|
Author
|
|
Amin Sabet
Registered: April 2009
Location: Boston, MA (United States)
Posts: 6902
|
|
Review Date: Mon March 8, 2010
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 10
|
|
Pros:
|
Great EVF, articulated LCD, fast AF with kit zoom
|
|
Cons:
|
No video capability
|
|
This was the body that started it all for MFT, and in retrospect, I think that Panasonic really nailed it. Some of the touches, like the way the camera automatically changes from LCD to EVF when you raise it to your eye, are just incredibly well thought out for a first gen product. The G1 has, IMO, been the best value in Micro Four Thirds, and with the introduction of the G2, it is likely to remain that way for the time being.
After spending several months with the G1, I recommend it without reservation to anyone who doesn't need video capability.
------------------------------
Amin
Mu-43.com Webmaster (Site FAQ | Help Forum | My Disclosures | My Flickriver | My G+ Profile)
Note: Links in this post may be to our affiliates. We get a small referral fee when you buy after clicking our link. Your price is unaffected.
|
|
|
|
Herman
Mu-43 All-Pro
Registered: February 2010
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 1859
|
|
Review Date: Sun March 14, 2010
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 10
|
|
Pros:
|
Articulated screen, hi res EVF, fast AF, dust reduction system, live view, build quality, low price
|
|
Cons:
|
User manual hard to understand
|
|
If you need no video I highly recommend this camera.
------------------------------
Have a nice day.
Kind regards, Herman
Username Twitter: hermandijkhuis
|
|
|
|
JoeG
Mu-43 Regular
Registered: April 2010
Location: Bowling Green, Kentucky
Posts: 100
|
|
Review Date: Wed May 5, 2010
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $639.00
| Rating: 0
|
|
Pros:
|
As above, plus portability
|
|
Cons:
|
None yet
|
|
After a little more than two weeks I can say I've never had a better camera. My old Konica SLR body wasn't much bigger, but it was metal and weighed far more. Add the lenses, and the whole system was a real load. The G1 fits easily in a Domke shoulder bag (F-5XB, also highly recommended) with plenty of room for the 45-200 mm lens I'll be getting soon. As a traveler spoiled by wearing an avocado-size point and shoot on my belt, I really appreciate an outfit so light you can forget you're schlepping it.
I think of myself as a reflective shooter. I like to line things up and compose a shot. The G1 is perfect for this approach. The evf is better than the viewfinder on any of the introductory DSLR's I've seen--bigger, brighter, more informative--and you see 100% of what the sensor is looking at. I also appreciate the optional grid lines, which function as well as the electronic level on my Ricoh to keep things squared away. On a tripod or simply held below eye level, the articulated screen works like the viewfinder on my old Yashicaflex TLR, only better, and angled out to the side it allows you to shoot from almost any angle. I took a snap of my granddaughter today as she sat at a computer, working a video game. I was able to hold the camera around in front of her and shoot almost from the computer's point of view. Shoot round corners? Nothing to it!
I worried a bit about what reviewers called a weak jpeg engine and thought I'd end up shooting RAW. I may yet, but there's no urgent need to. The jpegs the camera has produced so far look fabulous to me. To my eye, they're as vibrant and sharp as Olympus shots I've seen, and when the time comes, the supplied Silkypix software is reputedly very powerful and fully capable of getting RAW results to rival Photoshop or the other expensive post processing programs.
I could go on and on, but you get the point. The G1 is a better camera than I am a photographer. If you're on the fence about it, jump down on the Panasonic side. You won't regret it.
------------------------------
Ricoh CX1, Panasonic G1, 14-45 mm, Tamron 90mm macro, Konica 40mm 1.8
|
|
|
|
|
ianc
New to Mu-43
Registered: June 2010
Location: Essex UK
Posts: 7
|
|
Review Date: Sat July 3, 2010
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 7
|
|
Pros:
|
Size weight Lens format LVF and LCD Mechanical shutter Ergonomics Adaptability using after-market adaptors Display of rear menu's in LVF Front grip control dial and quick menu system Soft touch body covering Mega OIS system Film modes Jpg quality not to o
|
|
Cons:
|
Slow lenses as standard No macro/close focus Control layout Menu's not that intuitive Low light (indoor) performance Abysmal software issues especially with RAW Not showing as a device in camera's with windows. Tying to expensive own brand accessories suc
|
|
Being disabled and bed bound has not diminished my passion for photography just limited it, in such a way as to see me having to sell my beloved DSLR kit as I could no longer manage the weight of it.
I initially went for a canon G11 and though a very good camera it has limitations, mainly on the small zoom range so I started to look for alternatives.
Weight again was my primary concern, as it was no good wasting my limited finances on something I would not be able to manage.
This resulted in the somewhat hilarious sight of myself holding the little canon with 2 oz pouches of tobacco, £1 coins and a spare battery masking taped to it in order to up its weight to that of the G1 with 45-200 lens attached.
Finding I could manage it I sent my elderly father into town to purchase the G1 outfit.
On opening the box and putting it all together I was pleasantly surprised that it felt a lot lighter than the specs stated.
It was then time to get it set up and find out what it can and cant do.
The LVF and LCD are both very good, though the quality of fit of the LCD isnt quite up to that of the one on the canon.
The same goes for dials, they are not as positive as those on the little canon and its fairly easy to knock the main control dial out of position, several times now I have found on getting it out I have knocked it from program to another mode.
Whilst we are on about dials what on earth is the point of wasting a whole dial just to select the AF mode? exposure compensation or ISO would have been a far better use of the dial with a stacked switch (similar to the shooting mode switch on the other dial) underneath for selecting AF mode.
Altogether though the build and ergonomics seemed suited to my needs.
I was surprised that for once I had to read a manual, I never bother with manuals, years of SLR and DSLR use means I can follow most controls and menu's intuitively but not so here.
I had to delve in as there where no brief explanations for functions as is common on the other camera's I own or have owned.
I think outside of full auto mode it would be challenging for a beginner to get to grips with.
I mainly shoot indoors and in all honesty wanted the greater zoom range for shooting the birds I can see through my bedroom window and also getting close ups of the moths I get in here this time of the year.
The camera is great for out side shots, but not so much so for indoors.
I prefer to shoot at a low ISO (usually 80 on the canon) but at ISO 100 hand held shots are not practical without flash.
The flash by the way is a good little unit but does produce some vignetting at 200mm.
I have to say here that one thing that surprises me even now with DSLR's etc is how much slower the lenses have become.
Back in the days of film a slow lens was F3.0 - 4.0 for 35-80 or F3.5-4.5 for 70-210 lenses, I still have trouble getting my head round a 14-45 that's F5.6 @ 45mm.
While I'm at it on lenses what's with the no macro facility and long closest focus distances?
Now for my biggest gripe.
I cannot understand a company supplying software that will not run on current computers.
A lot of people run vista or win 7 64bit, supplying a current model camera with software that will not run on the full spectrum of operating systems is a bad move IMHO.
Worse still is the tie in to using the supplied software.
There is no .inf file so the camera cannot be added as a device to the computer and so cannot be set up to automatically download and delete the images via windows.
You have to treat it as an external drive and do everything manually.
And then there's the RAW issue.
It's no issue at all if you use Adobe CS4 or above as ACR updates have taken care of the issues that did exist, but if like me you run CS3 (ACR 4.6) or below your stuffed to a degree.
Even using Adobe DNG converter, because of the embedded information in the RAW file you end up with a file size in excess of 90mb per image!!
As said you have no alternative but to use alternative software to process the RAW files as silkypix just does not like win 7 64bit and what I saw of silkypix before it crashed showed an interface that is not as intuitive as ACR that also seemed to rely heavily on one click options to process the files.
Accessories, I do hate companies that not only tie you to their own brand accessories but who also then charge you 3-4 times more for them.
A battery costing £64.99 is a joke, but the jokes on you when non branded items are prevented from working.
The same with the remote the same design can cost as little as £10 so how do they warrant not only charging such an exorbitant price for theirs but also preventing different brands from working with it.
Even my Secuview twin that works fine with canon's, Pentax, Samsung DSLR's will not work with this camera.
In reflection the price is too high, the twin lens kit here works out at £629 at its cheapest.
For the same money there are damn good full size DSLR twin lens kits available or single lens with enough cash left to by a sigma 70-300, Pentax and Samsung both produce 10mp DSLR's that will still knock the spots of the G1 with image quality.
In all honesty had I known about the issue with RAW files before purchase I would have had serious second thoughts and explored other options more seriously.
Please note that a full size DSLR was not an option for me due to my disabilities.
So I guess I can wrap this up with likes and dislikes.
Likes:
Size
weight
Lens format
LVF and LCD
Mechanical shutter
Ergonomics
Adaptability using after-market adaptors
Display of rear menu's in LVF
Front grip control dial and quick menu system
Soft touch body covering
Mega OIS system
Film modes
Jpg quality not to over compressed.
Dislikes:
Slow lenses as standard
No macro/close focus
Control layout
Menu's not that intuitive
Low light (indoor) performance
Abysmal software issues especially with RAW
Not showing as a device in camera's with windows.
Tying to expensive own brand accessories such as batteries/remote release etc.
Price
|
|
|
|
|
Micro Four Thirds User Forum
