EPL-1 settles down in the sub 500£ range the GF1 will also get a bit of a discount.

It's Claife Heights in the Lakes – went out on the bike for the first time in months today (with Shoei off here) and had a great time.

And cant i tell. Arms are screwed but was great to get out and a nice route as well.

The offer of taking in a memory card or two and then looking at the shots after is a good idea.
If you do that, then get a trial copy of Lightroom. You can then take pics of the same object/view and compare them in lightroom.
I do that for comparing the jpg vs the RAW file.

Or just buy the GF1 and then endure Mr Barnes having a go 😉 (no offence, you posted some amazing pics Simon)

More pixels + smaller sensor will give a lot more noise in low light situations which is a big drawback of the GF1.

I really don't know about a big drawback – it is an issue though I suppose. I have got some gig shots in very low light I was really happy with at 800 or 1000 ISO. I did have to shoot wide open which might not be ideal for some shots.

I agree about a really wide angle lens that isn't silly money, it would be nice. I can't say I feel I need one. The 7-14 does looks to be a great lens though.

I'm very happy with it anyway and can see very few reasons why I would want an SLR as well – yeah it's not cheap and there are compromises, but none of this stuff is cheap and there are always compromises.

Used in the right way, the noise can "look good". remember pushing old 35mm film. You got grainy pics but no one complained. Nowadays unless you can shoot at 1.2Million ISO and see no noise, the sensor is crap.
Ive given up getting hung on pixel count vs noise vs iso performance.
Photography is about getting out and taking pics.
Sorry for the rant.

yours truly snapped through a dirty window yesterday, caught whilst ducking out for a crafty fag post lunch service (100+ covers, 15hrs nonstop at my best friends gastropub, the things you do for mates eh!)

thats the thing I love about this camera, pretty much anyone can pick it up and take a picture and get interesting results. its not intimidating for anyone to use and its so compact that you can just chuck it in your bag and it doesn't feel like your lugging a kenwood chef around with you 😀

I agree with the 35mm film comment, but then I love grainy "real" photos rather than the photorealistic 🙂

Noise can look good but I'd rather be able to control it as much as I possibly can. So given that I can't change a sensor as I could swap films to suit different situations I'd rather get as clear a sensor as possible.

to be honest there's so little noise from the GF1 (using the 20mm) that often I find myself adding it later just to get it how I like 😀

I took some pics at a gig at work with the GF1 – there was a pro photographer there with lots of expensive Nikon kit. I don't know why but my pics were noticeable less grainy, and our marketing person ended up using my pics instead of his for a press release. 🙂

It's Claife Heights in the Lakes – went out on the bike for the first time in months today (with Shoei off here) and had a great time.

we were in Claife yesterday too 🙂

ditto grum. The 4/3rds sensor is marginally smaller than the Canon APS-C.
But you have to look at the new generation of 4/3rds sensors used in the Olympus PEN. This has very little noise at high ISOs which was a critcism of the earlier 4/3rds cameras.
regarding lens choice – on the upside, the telecentric lens design of 4/3rds lens means there is great quality glass available throughout the lens range.
I'm not sure what crop factor has to do with sensor size – more to do with the physical design constraints of the camera itself.

And cant i tell. Arms are screwed but was great to get out and a nice route as well.

Missed this before. Sorry to hear your arms are hurting – think my suffering is yet to come in the next few days. Good luck for tomorrow.

I'm not sure what crop factor has to do with sensor size

it is defined as the ratio of the diagonal of the 35mm frame to that of the sensor in question – so yes it does exactly depend on the sensor size alone.

sfb to the rescue 🙂 oic

Missed this before. Sorry to hear your arms are hurting – think my suffering is yet to come in the next few days. Good luck for tomorrow.

Hope your not to bad from Saturday.

Cheers, not looking forward to the drive but at least i get to lie down for 20 or 30 mins during the scan.
If they send me/when i get my copy of the MRI will post some pics up 😀

Perhaps the collective can agree on a colour? Or not…

I'm thinking the red is a bit more interesting than the black, the white too 'look at me' and the silver just boring. I also read there's a pink version. Sorry if i've offended anyone and their choice!

So how did it go Shoei?

I toyed with the idea of getting a different colour but went with black in the end as it was all Mather's had.

First effort with the tripod…

Mathers is the cheapest option and they only have black as Grum says. There is also a new gunmetal that is supposed to be coming out and also a pink if that's your think. I'd go for the red given the choice 🙂

Saw some pics of a silver one with a black SGP skin on that looked pretty cool.

Just been playing with a £20 USSR made Helios 55mm f2.

grum your top pic there is taken from roughly opposite my office 🙂

Dont suppose anyone has mentioned Leica M lense compatability yet.

Best reason for getting one of these i reckon.

Anyone done it?

Nope, wish I could afford to.

Only £599 at Mathers at the moment, or £549 with cashback, and a 3 year warranty if bought in store. 😯

I'm still trying to decide on a new camera and was looking at the GF1 amongst other compacts. I used to have a Canon 350D and tbh part of the reason I got rid of it was because it felt too big to carry around on rides etc. Not that it's heavy (because it isn't), just don't have the bag-space at the minute! Really can't decide what to do as I liked my Canon (easy to use) but the bulk puts me off getting one again..

grum, your GF1 pics look really nice! How are you getting on with not having a viewfinder, is it any good for action bike shots?

Thanks – not really found it a problem much. I have this clearviewer thingy that helps with seeing the screen in bright sunlight.

Not really tried taking a whole lot of action pics tbh – not been riding much due to illness. Taken a couple that came out ok

Not really tried panning with a slow enough shutter speed so the background is blurry yet though.

Couple more non-bikey ones 🙂

Anyone got their rebate back from Panasonic yet?

DrP

If you want a viewfinder get a G1 – that's what I did.

Anyone got their rebate back from Panasonic yet?
DrP

I'd forgot about that- I haven't received mine yet (sent off 4 weeks ago!)

I missed out on the cashback but I did get my 3 year warranty card through.

Magazine cover shot taken with my GF1.

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