Lumix G1 Versus Canon 7D

[StudioHeraBell]

Yesterday I was shooting women's foot wear for a client. The model was from one the top modeling agencies. It was boots and shoes heaven in my studio yesterday.

I will be getting a pair of amazing boots and austrian cristal sandals as a bonus from my client. Love it.

Although I shot the entire session with my Canon 7D, I took once in a while the Lumix G1 in my hands , just to compare.

Canon 7D

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Lumix G1

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What she is wearing isn't a real gown. I did her make-up, and draped the fabric over her body create the gown. Voila.

Canon versus Lumix match...

That G1 can still compete against big guys in some ways. But during a commercial shoot like this it has no place. For many Big is beautiful...

 

[John M Flores]

First, nice gig and nice photos! Thx for sharing. The 7d is much better here - smoother skin tones, better DR, more natural rendering of the fabrics (my GH2 tends to oversaturate, I presume the G1 does as well).

I wonder how the GH2, the current M43 standard bearer, would do in this situation...

 

[Mellow]

Dumb question I'm sure, but couldn't you dial down the contrast in the G1 image and get a better match to the 7D? That's the thing that jumps out at me from the downsampled images.

 

[pjohngren]

Dumb question I'm sure, but couldn't you dial down the contrast in the G1 image and get a better match to the 7D? That's the thing that jumps out at me from the downsampled images.

Not only is the contrast up too much in the G1 shot, it is over exposed compared to the 7D. Shooting a JPEG with the G1 and adjusting parameters like white balance, film mode, and exposure, I'm sure you could easily "equal" the 7D.

 

[StudioHeraBell]

Not that I know of. To add more punchy colors there is a Vibrant mode in G1. Good for landscape horriblewith people shots.

Imagine the 7D was shot on Kalvin mode, because I prefere slight warmer skin tones., The G1 was shot in autro white balance mode. The G1 is warmer and more contrasty (even shot in regular mode not vibrant), therefor feels more saturated in colors.

 

[StudioHeraBell]

The samples here are both in high jpg mode from the two cameras. I always shoot both modes RAW & jpg.

Not only is the contrast up too much in the G1 shot, it is over exposed compared to the 7D. Shooting a JPEG with the G1 and adjusting parameters like white balance, film mode, and exposure, I'm sure you could easily "equal" the 7D.

 

[pjohngren]

Not that I know of. To add more punchy colors there is a Vibrant mode in G1. Good for landscape horriblewith people shots.

Imagine the 7D was shot on Kalvin mode, because I prefere slight warmer skin tones., The G1 was shot in autro white balance mode. The G1 is warmer and more contrasty (even shot in regular mode not vibrant), therefor feels more saturated in colors.

The G1 has great flexibility to get just what you want out of it. I would pick a white balance, like "cloudy", but then fine tune it - I set it one notch toward blue and three notches toward majenta. As to film mode, I would pick Dynamic, but cut back the contrast by one and increase the saturation by one. "Auto" has no idea what you like - at least no idea what I like.

 

[Fiddler]

Nice work, Hera. Goes to show that the G1 is a great camera in it's own right. I understand why you prefer the Canon for commercial work, but I'm still amazed by how much Panasonic got right with the G1.

All the best,

Colin

 

[Iconindustries]

Wow Hera, these are beautifully coloured images. Those boots are huge, like gumboots with class!

 

[StudioHeraBell]

The 7D has it as well.

Canon 40D was horrible in AWB mode, very bluish. 7D is great in AWB. I find that my G1 in AWB up untill 7D was the best.

The moral of the story is always know your equipment well.

My point isn't the contrast, but how much more luminous and contrasty is the G1 compared to 7D under same lighting conditions.

The G1 has great flexibility to get just what you want out of it. I would pick a white balance, like "cloudy", but then fine tune it - I set it one notch toward blue and three notches toward majenta. As to film mode, I would pick Dynamic, but cut back the contrast by one and increase the saturation by one. "Auto" has no idea what you like - at least no idea what I like.

 

[StudioHeraBell]

Check these out. Do you want to see "BOOTS"? hehehe However the shot was done with 7D. I am showing it to show killer boots.

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Wow Hera, these are beautifully coloured images. Those boots are huge, like gumboots with class!

 

[StudioHeraBell]

Love my G1. Hopefully soon my GH2... :smile:

Nice work, Hera. Goes to show that the G1 is a great camera in it's own right. I understand why you prefer the Canon for commercial work, but I'm still amazed by how much Panasonic got right with the G1.

All the best,

Colin

 

[DesertRose]

Really nice comparison shots, Hera.

On some landscapes where I've shot the 1D3 and GH1 side by side (processed raw), there is a lot more contrast and saturation on the GH1 and it's so much more balanced toward making reddish tones hot.

The 1D3 is much more neutral and everything can be pulled up nicely in post to taste.

I guess that might be something about the tone curve in the processing engines? Maybe it's also a little bit of the reason that I like so many of my GH1 images converted to B&W.

 

[Fiddler]

Check these out. Do you want to see "BOOTS"? hehehe However the shot was done with 7D. I am showing it to show killer boots.

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Very dramatic shot. I like the way the model is relating to the camera/photographer.

And those boots look expensive...

 

[jimr.pdx]

I tested my G1 against a K-7 and found similar results, where the G1 result seemed limited in dynamic range. I've picked up a GH1 which rates better (if you are into DxO results), looking forward to some fresh tests.

Indeed, those are boots!

 

[StudioHeraBell]

Indeed, if you don't put the shots (under the same lighthing conditions of the same sauibject) side by side you will not notice these subtile differences.

I still LOVE the G series for my travel photography. The camera is ligther to carry, its vibrant dynamic colors suits me for travel photography. My Canon D7 with the mega size lenses and grip it no longer attractive to carry around during my vacations day and day out.

I also have noticed that most people (consumers) like slightly warm tones in general. It emulates warm sun. For some of my landscapes I add sliigthly Nik's Skylight filter.

Does any of you use that digital filter? Try it, you might love it.

PS: I will do a Blog post with the boots/shoes shoot today. But it will be mostly images shot with D7. There will not be a link here because it isn't related to our camera system topics here, but you can visit if you like it.

Cheers,

Hera

Really nice comparison shots, Hera.

On some landscapes where I've shot the 1D3 and GH1 side by side (processed raw), there is a lot more contrast and saturation on the GH1 and it's so much more balanced toward making reddish tones hot.

The 1D3 is much more neutral and everything can be pulled up nicely in post to taste.

I guess that might be something about the tone curve in the processing engines? Maybe it's also a little bit of the reason that I like so many of my GH1 images converted to B&W.