Darthfeeble
But you can call me Steve
Here are a couple from the Pano Lumix L100. Pocketable, 24-70 equivalent lens, all around camera. If it has a flaw, it's the small size.


I just joined the Micro Four Thirds club!
CL has no IBIS and something like three overpriced, slow lens. ...
I'm wondering how the Pen and m4/3 system is working for you now Chris? Are you still pleased with the stills quality?
I have always shot Panasonic for video as they have spent a few generations refining the interface and software to the point that I personally find them extraordinary cameras for run and gun/doc style video.
I have always maintained a separate stills kit though... until recently. In an effort to streamline my work bag (different batteries, chargers, filters, flash etc) I recently picked up a Panasonic G9. An extraordinary camera, if you ask me, and tough as nails. There seems to be little to no compromise between the video portion of the camera and the stills (running most recent firmware).
My question would be do you have any stills workflow tips/hints? In am a big fan of the monochrome D jpeg setting but would prefer to shoot RAW and achieve same look.
Black & White Processing
I rarely do black and white from digital; I still shoot film for that, but when I do, here's how I do it.
I still shoot RAW. I've never liked the tonality that any in-camera BW rendering gave. They always look too flat, without enough microcontrast in the midtones.
I open the RAW file in Lightroom and process it to give the best color image I can. Then I open it in Photoshop. You just can't get truly good BW conversions without specialized plugins. It can be done, and I even made a tutorial showing how, but it is not easy. My two favorite BW conversion plugins for Photoshop are Nik Silver Efex and Topaz BW Effects. The Nik plugin is a lot easier to use, but the Topaz one is more powerful. If I am having trouble getting good results with a file in Nik, Topaz will usually do it, but it is a more difficult program to use.
Here is an example of a photo converted using Nik Silver Efex.
Settings
The problem is I cannot just give you settings to use, because they are different for every photo I process to BW from a color image.
Here are some tutorials I made that show how I work. Both are YouTube videos.
Converting Color to BW in Lightroom (no plugins)
Converting Color to BW in Photoshop using Nik Silver Efex
I don't have a tutorial for Topaz yet, its on my 'to do list.'
i picked up the panasonic 15mm f1.7 recently and was shooting in a very dark, low contrast situation with the Pen F. i never use the focus assist light for a variety of reasons and the Pen was not able to find focus. i switched over to manual with peaking and it was very, very good. the peaking colour set to red and strong. even in almost total darkness.
Black & White Processing
I rarely do black and white from digital; I still shoot film for that, but when I do, here's how I do it.
I still shoot RAW. I've never liked the tonality that any in-camera BW rendering gave. They always look too flat, without enough microcontrast in the midtones.
I open the RAW file in Lightroom and process it to give the best color image I can. Then I open it in Photoshop. You just can't get truly good BW conversions without specialized plugins. It can be done, and I even made a tutorial showing how, but it is not easy. My two favorite BW conversion plugins for Photoshop are Nik Silver Efex and Topaz BW Effects. The Nik plugin is a lot easier to use, but the Topaz one is more powerful. If I am having trouble getting good results with a file in Nik, Topaz will usually do it, but it is a more difficult program to use.
Here is an example of a photo converted using Nik Silver Efex.
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The color image
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Black & White converted from the color original using Nik Silver Efex.
Settings
The problem is I cannot just give you settings to use, because they are different for every photo I process to BW from a color image.
Here are some tutorials I made that show how I work. Both are YouTube videos.
Converting Color to BW in Lightroom (no plugins)
Converting Color to BW in Photoshop using Nik Silver Efex
I don't have a tutorial for Topaz yet, its on my 'to do list.'
While on the subject of M4/3 lenses may I ask about a lens that I had not really considered before. The Olympus zuiko 40-150mm f4-5.6 ed. I saw one in a store yesterday and it had a very good price which made it potentially attractive for those occasions when I wanted a light weight lens longer for travel etc. As I mainly use primes (or vintage lenses) on these cameras I could not conceive of using it a lot but still if the price is right..............
While I understand from reviews that at the shorter to medium focal lengths (say 40-100mm) in particular it seems to have very good IQ I do find its ultra lightness and demonstrably plasticy build a bit off putting (It even has a plastic mount not metal).
Any thoughts from owners?