stevej2001 Offline Upload & Sell: Off
|
I just got to play with a G1 and was frankly blown away. I'm currently using a Canon 5D for serious landscapes, an oly e520 for travel w/ some serious photography aspirations and when I'm just traveling and my wife won't put up with much photography, a Canon G9. I also use the G9 for underwater videos when snorkeling. The purpose of the oly gear was to have a camera I didn't mind carrying all day-- the 5d and 24-70L, etc, is just too big and heavy. But the Oly the viewfinder is really, really small. The image output is good--surely not as good as the 5D, but quite useful.
I'd not considered the G1 because I imagined it to replace my G9 and it wouldn't do that (particularly the videos). I had read that it had a EVF and that meant it was written off my list, until today-- when a relative brought one to Thanksgiving.
The EVF is extraordinary! It's almost as good as the 5D-- sharp, quick responding, and BIG and brighter than any optical finder can be. If you follow a rapidly moving object or quickly pan the camera you can get a tiny bit of jerkyness. It does get a bit grainy in low light, but DSLR viewfinders in general don't do all that well in the dark with today's slow lenses. It's really, really good. Even better, this is the first camera I've ever used where I can read all the data in the viewfinder. You can easily change things with the camera to your eye. You can get a live histogram in the viewfinder. It's truly an extraordinary tool. And, of course, it has the articulated LCD. I've not had one of those since my Canon G1, and I've missed it. I'm just too old and settled in my ways to compose most pictures on the LCD-- I need a viewfinder. But there are just some pictures where the articulated screen is the difference between getting and not getting the image.
The Panasonic folks have really put a lot of thought into this camera.
The G1 has a very solid feel to it--much like the G9. They say it's plastic but it feels better built than the Oly gear. I'm totally sold and now have one on order.
It's true that a e-420 is almost as small but the Oly lenses don't have IS. The 520 has IS and is a bit much bigger though not much heavier.
The Oly gear is going on the Buy and Sell forum soon.
|