Rick Waldroup
Well-known
It is kind of strange how we are now discussing vintage digital cameras, isn't it? 
Last edited:
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
It is kind of strange how we are now discussing vintage digital cameras, isn't it?
Not at all. Anything that takes us away from discussing inanities like Instagram (or insanities like the current state of your politics) is a good thing...
Archiver
Veteran
@agentlossing The GX85 is enjoying a fair bit of online popularity as a travel/street camera, Fuji X100 alternative, what have you. There are a number of YouTube videos about it in this capacity, starting with Spencer Whiteman's videos some years ago, and as recently as this week by others. I'm hoping to pick up another GX85 or a GX9 at some stage because I love mine so much.
And here's a recent GF1 video so we stay on topic!
dkreindler
Member
I'm stunned. A year ago, someone gave me a GX7, and I checked the price online once I got home. $150 seemed to be the going rate. They're now close to $400. Camera prices have gotten absolutely bonkers, even for older, less desirable stuff.
agentlossing
Well-known
It's a positive sign, maybe. Demand may actually influence the release of more small system cameras. Micro 4/3 cameras have gotten too large.
dkreindler
Member
I really hope so, but we've had a few good years of compact camera sales increasing, used prices through the roof and constant sell-outs of the G7X and GR III, with no movement by the camera makers. It reminds me of how car makers left the small truck segment to Toyota and claim there was no demand...and then all at once, we had a flood of small trucks from the Hyundai Santa Cruz to the Ford Ranger and Maverick.
agentlossing
Well-known
Speaking of which, I'm thinking and hoping that a lightly-used Maverick may end up with me behind the driver's seat in the next couple years.
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
Many thanks for this, its a video I hadn't seen. And a good production. Intelligent talk. Not endless yap yap like so many YouTube presentations, and backed up with good images. What's not to like? Unusual, and certainly enjoyable.
Prices in Australia (most Lummoxes of this vintage seem to come out of Japan via Ebay) are through the roof for the GX85 - thanks, Canberra for our third world 62 cent dollar...
Last edited:
Archiver
Veteran
Canon have begun to release new compact cameras, albeit for vloggers and 'content creators', so maybe there's hope for a return to small m43 bodies. Sony are continuing to miniaturize full frame, so there seems to be a trend back to small footprint. m43 has the edge in small lenses - we just need sensors equal in dynamic range and image quality to the full frame sensors of ten years ago, we'd be laughing.
bcostin
Well-known
It deserves respect! The first few generations of MFT cameras were not only really fun to use, but also the first practical way to use a lot of vintage glass on a digital body. While I'd been happily using M42, Rollei QBM, and Exacta SLR lenses with my Canon 10D, the new ability to punch in on a magnified live-view for focusing was a revelation for my nearsighted self. Plus I could finally adapt my dad's old Leica glass!
I had a blue Lumix G1 back in the day since I was accustomed to Canon DSLRs and preferred the internal EVF. I still regularly use the Lumix 20mm/f1.7 and 14mm/f2.5 that I bought with it.
When I wanted a smaller pocketable model I veered off the Olympus side of the MFT ecosystem, mostly because the Pen series had IBIS for use with vintage lenses. I've always wanted to play with a GX1 or a GF1, though, and almost got one before the prices started to creep back up out of the impulse-buy range.
I had a blue Lumix G1 back in the day since I was accustomed to Canon DSLRs and preferred the internal EVF. I still regularly use the Lumix 20mm/f1.7 and 14mm/f2.5 that I bought with it.
When I wanted a smaller pocketable model I veered off the Olympus side of the MFT ecosystem, mostly because the Pen series had IBIS for use with vintage lenses. I've always wanted to play with a GX1 or a GF1, though, and almost got one before the prices started to creep back up out of the impulse-buy range.
Archiver
Veteran
Those were the days! People were adapting their M mount glass to the Panasonic G1 and GH1 and noting that it was the first time rangefinder glass could be used with a digital camera. So cool
Wow, you were an early adopter! And with a blue model at that.
That's the issue now, because people on YouTube are pumping up these now-vintage digital cameras and driving prices back up. I should have got a spare GX85 when one was available a few years ago at my local. They hardly turn up secondhand now.
Interestingly, it appears that the GF1 battery can also be used with the G1, G2, GH1 and G10. Which remind me that I should have got the GH1 which was at my local a while ago, too. I can never quite justify those purchases because I already own cameras that are their descendants, like the GH3, GH4, G9, GX85 and GM1. I don't NEED a GF1 or GH1/2, but I feel it might be fun.
Archiver
Veteran
This now reminds me how much I used to enjoy just going out with the GH3 or GH4 and a couple of tiny primes like the Olympus 25mm f1.8. Those cameras were intended for a prosumer market and were adopted by many video professionals in that niche, but they were still quite small. The GH5, 6 and 7 were increasingly large and heavy, perhaps not quite as fun for a day's jaunt about the town.
Archiver
Veteran
Getting back to the GF1 content, here's a video of the famous Chris Niccolls in The Camera Store 15 years ago. What's remarkable about this video is that it is the very first camera promo by The Camera Store, and it's such a nostalgia trip!
And here is a recent video about the GF1:
And here is a recent video about the GF1:
Last edited: