*sorry this is pretty long*

As some of you may know I'm considering selling my Panasonic G1, 20mm and 14-140mm. And I have listed everything for sale once before, but deciding to keep it all once before. So basically I want to ask for other peoples opinions before I do something I may regret.

In September, I'll be going to Shanghai and Hong Kong for a rare family holiday (haven't been on one with my family for 5years now). The reason I want to sell everything is to move over to Canon temporarily for a 550d and 15-85mm and Sigma 30mm 1.4 . The reasoning being that Canon is "better" for lowlight.

I don't know if anyone here has been to Hong Kong and visited the Peak at night time, but the last time I went the view was really beautiful and literally took my breath away and secondly I just love Hong Kong as a place (I have so many memories and friends there) so I want to photograph it as best I can, I'll be graduating next summer and will be busy finding work etc, so who knows when I'll be able to visit Hong Kong again.

However I have to admit, I'd defonately be selling the Canon gear and move back to micro four thirds because I'm in love with the system, its been completely ideal for my style of photography so far, and from the rumors I'm hearing, there will be a number of exciting developments for photokina.
I have to honestly say, that this community here is also a big part of why I want to stick with micro four thirds, no other forum for photography has come close to the level of friendliness and delightful community spirit we have here.

I guess I wouldn't be having the idea of moving to Canon if it wasn't for the holiday and needing a bit more headroom at higher ISO's for just this once.

Recently I've been thinking: "Perhaps I'm letting 'pixel peeping' and high iso noise comparisons get the most of me?" and "Maybe what I should be buying is a good tripod instead?" (however there will be times I won't be able to use a tripod).

*Thanks in advance for any advice and thanks for reading my long post*

Update 31/08/10
Hi everyone, I've very reluctantly come to the decision that I'm going to sell my Panasonic gear after all and move over to Canon for my trip touring parts China and then Hong Kong. I know I'll lose a bit of money coming back to micro four thirds after my trip, but I think it'll ultimately worth it in the end. I guess a new factor which influenced my decision since I asked for advice is the sale of one of my guitars which has given me more money to invest in this move.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the great advice I've received. The main consensus was to keep my gear and to make the most of 1) PP, 2) tripods 2) good technique. Although I am changing my equipment for the trip, there's no doubt that the great advice in this thread will still help me improve as a photographer - a big thank you to you all

__________________
Vince

Comments or contructive feedback is very welcome and will be very appreciated

Had: Panasonic G1 + 14-140mm + 20mm

Visit my Flickr here

Vince, I can't really give you any advice on this but I am very touched by what you wrote about the mu-43.com community and feel the same way.

I'm sure you're going to get some helpful replies over the next day or so regarding the necessity or not of going for that Canon over your G1. I suppose there are other aspects to think about too, besides low light. I don't know how easy it will be to sell the Canon, etc., and what the upcoming Photokina will bring to the table for micro four thirds. But I do know one thing, no matter what your decision - you are always going to be welcomed with open arms here.

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**An evolving camera owner.

~ BB
Flickr photostream

Thanks BBW :-) I have considered the resale value of whatever I buy, but from what I've researched Canon and Nikon gear tend to keep their value well, and I picked the 550d because its a relatively new model.

Your absolutely right that there's more than low light performance to consider, and I'm actually more than satisfied with what the G1 gives me, but I've never really used it it low light much, I guess I'm afraid it'll let me down

Thanks BBW, that means a lot to me :-) I'm sure that even if i get the canon gear I'll definately be selling after my holiday and coming back to m4/3rds. Although now I think about it, it will seem like a waste of money moving over in the first place as I'll never get the new price back, the equipment is always going to depreciate.

I think I'll look at the Olympus m4/3rds cameras, I've had a look around a few review sites just now and the Pen's are meant to be better than the G1 in lowlight.

__________________
Vince

Comments or contructive feedback is very welcome and will be very appreciated

Had: Panasonic G1 + 14-140mm + 20mm

Visit my Flickr here

Im not sure if the 550d is the best choice for low light. It might be worth looking at the reviews of various cameras. I have heard some of the Pentax's were quite good ad you might find some of the older Canons better for the purpose. Have you thought of a second hand body and lens? If you don't need to print large then even some of the old 6mp ones were not to bad. It may also be worth looking at one with in body IS and a fast prime or the Sigma 18-50 f2.8, either the Pentax K100d or the Minolta 5d and that lens could be got for silly cheep money.

Technically I think the Canon will be much better but I just wonder if it'll be worth the hassle in the end.

I think I had great results capturing photos under low-light with the humble 17mm f2.8. I can only think of better results with the Panny 20mm.



EXIF: Shutter priority AE, 0.3 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200

It was taken near midnight after a summer thunderstorm quickly moved through. I used a wood stick about a foot long to help stabilize the camera. I don't know if these conditions are as harsh as it will be in HK though.

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it I just googled the Pentax K-X and have found that it actually seems better than the 550d in lowlight - it resolves a lot more detail... and it's cheaper so thats great news :-) Lens wise u're right abt fast primes, I heard the Sigma 30 1.4 is good as well as the 18-50 u recommended and I just did a quick search, the price seems good on those too :-) On that note the Pentax seems to have have edged ahead of Canon if i do decide to sell and switch.

Many thanks again.

__________________
Vince

Comments or contructive feedback is very welcome and will be very appreciated

Had: Panasonic G1 + 14-140mm + 20mm

Visit my Flickr here

Can I ask which camera you were using? from what I've seen the EPL1 seems to be the best micro four thirds camera for lowlight, and the in body stabilisation is a big boost too. I've just thought that getting the EPL1 would be a good option, that way I'd avoid the hassle switching between systems and selling gear and the UK has a £75 rebate scheme on it, which takes nearly 25% of its price.

Edit: Btw this is a really nice photo, the composition is simple but works really well, you've done a good job capturing the atmosphere too I'm really suprised you manged to keep the ISO down to 200 - good job balancing the camera I guess this helped remind me of the importance of keeping a camera still, by supporting it, and using a slightly longer shutter speed in lowlight - I'll be sure to take note of this

Thanks for your advice, i really appreciate it you've given me some good food for thought - perhaps I should think about improving my technique and maybe using a tripod to get around shooting in lowlight - it would certainly be cheaper

__________________
Vince

Comments or contructive feedback is very welcome and will be very appreciated

Had: Panasonic G1 + 14-140mm + 20mm

Visit my Flickr here

I'm using the E-PL1. I set it to save in RAW and do minor adjustments in Lightroom 3.

Thanks again - although you probably didn't know it you've just reminded me about using RAW and its benefits (more detail, more headroom for PP), perhaps I should review my technique and how I set myself up before I buy anything - I have to admit I've got lazy and started shooting Jpeg recently.

By the way I don't know if you've noticed i've edited my above reply to you - you've also reminded me about supporting the camera and using longer shutter speeds.

Thanks so much, I kind of feel like I've just had my eyes opened from being blinded by looking at new camera gear and pixel peeping. At the moment it seems I'll re-evaulate and work on my photography technique to see how I can develop my low light shooting, and push my G1 to it's limit before buying new kit.

__________________
Vince

Comments or contructive feedback is very welcome and will be very appreciated

Had: Panasonic G1 + 14-140mm + 20mm

Visit my Flickr here

Thanks for the kind comments.

I'm still quite in the beginner stage and it's a struggle to try to capture something that doesn't just look like a snapshot. I've been trying to practice all of the great advice I've read here. Glad I was able to help you out!