Kit Laughlin
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Upload & Sell: Off
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 p.1 #10 · For those interested in the G11... | |
I had a mad moment (well, a few of them, actually) and two weeks ago I had the G11, DP2, GF1 (with the 20/1.7), G1 (with the 14-45, adapters for Oly lenses, etc.), and the LX-3....
I had lent the LX-3 to an architect friend of mine who uses mostly the 24mm end to document work in progress; but I asked for it back when the firmware update appeared. So, I had all of these nice little toys to compare, and a bit of time to do so.
I have kept the G1/14–45 and the G11; brief reasons follow:
the GF1 with the 20/1.7 is a lovely all-around camera; fast to focus and very sharp, even wide open. That combination's ergonomics are great, but the GF1 is not so great with any heavier or larger lenses—and these change the shape enough so that there is no portability advantage over the G1 when anything but the 20 is attached. Ad to that no built-in finder, poorer ergonomics with heavier/bulkier lenses attached, and a plug-in finder that has about half the rez of the G1 finder and an identical sensor... Sold this one while it was hot.
The G1, OTOH, because of its grip and built-in finder, is magic with alt. glass where the extra weight is no problem. The finder is really good, good enough to MF with without effort. The cheapo kit lens provides a nice range (but I am considering some of the Oly alternatives as well as the Panny 14–140). Kept this one.
The DP2 makes the sharpest images out of the camera, but has a really noisy focussing sound. Loud enough to intrigue the cats (made some nice images that way!) but with its fixed lens, too much of a one-trick pony, for me. Very good images, though, and excellent highlight ability (best of the lot). This one I sold.
The LX-3 has a fast 24mm lens, but only a 60mm EFOV on the long end. 90 EFOV and I would not have returned it: it really is the only pocketable camera in this bunch. This one I gave back to the architect (who decided to buy it).
The G11 has real distortion on the 28mm end, but DPP corrects this really very well. The long end looks a bit soft, and I have not shot enough in the intermediate ranges to comment on whether the 90–100mm EFOV length has an advantage here. But the interface is great: dials, buttons galore and some degree of customisation, too. Like the OP, I find the higher ISOs to be the best I have seen from a small sensor camera, so I kept it. FWIW, I have found the 'face recognition' setting on the AF to be fast and quite effective; refocussing usually chooses a better point if the first one is ineffective.
I think people with heavy and heavy duty DSLRs are getting closer to a pocketable (well, pant pocket, anyway) camera that can go everywhere with us, and getting closer to producing web- and small-print-aceptable IQ standards.
Interesting times.
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