Comprehensive review of Panasonic G1

[Jamie Pillers]

If you haven't already seen it, Photo.net today issued a nice comprehensive review of the Panasonic G1 and available lens adapters.

http://photo.net/equipment/panasonic/g1/review/

What I like about this review is that its 'talking' to people that have been using film equipment.

As I said in my "Boys and Girls..." post late last year, there are good things coming from the digital side that bring us closer and closer to a reasonable approximation of the film rangefinder experience. The G1 and the Canon G10 are, in my opinion, definite steps in that direction. 🙂 Let's see what Olympus comes out with, hopefully sooner than later.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

I've actually been surprised not to see more actual photography that is being done with the G1 and adapted lenses. Mostly what I see are lens tests or ISO tests. Are folks actually using these seriously with adapted lenses for day to day photography? How do they work out over time?

 

[KEH]

I've actually been surprised not to see more actual photography that is being done with the G1 and adapted lenses. Mostly what I see are lens tests or ISO tests. Are folks actually using these seriously with adapted lenses for day to day photography? How do they work out over time?

I have a fairly recent Flickr gallery with shots all with G1 and either the CV25/4 or Leica 50/2 using CQ M to 4/3 adapter. Overall very satisfying:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/khamilton/sets/72157614653330653/

Cheers,
Kirk

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Those look great. Anybody got anymore?

 

[Tuolumne]

The G1 is my daily camera, but I mostly shoot the kit lens.

/T

 

[back alley]

i love the g1 but have been using the rd1 mostly. it allows for the rf experience and i get use my zm lenses.
but when i do use the g1 i is mostly with the kit lenses as i use the g1 when i want that af experience.

 

[Frank Petronio]

I just got a used G1 w the kit lens for $450 and it is a pretty incredible value. I'm notoriously fickle, especially with digital cameras, but I'm impressed at how many things Panasonic got right with it. Now if they would make one with a metal body and front and back control dials (like a pro dslr), and have it write DNGs... well, it would be pretty much perfect.

This week....

 

[ZeissFan]

There's a lot of good information in that review, but it should be edited.

Right off, I think Four Thirds is a trademark, which means that it should be capitalized in all instances. Otherwise, it's simply an odd fraction.

And again, the incorrect use of "it's" rather than "its" really bothers me.

That site needs some real editors. The review is much too long. Paragraphs are too long. Just too much. It would read much better with shorter paragraphs and tighter sentences.

More isn't always better. Sometimes it's just more.

 

[Jamie Pillers]

Hmmm... I've been teaching math for quite a few years and I didn't realize that four thirds was a trademark. Now what do I tell my students one and one third add up to? eight sixths, I guess.

 

[scho]

Those look great. Anybody got anymore?

I use several alternative lenses with the G1. Some images at link below that include shots with Canon FD, Konica AR, CV lenses as well as the native panasonic lenses.

http://www.pbase.com/scho/panasonic_lumix_g1&page=all

 

[Diane B]

I, too, have been shooting with Canon FDs and the Konica Hexanon 40 f/1.8. I have a small FD gallery within my 'general' G1 gallery (where the Hexanon shots are) http://www.pbase.com/picnic/temp_g1 and
http://www.pbase.com/picnic/fd_gallery I would guess my shooting is about 1/2 and 1/2, Panny lenses (and the Oly 9-18) and my MF lenses.

Diane

 

[charjohncarter]

Diane, those are great. Is it easy to use your manual lenses in auto shutter mode, and complete manual mode? I would like to be able to switch between these two modes easily. Also, I assume it has a hot shoe (?). Again your images are wonderful.

 

[Diane B]

Diane, those are great. Is it easy to use your manual lenses in auto shutter mode, and complete manual mode? I would like to be able to switch between these two modes easily. Also, I assume it has a hot shoe (?). Again your images are wonderful.

Thanks so much for looking.

It is very very easy to use the camera in MF mode---the easiest of any camera (admittedly all DSLRs--one being the 5D) I've shot with since film. The EVF is big and bright so I often can nail the focus without using the MF assist in some cases, but if I want to put the focus exactly where I want it--I use that with 5x and 10x magnification and its wonderful.

I normally shoot in aperture mode but to switch to manual, its as easy as turning the top dial to select the mode.

It does have a hot shoe--I shoot primarily available light so haven't tried anything else. Others have and there are a number of options.

Diane

 

[JohnTF]

There's a lot of good information in that review, but it should be edited.

Right off, I think Four Thirds is a trademark, which means that it should be capitalized in all instances. Otherwise, it's simply an odd fraction.

And again, the incorrect use of "it's" rather than "its" really bothers me.

That site needs some real editors. The review is much too long. Paragraphs are too long. Just too much. It would read much better with shorter paragraphs and tighter sentences.

More isn't always better. Sometimes it's just more.

Am afraid editing is becoming a lost art. ;-)

"Like" in place of "as" also needles me, but as soon as I think about posting something about errors, I seem to stumble over my own, as those seem to be less visible of course.

My secretary used to enjoy pointing them out, but she no longer types/edits for me, and from what passes for print and video news media, I think all the copy editors are out of work. ;-)

That said, something posted as an article should be edited and follow a style book, if they yet exist?

Regards, John

 

[Phoenix]

Hi Diane, very nice work indeed. Thanks for showing, elijah

 

[charjohncarter]

Diane, thanks for the answer. I've looked it up on the net. I have to replace a travel P&S, but I'm thinking of this. I'll be able to use my Leica lenses. It also seems to me that dust might not be as big a problem as it is with the DSLRs. They (DSLRs) seem to me to be an outdated design with modern internals, and one of the work arounds is dust on the sensor.

 

[Pablito]

Four thirds is the problem for me. I need 3:2 aspect ratio.

 

[charjohncarter]

I don't; I have 20+ cameras that are 3:2.

 

[splitimageview]

Four thirds is the problem for me. I need 3:2 aspect ratio.

Set the ratio to 3:2 then. 🙂