Picked up my new camera today....a GF1

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Radiohead said:
The Panny case arrived late yesterday and it's MUCH nicer in the flesh.

Softer leather than I expected and looks very well made. I like. A lot.
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Picked mine up yesterday from the new Panasonic shop in Glasgow, £59 although I get the feeling I could have haggled him down a couple of quid after he dropped the price of the 45-200 in the cabinet from the £399 ticket price to £200 after a bit of gentle haggling (still didn't buy it though) :suspect: :lol:

I must admit the case is, as Radiohead says, MUCH nicer in the flesh, really pleased with it :thumbs:
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Picked mine up yesterday from the new Panasonic shop in Glasgow, £59 although I get the feeling I could have haggled him down a couple of quid after he dropped the price of the 45-200 in the cabinet from the £399 ticket price to £200 after a bit of gentle haggling (still didn't buy it though) :suspect: :lol:

I must admit the case is, as Radiohead says, MUCH nicer in the flesh, really pleased with it :thumbs:
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:thumbs:

It's a nice little case isn't it.
 
The GF1 after a couple of weeks.

A bit like the clerics egg.

Cons.

Ease of use, this camera hardly needs a manual
Great image quality up to 800 ISO, for those who disagree I would suggest they have never pushed HP5.
The 20mm lens wide open is nothing short of amazing.........this comes from a Leica user.
Build quality and handling first class. Though I think a wrist strap advisable.
Coupled to a big HD TV brings back the WOW of a projected slide.
Effortless ability to capture a wide range of subjects.
Love the " Quick Menu"

Against

The use of manual lenses although interesting is hardly practical in real life situations where any sort of speed is required. I also find holding the camera up and trying to judge focus a bit hit and miss.

The 20mm lens has a habit of becoming slightly unlocked, an error message appears.
Battery life is a bit marginal.
Not Panasonic but. The Novaflex lens unlocking lever is primitive to say the least.

Wishes

A fast 10/12mm and 40mm lens both of course fully coupled. And a set of 10/12, 20 and 40mm clip on viewfinders. Mind you if Panasonic/Olympus/ Leica provid the lenses Voigtlander already do the rest, or near enough. Yes I do know about the EVF but even if it's 100% better than my Leica Digilux 2 it would still be c**p

To sum up.

A simple illustration.. In nearly three years my D200 is showing 1400 actuation, in two weeks the GF! shows 490....................I just can't put the thing down............it's a breathe of fresh air.

But does it replace cameras like the D300? No, not really. Perhaps when the prime lens issue has been addressed it might start again the R/F V DSLR row. But above all for me at least it has meant the fun is back.

I still think the ultimate would be if Panasonic got into bed with Epson and a RD1 in Micro 4/3 format was re-invented, or Leica knocked 90% off their prices.:clap:

Brian.
 
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I think the battery life is quite good on these. You can certainly snap 200-300 images on a single charge which is impressive for a small handheld camera and massive LCD.
 
BrianT said:
The use of manual lenses although interesting is hardly practical in real life situations where any sort of speed is required. I also find holding the camera up and trying to judge focus a bit hit and miss.

The 20mm lens has a habit of becoming slightly unlocked, an error message appears.
Battery life is a bit marginal.


Brian.
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I tend to agree about the manual lens issue -it's more of a novelty for me than a serious alternative to the kit 20mm. Perhaps if I had some nice Leica glass things would be different though.

I haven't come across the unlocking/error message, but I'll keep my eye out for it.

Using the LCD is what drains the battery, the EVF improves battery life considerably.

My real bugbear is the way Panasonic have locked out the use of non-oem batteries. I read that one of the manufacturers had managed to bypass the block, but I'll bet the new firmware update puts a new one back in, so it'sback to the £50+ Panasonic battery if you need a spare.
 
You can certainly snap 200-300 images
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You might be able to, for me that amount would cover at least 6/9 , Oh alright 12/24 months usage. OK.since getting the GF1 I have pressed the shutter button more than that but it has only been messing about, certainly not producing pictures. And yes I have been using the LCD a lot but I still think the battery life is a bit marginal.

Graham,

Re the lenses. I have the Leica lenses (older design not the latest aspherical), no adapter yet, but I don't think they would be any better The only difference I think would be the superiority of the Leica focussing ring as opposed to the floppy afterthought fitted on the Nikkor D A/Fs. Anyway put it this way....I'm not rushing out to get an adapter.

But all could be put right as I stated in my previous, if someone made a decent range of fast lenses in ordinary sort of focal lengths that could be matched to decent optical viewfinders. That would also answer the battery problem.....let the camera take care of the focussing whilst leaving the user to concentrate on the business end.

For me Panasonic are going the wrong way. They should be concentrating on prime lenses of the top quality, after all they do have a very strong relationship with Leica......................Or what about a Panasonic Tri-Elmar? Say 10,20 and and 40mm with a matching multi viewfinder. But not a chance looking at the lenses for 2010.

LUMIX G 100-300 mm f/4-5.6 OIS,
LUMIX G 8 mm f/3.5 Fisheye,
LUMIX G 14 mm f2.8.
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Effectively a 200-600mm !! That's going to impress them down the pub. A 16mm Fisheye, most use these once then find something else to do and yep a great focal length 28mm at a dismal F2.8

Maybe somebody should give Mr Cosins a nudge.:)


Wonderful..............Oh and strip out that silly flash and chuck the video thing

Brian.
 
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First few shots with new GF-1, lots of finger trouble to begin with, especially in a snow storm and waaay sub-zero temperatures but I think I'm going to enjoy this little camera :)

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Leeds 1615hrs dark , wet, very gloomy. freezing cold GF! 600ISO 20mm lens at f2.2.

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100% crop.

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Straight from the camera apart from re-sizing and the blackline around the full print. This 20mm is one hell of a lens..................pity about the re-sized file size.

Brian
 
Great Pics!!

I have just got my camera working with some old Olympus Zuiko Manual OM lenses and it's great!! Gonna get me a M42 adapter too now.

What a great Camera this is!!
 
Any one recommend a screen protector for the LCD?

Out at the weekend and had to take care making sure the camera didnt rest on my jacket zip.
Battery takes a hammering in -2 temp as well, from 2/3's to flat with only 30pics taken.
 
GGS LX3 Protector is the right size and is basically the 'daddy' of screen protectors.

Got mine from Ebay and it took 4 days to arrive.


:thumbs:
 
Yay - they've started doing the 'proper' one now. They didn't have any when i got mine :thumbs:
 
Probably exactly the same, but will just have GF-1 written on it instead of LX3 I suppose. Just ordered one myself.
 
I'm really tempted by the GF1, now I've got a fair few old m42 lenses (from my zenith cameras) which I'm really fond of due to the "character" of them, I'm very happy with fully manual operation has anyone any experience of running these sort of lenses with the GF1? muchly appreciated!

A
 
I've not used lenses from a Zenith kit on a GF1 but I have used both. There is no reason why they shouldn't suit the sensor well, as long as they still give you a field of view that's useful.

What you will find which may or may not bother you, is that you will not so much be mounting the lenses to the camera, as putting the camera on the lens. If this odd balance works for you, it's all good. :)
 
A few photos from today.

Manual focus aperture priority with 50mm canon f/1.4 fd lens.





 
Can anyone help with where to get a M42 lens adapter in the UK?
 
Ok, i'll have a look, Thanx

Edit... I have bought an adapter from this ebayer! Should get it after Xmas.

Thanks for your help.
 
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For reportage type snaps this camera is certainly a contender.

400ISO F2 at 1/13th!!! of a second hand held..................and that was after a boozy lunchtime with Northern Nikon.

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Brian.
 
I think the GF1 in common with a lot of better quality digital cameras is really going to benifit by using high end optics.A Nikkor 85mm F1.8 AF exhibits quite a lot of purple fringing, whilst my 20mm is terrible all over.

I am coming to the conclusion that the best course is to stick with Leica/Panasonic/Olympus lenses all designed for the Micro 4/3 format. For me that will mean the 40mm Elmarit and the 20mm, both with optical finders. And then hope that a fast prime wide angle will appear. Although a Voigtlander 12mm might be interesting as with such a lens focussing wouldn't be much of an issue.

Yes, playing with other lenses is great fun but who really wants to go back and use " Crash Gearboxes".

Brian

PS.
hasten to add that's not me in the kilt!
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For those who would like to know a PM might prove interesting. :clap:
 
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A few in todays snow:

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..
 
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