Why did you choose Panasonic MFT?

[012abc]

When you first started out, what made you gravitate toward to and eventually choose Panasonic as your MFT system?

Thanks.

 

[John M Flores]

video

 

[RogerM]

I chose Panny because I buy all my gear (DSLR & m4/3) second-hand and a couple of generations back from the current one. As far as m4/3 is concerned, Panasonic bodies in particular crash in price when superseded yet some early models are notably reliable and nicely made.
In my defence; I'm not just cheap but also poor

 

[NoSeconds]

Olympus...

 

[wjiang]

I have lenses and bodies from both camps. I have a Panasonic because I like the GM (now GF) line for a 'compact' camera versus Olympus.

 

[hazwing]

Funny, I was going to post pretty much the same thing... my answer pretty much the same as @wjiang, except I'm still using the GM line.

 

[dirtdevil]

I started as someone interested by video back in 2001-2002, studied cinema and had Panasonic camcorders (PV-DV101). Then I slowly bought small portable cameras for pictures while keeping a camcorder, then switched to a bridge camera (FZ 35) where I could take pictures and shoot videos. During that time I have also owned Canon and Sony products (camcorders and cameras) but I was never able to "adopt" them for various reasons and I was barely using them. You could say I'm a Panasonic "fan-boy" but I'm not. I just feel more confident using Panasonic products because of their menus, ease of use, nice results straight out of the camera, etc. I despise Sony because of their philosophy in creating all sorts of alternative products that become obselete (with their own type of memory card, wires, file format, etc), and I didn't like to take pictures with a Canon camera because of a very bad experience with a EOS rebel t2i.

Give me a cheap Panasonic camera and I'll produce better results even blindfolded than with any other camera even if it's a high end model.

In the past few years I've been a "content creator" for an organization where I need to be the jack of all trades (corporate pics, promotional videos, compact enough for monthly business trips and pack my stuff in my carry-on luggage), and Panasonic products are the perfect tools for my situation. I don't know if you could call me "claustrophobic" but I just hate to carry tons of stuff with me. And I don't need to print my photos on posters.

 

[archaeopteryx]

m43 for crop factor, Panasonic for DFD. M1 and GH level bodies and big glass are more than I can justify and APS-C and larger is more sensor than I really use. Autofocus performance is most critical to me with certain wildlife species which present mostly horizontal edges. PDAF points on DSLR or other mirrorless bodies at or below the M5 and G85 price point continue to be mostly vertical, don't do so well in these cases, and their limited coverage has a way of creating compositional difficulties. While I shoot very little video the wildlife stuff is more like taking frames from video than still photography. Panasonic's video emphasis also seems to result in AF behaviour a bit closer to what I'm looking for than other manufacturers, though it's difficult to quantify. So I get better results from the 100-300 than 100-400 type lenses on APS-C at lower cost with less to carry.

This makes it natural to use u4/3 for general photography as well. It's consistently my experience one mount doesn't offer everything and, more often than not, I've bits from two systems. The PL 8-18 might eventually change that but I'm in no hurry. APS-C bodies aren't necessarily bigger or heavier than u4/3 and differences in lenses are not so dramatic when using shorter glass, particularly if one is looking at Olympus rather than Panasonic.

 

[Turbofrog]

Price and form-factor were two big ones that played into it, but mostly the outstanding user interface, particularly the touchscreen. When I first bought an interchangeable lens camera, I was cross-shopping the E-PM2, NEX-3N, and GX1. The GX1 was older and had a definitively worse sensor, but felt great in the hand and all the necessary controls were easy to access. No surprise, the camera that you want to use ends up being the best one...

 

[tkbslc]

I prefer RF body styles and Olympus didn't have any at the time that included a built-in viewfinder.

 

[Mike Wingate]

I had a Panasonic TZ9 compact camera. I went on a Panasonic Day at Dunham Park, desperate to test a Bridge FZ330 camera. Did, talked to others. Came home and did some more research and read a batch of Panasonic Catalogues. Visited camera shops and tried out a GX80. Read reviews, bought camera magazines. Decided to wait. Waited, cash back offers. Purchased, added lenses. Happy with the GX80. Small, light, compact, great results. Very happy.

 

[stagor]

can't resist, less chance of the knobs dropping off.

 

[kingduct]

Price was a major factor.

I had an E-PL1. Wanted to move up to an E-PL5 or E-PM2, but a G5 was significantly cheaper and also bundled with a free 45-150mm lens. An E-M5 would have been vastly more expensive at the time.

I loved the G5, but was not committed to sticking with Panasonic over Olympus. When I decided to upgrade from the G5, Panasonic was once again much cheaper. My GX85 was cheaper than the E-M10 ii, came with the superior kit lens (I like the 12-32 a lot more than 14-42), and again, it included the 45-150 zoom (which I like -- it enabled me to sell the G5 with the old 45-150 lens). And, Panasonic had the free 3-year warranty promotion. And yeah, the Pen F would have been even more expensive.

Even at an equal price, the GX85 has an argument as a better camera than the E-M10 ii and even the Pen F (if you care about video and the superior kit lens). But when it is cheaper, has an extra zoom lens, and has a three-year warranty, it's no contest.

 

[Levster]

The Panasonic G1 was the first Mu43 camera so there wasn't much of a choice! I now prefer Panasonic (having owned lots of Olympus cameras too) because:

1. The lovely tilting EVF on the GX8
2. The rangefinder style (Pen-F too expensive for my tastes)
3. The touch-pad focus feature
4. You can set the EVF to be "mono", which makes manual focussing easier.

 

[chromedome]

I can't decide between the two. I started with olympus EM10, upgraded to the EM5m2 and later tried panasonic GX8 and GX85 later, just to see.
I found Panasonic's menu UI to be much easier and nicer. The touch screen is very responsive. the only strong only difference I found the Olympus was that the Olympus tends to focus more accurately in poor lighting, and noise is cleaner at high ISO's. I used the GX85 and it does seem to be more advanced and quieter (mechanical shutter). They're both great really, I would not hesitate to purchase a panasonic in the future. I use a Canon 6D for street telephoto portraits, and my mft system for street using primarily the Panasonic 20mm f1.7II - cannot see myself going to fuji, I am spoiled by the AF performance of my mft camera. Happy using them both!

 

[ralf-11]

smaller & lighter than my Nikon system
high quality (Leica) lenses
Post Focus Stacking in camera
good EVF & other features
menu system more rational than Sony
I started (in still photography) with OM-1, -2 and they were not all that reliable in the field

 

[retiredfromlife]

can't resist, less chance of the knobs dropping off.

Yep one of the reasons I swapped from Olympus to Panasonic for bodies. I started with the OLY E-P5 that read dial skipping and all the reports of OLY problems compared to Panasonic helped me make the change.
Plus I really prefer what the buttons on the Panasonic cameras do compared to Olympus and the way that you can swap between the EVF and LCD without having to close the LCD like on OLY.

But for lenses I am in both camps. I really like the OLY pro series, but like the buttons I will not take my 12-40 pro on bush walks because of the possible mount breaking issue, proabably getting the 12-60 Pany for those walks for when I want a WR lens. Wish the Pany 14-140 was WR.

Olympus also make a lot of extras Panasonic do not make like the body cap lens, dot sight, macro flashes etc so one needs to be in both camps to a certain degree, which is a good thing

 

[KBeezie]

I'm mainly Olympus for photos, but for video though, it seems like Panasonic got all the options for delivering video on MFT where as on the Olympus side [even a bit with their newest flagship] while the bitrates have improved they don't seem to be as practical as Panasonic for actually operating it with video in mind, nor the selection of shooting options.

Right now though, I only own a hacked GH1 for video (getting around 65Mb/s average even in low light, with a peak around 95 in AVCHD) which is great, but I have to rely on using an external mic and recorder as the internal audio being uncontrolled and purely auto-gained is a pain. I wouldn't mind getting a GH4 for video (and strictly video, I found it way too cumbersome compared to either my E-M5i or E-M1i for photo usage), maybe when the prices come down even further, price wise it can't beat my GH1 for $100. (main two things I'd want in the GH1 which will never come is focus peaking and the ability to set gain level with VU monitoring).

can't resist, less chance of the knobs dropping off.

That only happened to me once on my E-P3, my first MFT/mirrorless body (which I was able to put back on without an issue, as its just glue), but it seems like you don't hear about it happening on Panasonic.

While Olympus seems more prone to have parts come off (be it a knob on my E-P3, or the back rubber of the E-M1), I still prefer the ergonomics and UI of the O-MD line over either the GH4 or GH5 (both of which I have access to in the department, but I would only own either for video usage).

 

[retiredfromlife]

But when it is cheaper, has an extra zoom lens, and has a three-year warranty, it's no contest.

In Australia we only get 1 year warranty with Panasonic and at least two with Olympus. Way better repair service for OLY in Australia as well.
Has not stopped my buying Panasonic but I wish they would match OLY for service and warranty.

 

[KBeezie]

In Australia we only get 1 year warranty with Panasonic and at least two with Olympus. Way better repair service for OLY in Australia as well.
Has not stopped my buying Panasonic but I wish they would match OLY for service and warranty.

Though in comparison, how likely are you going to need to for Panasonic after the first year versus Olympus?