"Panasonic G series" Owners Thread

[Mandoo]

And how often do you actually get out to use it all?
I know a few people that have camera collections like that. They rant and rave about how good it all is, but then never actually go out and use it. They always have some excuse as to why, and then the next weeks they're scouring ebay for their next bargain that they're never going to use!

 

[Spy]

GAS, what GAS?

I took this photo 2 weeks ago and have acquired two new lenses since then!

Are you collecting them or using them

 

[chrism_scotland]

Nice set Glenn!

 

[Glenn Surtees]

And how often do you actually get out to use it all?
I know a few people that have camera collections like that. They rant and rave about how good it all is, but then never actually go out and use it. They always have some excuse as to why, and then the next weeks they're scouring ebay for their next bargain that they're never going to use!

Who is ranting and raving? My photos speak for themselves I hope:

Are you collecting them or using them

Using them (see above )

Nice set Glenn!

Cheers Chris

 

[alan_g]

buachille etive mor, very nice

 

[Spy]

Some great photos there Glenn

 

[ShrubMonkey]

Who is ranting and raving? My photos speak for themselves I hope:

Using them (see above )

Cheers Chris

Well said Glenn

 

[Mandoo]

Who is ranting and raving?

Touch a nerve, did I?!

And how often do you actually get out to use it all?
I know a few people that have camera collections like that. They rant and rave about how good it all is, but then never actually go out and use it. They always have some excuse as to why, and then the next weeks they're scouring ebay for their next bargain that they're never going to use!

 

[BacktotheFuji]

Good work Glenn, really love the puffin! I've collected 100 odd old lenses myself and use them all too

 

[CJS]

As my earlier post, I now have what for me is the ideal set up, G1/PZ14-42mm lens. Took the dog for a walk, as I usualy do, picked up the camera. Nothing usualy very interesting on the local field but you knever know?

My main aim was to try the powered manual focus for close up and picking out a spacific item. Easy enough with a ring, but pushing a leaver???

1 Some sort of wild orchid, I think?? manual focused to the front:

2 Flower bud, weed actualy! Deliberate focus on the back:

3 Same flower bud Manual focus on the front, just to prove a point to myself:

4 This was a point and shoot, no time to prepare anything, even less preperation time than the monk-jack in an erlier post, the camera sorted it just fine:

The Power zoom and focus on the 14-42mm PZ is easy to use. I dont think this lens quite has the edge of the 14-45mm but its close enough for me to be happy with the perfect weight and ballance to do what I want it for. . . . A quality p&s that fits my hand like a glove, all controlls are at my finger tips and I can use it with the view finder or fold out the screen and it becomes a very versitile, waist level, box camera that is almost unseen for those candid street shots.

CJS

 

[wellyboot]

Excellent set there Glenn, and such diversity in subject matter too. Very, very impressive!

 

[wellyboot]

That 14-42 power zoom looks to give some nice results. Nice to see some real life images. Thank you!

 

[woof woof]

Been playing with Topaz B&W converter but I can't decide. These are pretty basic conversions with some added film grain. Do they work?...

 

[Glenn Surtees]

buachille etive mor, very nice

Thank you

Some great photos there Glenn

Thanks

Well said Glenn

Ta

Touch a nerve, did I?!

Not at all

Good work Glenn, really love the puffin! I've collected 100 odd old lenses myself and use them all too

Thanks. Good for you

Excellent set there Glenn, and such diversity in subject matter too. Very, very impressive!

Thank you

 

[Tulipone]

Finally took the plunge and ordered an LVF2 from Adorama. Hoping that the price will be okay after Customs add their charges - I think I'll be okay!

I have really struggled using the screen and looking forward to going back to a viewfinder on sunny days. Just need to slave the flash if ts needed.

Thought I'd update this just in case anyone was thinking of doing similar. My LVF2 arrived today as promised (I ordered it from Adorama, NY on Friday). In perfect condition and is as good as I had hoped.

Whilst the base price is around £100 postage, customs and UPS charges gets it to just less than UK price. I'm happy, it works great!

 

[bl0at3r]

Thought I'd update this just in case anyone was thinking of doing similar. My LVF2 arrived today as promised (I ordered it from Adorama, NY on Friday). In perfect condition and is as good as I had hoped.

Whilst the base price is around £100 postage, customs and UPS charges gets it to just less than UK price. I'm happy, it works great!

Interested in your views on actually using it - compared to other stuff

 

[Tulipone]

Interested in your views on actually using it - compared to other stuff

The LVF2 is compact and easy to fit on. The picture is very clear and although not as bright today as it has been, the eyepiece makes it easy to see what you are taking pictures of. Recently in Rome it was really bright and I was just pointing the camera in the right direction and hoping, hence the desire. The screen on a bright day is my biggest gripe with the GX1.

This is day 1, so my opinion is likely to change. It does worry me that I cannot use a better flash on the hotshoe for fill in but I'm sure that i can use as a slave or manage with the onboard flash.

I have a tendency to use the pinpoint feature - a joy with the LVF - not sure yet how to move the cursor yet though!

Teething worries to one side, I think its a keeper - my wife will be so pleased.

 

[bl0at3r]

The LVF2 is compact and easy to fit on. The picture is very clear and although not as bright today as it has been, the eyepiece makes it easy to see what you are taking pictures of. Recently in Rome it was really bright and I was just pointing the camera in the right direction and hoping, hence the desire. The screen on a bright day is my biggest gripe with the GX1.

This is day 1, so my opinion is likely to change. It does worry me that I cannot use a better flash on the hotshoe for fill in but I'm sure that i can use as a slave or manage with the onboard flash.

I have a tendency to use the pinpoint feature - a joy with the LVF - not sure yet how to move the cursor yet though!

Teething worries to one side, I think its a keeper - my wife will be so pleased.

Great thanks, glad you're pleased with it.

I'm seriously considering another gx1 and the lvf instead of an omd

 

[woof woof]

More G1 + sub £20 55mm f1.7 shots from today...

100% from above.

100% from above.

 

[woof woof]

Aaaaaand some more...

I really like this lens, absolute bargain for £19 including the adapter

 

[ShrubMonkey]

Some great shots there Alan from some old and cheap gear, nice one!

 

[woof woof]

Yup.

The sharpness doesn't really come across here, they look great on my screen but posting here means they're via photobucket and suffer a bit for it.

 

[CJS]

Out in the garden this morning chasing bugs with the G1, came across this. A large white Ivy leaf with the sun shineing through. Played with it in Elements RAW, I like it . . . despite the grain?

CJS

 

[bl0at3r]

OM-D kit = £1149

or

GX-1 Kit - £402 (after cashback) & LVF2 - £189 = £591

or

G3 Kit - £319 (after cashback) = £319

 

[Llamaman]

The G3 price is very good, but it's only that low becuase the G5 is coming soon and they need to shift old stock. I'm sure it would be higher if it was a current model.

But the GX-1 is a fair comparison and show just how much a premium Olympus can charge for having the "best" body, even if the advantages are actually quite small.

One hopes a competitively priced G5 and GH3 will help drive down the EM-5 cost - not that Olympus will mind though, as they're already planning an even more advanced OM-D to further mug the GAS-suffering early-adopters and gear-heads.

 

[Ulfric M Douglas]

I'm like a psychic.
My 3-year-old said WHY is the tractor pulling the boat out of the sea?
I said "cos that's how they do it at places like Redcar and ..."

Aaaaaand some more...

...

Oh look, it was Redcar.
So they knocked down the hideous (odeon?) cinema lump and built some crummy artistic modern thing?
Good though, better than what was there.

My 50mm-ish cost more in terms of time spent ;

But I originally got a nice cosinon 50mm F1.8 for £4 ...


Back on-topic ;
Anyone got info on whether the new G5 will have an equivalent multi-film mode with dynamic B&W option?
That (and taking pics of pruple stuff) is what my G1 does for me. (and G3 cannot.)

 

[woof woof]

hehehehe

Looong time ago I went to that cinema (I think it was an independent) to fix something and honestly, it was one of the filthiest places I've ever been in my life.

Dunno what the vertical pier will be like and personally I think I'd have preferred an ordinary pier but it and the sea defences must be costing millions, as must the off shore wind farm. Redcar needs it though as it was just dying.

I took this one today. It's a 100% crop taken with my cheapo lens and I had to pan to keep up with the horse. As moving subjects aint my thing at all I'm very pleased with this shot.

All four hooves off the ground...

 

[bl0at3r]

How many of you Lumix owners also have a dslr?

Despite my appreciation of M43 I don't think I can bring myself to have it exclusively, for that reason I can't help thinking that a GX1 and 14 or 20 prime is the way to go and then run it alongside my dslr on occasions when I need something small and lightweight.

Although I did this previously (7d & g1/gf1 and d5100 & gx1) and got annoyed at having multiple camera bodies and 2 different systems?

Such a shame the x10 and x100 have too many quirks !

 

[ShrubMonkey]

How many of you Lumix owners also have a dslr?

Despite my appreciation of M43 I don't think I can bring myself to have it exclusively, for that reason I can't help thinking that a GX1 and 14 or 20 prime is the way to go and then run it alongside my dslr on occasions when I need something small and lightweight.

Although I did this previously (7d & g1/gf1 and d5100 & gx1) and got annoyed at having multiple camera bodies and 2 different systems?

Such a shame the x10 and x100 have too many quirks !

As I've said previously I had a 5D2 and a number of L lenses, given I'm not a pro, don't take action shots or do lots of low light work I eventually decided that I was having more fun with m43 gear. I'd often end a full days photography with back ache with the canon gear. I've never regretted dumping the canon gear and I'm taking better shots than before.

I think you can over analyse gear, nothing is perfect get out and enjoy. At the end of the day only you can decide

One other thing, although I mentioned not being a pro and not doing action shots, take a look at the shots the Panasonic guy is taking at the Olympics with G5 and various lenses, if you didn't know that you would assume he was using pro canon/Nikon gear.

 

[stevelmx5]

How many of you Lumix owners also have a dslr?

Despite my appreciation of M43 I don't think I can bring myself to have it exclusively, for that reason I can't help thinking that a GX1 and 14 or 20 prime is the way to go and then run it alongside my dslr on occasions when I need something small and lightweight.

Although I did this previously (7d & g1/gf1 and d5100 & gx1) and got annoyed at having multiple camera bodies and 2 different systems?

Such a shame the x10 and x100 have too many quirks !

Surely you've answered your own question? I run a 40d alongside my NEX and the canon gear only really gets used when I shoot weddings or on zoo visits with a telephoto. I use the NEX probably 90% of the time with legacy manual lenses and enjoy doing so.

As you've already run 2 different DSLRs alongside 3 different m4/3 bodies you're probably better qualified than anybody else! Looking at this thread and your OMD posts it looks like you're spending more time agonising over kit than just shooting. Personally, I think the OMD is still well overpriced even if it is the best current M4/3 body so as you're so undecided I think you'd be risking a lot of cash on the body only to change your mind a few weeks later. I haven't used the G3 but there are regular comments suggesting poor handling due to the size and shape so if it was me I'd either get a GX1 or an NEX5n and play with legacy lenses which are considerably better than the current AF options. I've used an X100 at a wedding I was shooting and although the sensor is really good for high ISO, the AF is frustratingly slow so wasn't for me.

However, there is a rumoured NEX6 for September which sits in between the 5n and 7 with a built in viewfinder along with an 11-18 f4 and a fast prime....

Cheers
Steve

 

[arad85]

How many of you Lumix owners also have a dslr?

Yup. 5D2, four L lenses and a couple of others. Not using it much at the moment....

Definitely better picture quality, but not so easy to transport.

 

[Llamaman]

Still have a Nikon D5000 but have barely used it in a year so selling. Would rather invest in a single system.

 

[Galaxy66]

How many of you Lumix owners also have a dslr?

I have a DSLR and is now my main system, currently offloading most of the M4/3 kit I have after the flirtation I had with it.

 

[Mandoo]

I sold the DSLR once I got the G1 earlier in the year. I then upgraded the G1 to a G2 a few months later. I'm still undecided on whether M4/3 is good enough for me and I have been toying with the idea of getting another DSLR. The main reason being the addition of a puppy to the family recently and the AF on the G2 struggling to keep up.

 

[woof woof]

I have a G1 and a 5D and at low to middling ISO's and scenes without the widest DR if you are using a decent lens and know what you're doing I think MFT matches FF at all but extreme image sizes, unless you want to pixel peep and look for clues as to which is FF.

The limitations of MFT that I see are...

Limited DR. The in view histogram helps enormously and modern software allows the shadows to be boosted but in terms of DR MFT and specifically Panasonic need to improve.

Noise at higher ISO's. My G1 can't live with my 5D at higher ISO's and from what I've seen on line the latest MFT cameras can't live with the best DSLR's.

Focus tracking, MFT isn't good enough for some although it's not an issue for me personally as I never do it.

EVF lag. I don't know if the gap between reality and what the camera displays on the EVF can be closed. It's mostly not an issue for me.

EVF. For me it's good enough in good and low light but it's pretty much unusable for nigh time photography. I don't see any way out of this issue as the technology that Panasonic are using seems inherently incapable of being used in near darkness and darkness. It just blacks out and shines a torch in my eye. Useless.

FBW no marking lenses. I hate them.

I'd love to be able to ditch my DSLR and lenses but although I did have high hopes for MFT I've now come to believe that in reality it's always going to be a second system and although I still believe that something will replace FF DSLR's I now believe it will not be MFT.

 

[chrism_scotland]

I have a G1 and a 5D and at low to middling ISO's and scenes without the widest DR if you are using a decent lens and know what you're doing I think MFT matches FF at all but extreme image sizes, unless you want to pixel peep and look for clues as to which is FF.

The limitations of MFT that I see are...

Limited DR. The in view histogram helps enormously and modern software allows the shadows to be boosted but in terms of DR MFT and specifically Panasonic need to improve.

Noise at higher ISO's. My G1 can't live with my 5D at higher ISO's and from what I've seen on line the latest MFT cameras can't live with the best DSLR's.

Focus tracking, MFT isn't good enough for some although it's not an issue for me personally as I never do it.

EVF lag. I don't know if the gap between reality and what the camera displays on the EVF can be closed. It's mostly not an issue for me.

EVF. For me it's good enough in good and low light but it's pretty much unusable for nigh time photography. I don't see any way out of this issue as the technology that Panasonic are using seems inherently incapable of being used in near darkness and darkness. It just blacks out and shines a torch in my eye. Useless.

FBW no marking lenses. I hate them.

I'd love to be able to ditch my DSLR and lenses but although I did have high hopes for MFT I've now come to believe that in reality it's always going to be a second system and although I still believe that something will replace FF DSLR's I now believe it will not be MFT.

Its the Dynamic Range of MFT I struggle with, I got into a habit of using exposure bracketing all the time when using my EP2 as the DR just wasn't there and I often needed to blend exposure to get a decent shot.

This seems to be something that I'm also having to do with the EM5 although it is much much improved and I've been very surprised by how much detail I'm able to claw back in PP.

However when I compare to the APS-C sensor in the X-Pro 1 I tried there really isn't any comparison, again I was shooting 3 bracketed shots on the XP1 but tending to find that the middle one was actually fine on its own.

 

[woof woof]

I actually find it easier to protect the highlights with MFT and blown highlights are now pretty much a thing of the past as I use the in view histogram. I use CS5 and I find that I can boost the shadows quite a bit but all in all although I can nail a shot first time with my G1 that I'd struggle to capture first time with my 5D MFT lags FF in this department.

I've thought long and hard about getting a Fuji but there's never been one to try at my local Jessops and so far I haven't been able to motivate myself to go to York or Newcastle to find one. The internet stories of long learning curves to overcome the cameras limitations don't fill me with hope (I want my camera to be an almost invisible part of the image capture chain, I don't want to fight it or change my life to accommodate its idiosyncrasies) and together with the double whammy of questionable AF and MF stop me going further. On top of all that I really don't want to invest in another system for which MF seems to be the best option for me as FBW seems to be taking over the world but at the moment I have a main and secondary cameras that sort of work between them and the newer systems each seem too hobbled in their own way to tempt me into them.

 

[chrism_scotland]

Like you Alan I think I'm beginning to see there are potential benefits in having 2 systems, a DSLR for the things its best for and something smaller for when I'm not specifically going out shooting, although that second system wouldn't be an OMD for me not when I think of the cost of the kit!

 

[woof woof]

I would and do choose MFT when I'm going out specifically to take pictures as long as the light is not going to be too low and I can stay at low to middle ISO's (at which IMVHO after post capture processing there's next to no difference between G1 and 5D shots at the screen and print sizes I use) but for ultimate quality as the ISO rises and for night time photography my 5D wins. The 5D also wins for lens technology and artistic choice, my 12-24 and 150mm lenses giving a look that I just can't see MFT being able to match at the moment. For general daylight shooting my MFT wins as it's more compact, much lighter and much less conspicuous.

I'm lucky I suppose in that I can spend what I want on cameras and the only real limitation is my own conscience. I'll probably take a loot at the OMD at some point but a few things put me off including... no built in flash, smaller EVF and no fully articulated screen. Plus of course night time photography will almost certainly be as near impossible as it is with my Panny and the lenses are FBW.

 

[chrism_scotland]

I think part of my problem lately with swapping kit has been that I've found it too easy since getting a new job (and pay rise) to justify buying and selling gear to myself as I'm having more cash available to spend, thats partly why I'm thinking about justifying 2 setups rather than just 1 compromised kit.... but probably either a D7000/K5/Canon??? and either an X100 or G2/G3 with just a couple of primes rather than a DSLR and EM5 (even I couldn't justify that).