Bottom Line.. which is best m4/3 body? .. Oly bodies or Lumix? overall.. size, weight, IQ, design, performance etc .. ?? .. I know this is a wide open question but your honest opinions are much appreciated.. If you had one to pick tomorrow by Sunrise .. which body would your pick?
Doug

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It's all good - I didn't do it - no one saw me do it!
Doug - Boise, Idaho USA

Hahaha ..happy new year . Hope u had some fun on new year eve with various bodies( I mean camera ) . Now I will pickup Olympus in a heartbeat for their superior WB, superb OOCPs , IBIS and somehow I like the Olympus UI more than panasonic .
Cheers
Wish u a healthy and wealthy 2012 ahead...May god bless u with every available MFT body in the market , but that will be like inviting more troubles because ur next threads are going to be like these ones..
> Which one to sell ?Panny G3 or Oly EPL3 and why
>Which one u keep ?EP3 or GX1 ? And why u would keep it?
> How many G3s I should buy ?

Anyway we like ur threads and they are fun .. Keep it up

It's difficult to answer to that question. So i say, like I own, one Oly body and one Pana body.

Have had both brands. So far Olympus is on the winning side...

With the new sensor I instead think Pana is on the winning side. The only thing Pana lacks to be the only one is IBIS in my opinion.

The best bodies so far are, IMHO, The Panasonic GH1 and 2 and the G1 and 2. Purely my opinion, based on my preferences the way I like to shoot, blah, blah blah. Of course based on sales numbers maybe they're not the best. Maybe one of the others is the best and I should trade in my G2! Oh my!

Maybe they're all the best. What does "the best" mean? I'm getting confused. I think I'll take nap, or some pictures with my maybe the best, maybe not the best camera. Maybe I'll look at camera specs on the internet. No, definitely a nap.

Fred

No contest, Panasonic offers built-in viewfinders. Moreover, I played around in a shop several times with Olympus cameras and I simply don't like the user interface.

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Best regards, Ad.

Pictures | Equipment | Minolta collection | All lenses

I think the answer to your question depends upon the personal preference of the shooter. They are both good systems with their individual strengths and weakness.What I would recommend is to try both out to see what best fits your personal shooting style.

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Olympus OMD E-M5 | Olympus M.Zuiko ED 12-50mm F3.5-6.3 | Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm F4-5.6 | Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm F1.8 | Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm F1.4 | Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm F1.8 | Olympus OM Zuiko 75-150mm F4 | Lumix 20mm F1.7 | Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm F1.7 | Canon FD 50mm F1.4 | Canon FD 135mm F2.5

If you want scientific results, there is lots of information around. That's fine; lots of people buy cameras based on scientific results and are very proud of their possessions.

But maybe your goal is not scientific perfection, but rather to take good photographs. I'm going to kick off a firestorm here, of course, but IMHO taking consistently good photos requires an eye-level viewfinder, backed up by an articulated LCD. Why?

1) The shooting position using an eye-level finder is hugely more stable than a shooting position where the camera is held out in front of the photographer, waving in the breeze. Say what you like about image stabilization, what it does is to mitigate (not eliminate) the effects of an unstable camera hold. Not that I don't use it, but my goal is always to have a stable hold in the first place.

2) The eye-level finder is usable in bright light situations where the LCD is completely overcome and useless.

3) An articulated LCD, subject to being able to see it in bright light, is useful for very low angle shots that would otherwise have you lying on your belly (see example below; it has not been cropped) and for overhead shots that you simply couldn't otherwise get.



Continuing now to kick up the firestorm, IMHO the major advantage of using the LCD is that bad composition and not-tight-enough framing are much more obvious on the LCD than they are using an eye-level finder. But people have been taking well-composed and tight photos with eye-level finders at least since Oskar Barnack invented the 35mm camera, so it is hardly an insurmountable obstacle.

In a studio situation using strobes or a tripod, the disadvantages of a fixed-LCD-only camera are almost non-issues. But that is not the environment most of us work in.

So ... I happen to favor the Panny G1-type design because it gives me what I want. But I have never played with the add-on EVFs available for other bodies. If you can get the combination of an add-on EVF and an articulated LCD in another model, then I would suggest that it also be on your short list.

OK, I am now going to dig my old Nomex out of the closet!

It's all about personal preferences. One can't go wrong with either brand, IMHO.

For me full frame Canon 5D mk II was the thing until I got tired of carrying all that weight. So I went to the other end of the line looking for weight or lack of it, looking for portability with sufficient IQ. I was NOT looking any mini DSLR so I was willing to sacrifice a few ergonomic things because on small size.

Both brands have small camera bodies and deliver sufficient IQ. So even so far.

I hate flash light and adore available light so for me IBIS is the way to go. I have used to use Olympus user interface so I like it more. Also I like to have viewfinder as an option when I need it and Olympus have a bit better one at the moment. I'n not a RAW person and I feel Olympus have a bit better jpeg engine right now.

So FOR ME with those tiny reasons it's Olympus but I'm the last person to shoot Panasonic owners, because one day I might be one of them ;-)