Pimping my Panny

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Nick De Marco

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The last few days I have been trying out the new Panasonic GF1.

The main reason I bought it is I wanted an affordable camera, which could make good enough prints at A4, and that I could put my Leica M type and LTM lenses on for fun.

I have found the Panny 20mm f1.7 lens is, as the reviews suggest, a great lens in itself - and for normal street photography, with quick auto focus and 40mm equivalent, it makes a great combo.

But using the M and LTM lenses as well has been a lot of fun.

So before I post some photos taken with the camera, here is some Panny porn - pimping my Panny








More here: http://www.pbase.com/nickdemarco/pimp_my_gf1
 
Good that it works for you. I tried my 60mm Hex at F1.2 on it today at a Photo Fair, yet I did not nail a single shot right(with or without the EVF). And the subject wasn't moving much. This is a great camera but I see limited value to use M lenses on it. The 45mm Macro and 20mm are great lenses, this is a good enough combo. I was a bit disappointed by image quality, it is good but I feel the Foveon of the DP2 is sharper and renders colors better.
 
I had high hopes for using M lenses on this camera, but the only legacy lens I immediately loved on it was the Olympus-Pen 40/1.4. I will be doing some more fooling around with M glass of course--only just got the camera--but so far the Pen is the only lens that feels like it belongs there.
 
The best lenses for the 4/3 cameras are the lenses that were designed for them. I find the use of CV, Zeiss, and Leitz lenses a waste of time. The results I got are far from stellar then what the lenses that were designed for them can do. The Lumix lenses are really quite good. Excellent in fact. Hopefully Panasonic and Olympus will produce some true wide angle and other primes for their cameras.
 
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I own all 3 Lumix zooms. They're all quite excellent, especially the 7-14 and the 14-45. I would love to see some individual prime lenses produced such as the 20 1.7 Aspherical.

When I mention "true wide angle", I was speaking of those who adapt CV, Zeiss, and Leitz lenses to their 4/3 cameras. As you know, due to the chip size, focal lengths get doubled. Zoom lenses are are not individual prime lenses.
 
I played with a GF-1 and 20mm today and thought it was quite nice - much better than the EP-1 to use. I also tried the EVF and really really didn't like it. It is far fworse than the GH1 internal and inho you might as well by a CV optical finder for less money (I can only imagine using the camera with the primes as zooming away from my face feels funny.

Mike
 
Sigh. So close. Looking at your images, I agree this camera with the 20mm could probably replace the 5D for a lot of my work. If it only had a decent finder. Love the size, but still leaning toward the G1 because of the finder.
 
Thanks. I'm really trying to make a decision on a new carry around camera, and A4 would be the biggest thing I would likely print from it. I've given up trying to determine the effects of noise on a print by looking at images on the screen. There is just no correlation in my experience.
 
Pickett Wilson said:
Thanks. I'm really trying to make a decision on a new carry around camera, and A4 would be the biggest thing I would likely print from it. I've given up trying to determine the effects of noise on a print by looking at images on the screen. There is just no correlation in my experience.
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that is correct, and also add the fact that some camera's noise might be more pleasing than others.
Maybe wait a month or two before making a choice ... it seems that Ricoh will announce something revolutionary on Nov 10th (there is a thread on the subject on the dpreview forums and I also heard it on the Ricoh stand at the Photo Fair). A E-P2 is also in the work according to some rumors.
 
yanidel said:
that is correct, and also add the fact that some camera's noise might be more pleasing than others.
Maybe wait a month or two before making a choice ... it seems that Ricoh will announce something revolutionary on Nov 10th (there is a thread on the subject on the dpreview forums and I also heard it on the Ricoh stand at the Photo Fair). A E-P2 is also in the work according to some rumors.
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That's one of the reasons why I've got the R-D1. I've already told myself that I will not jump on the GAS wagon, waiting for my next fix. Do I need more Mpix, or OIS, or automtic this or that? No, I don't. Do I like the GF-1, you bet.
 
Nice pictures, but as for the real world of taking photos, I fear that there are not that many alligators or other animals around town here. ;)
Now take the same camera and go to the dark streets of Paris and you'll see the noise.
As for sharp, not quite close to M8 and DP2 IMO, but this is not really a surprise.
 
Variation of the Theme

Variation of the Theme

I have an E-P1 including the 17 and kit zoom. I picked it up to use with my Pentax DA limited pancakes. I have all except the 15 and also have the 35 macro. They work really well and I use the Novoflex adapter which provides me variable apertures and some control over depth of field. I primarily use the 40, 70 and macro. While not particularly good image quality, I am using my Pentax DA 10-17. At least I can get down to 20. As an aside, I am testing my Lensbaby 3G. Unfortunately no help for my Leica “Null” and there will never be an adapter for my Xpan lenses. For viewfinder, I use an old KMZ Universal turret. :)
 
I find using manual lenses on the GF1 takes a little while to get used to, and a moment more to focus than otherwise, but it is quite possible to get very nice results - even with the 100mm equiv 50mm lenses, Really depends what you are using it for I guess. If I wanted to shoot very very fast I would just use the Panny 20mm f1.7 lens as it is as good on the Panny as my Leica M lenses are, and has super quick AF.

I just posted a few examples of photos taken with the Summilux 50mm f1.4 M on the GF1, nearly all are wide open (f1.4).

I like the results, and don't think I will be getting the Leica/Panny 45mm f2.8 for the same price I bought this old beauty used.

Here are 3:







More here
http://www.pbase.com/nickdemarco/leitz_summilux_50mm_f14_

Nick
 
Tried some more lenses this week.

My old (1961) Canon 50mm f1.4 LTM lens is beautiful on the GF1. Small, sharp at f1.4 with a pleasent bokeh, and of course 100mm equiv on a GF1. Here are a couple:






More here: Canon 50mm f1.4 (LTM) Photo Gallery by Nick De Marco at pbase.com

It's sacrilege, but I am almost thinking the Canon f1.4 works better with the GF1 than my far more expensive, and generally beautiful 1st version Summilux (maybe the Canon is a bit sharper at f1.4, and the bokeh a little less extreme - not to mention the fact it is more compact). Still working out which to take to Burma...

I did not get on so well with the Minolta Rokkor 40mm f2. Maybe it was the extra stops. But here is one I like



More here: Minolta Rokkor 40mm f/2 Photo Gallery by Nick De Marco at pbase.com

To make up for the Rokkor being f2, I had to get the Voigtlander 40mm f1.4 (saw it on a good deal, SC version). Think this may be a good allround lens for the GF1, but only have one photo so far



Thanks for looking

Nick
 
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