Buying a camera

[ChrisLumix]

Yes. The m4/3 sensor is almost identical size to 110 film so it's a perfect little combination. I had an adaptor made about 18 months ago with an adjustable aperture (the original Pentax 110 had the aperture built into the camera body) and it works lovely. I'll dig some sample pics out later.

 

Almost identical to 110 film? OMG, I thought it was much bigger than that! Mind you, even your average DSLR uses a sensor less than 35mm in size so I shouldn't be too shocked.

[GrahamNfk]

Almost identical to 110 film? OMG, I thought it was much bigger than that! Mind you, even your average DSLR uses a sensor less than 35mm in size so I shouldn't be too shocked.

The imaging area of a m4/3 sensor is 17.3 x 13mm, the image area of 110 film is 17.0 x 13mm

[FUJI]

Well done Graham......I too discovered a PANASONIC GF1 complete with Kit lens for just £150 recently....love it....extremely fast focussing, it can take Olympus m4/3 lenses, I have an M42 adaptor and. Sony adaptor so it will take most of my others too, you just need to focus manually with those.

I will also PM you with details of a very quirky lens available on eBay for peanuts, that has amazing capabilities for creative photography....please watch you ....In Box.

FUJI

[GrahamNfk]

Well done Graham......I too discovered a PANASONIC GF1 complete with Kit lens for just £150 recently....love it....extremely fast focussing, it can take Olympus m4/3 lenses, I have an M42 adaptor and. Sony adaptor so it will take most of my others too, you just need to focus manually with those.

I will also PM you with details of a very quirky lens available on eBay for peanuts, that has amazing capabilities for creative photography....please watch you ....In Box.

FUJI

It's really rather nice. Set me back £67 for the body, charger and two batteries. Given the low shutter count, I considered it a bargain. Good to hear there are other adaptors available, music to my budget-conscious ears

[GrahamNfk]

Ooh it's nice to have the ability to isolate subjects from the background again Examples later in the week.

 

Started building a flat-field macro lens today, just need to pop up the local tame engineering company for a bit of metalwork to be done and I'm there.

[GrahamNfk]

I've now given-up on the G1 and it's going back on ebay as part of next Thursday's auction lots.

 

I've not had a truly sharp image from it yet. This is with the same lenses I've largely been using for the last twenty years on one body or another.

 

If it's not sharpness, it a general over-all misty milkiness to the images. Even in jpeg, max sharpen and contrast, the images have a softness about them that I don't like one bit. I've compared images from the same lenses taken on a friends E-PL1 and the latter shows the lens to be more than capable.

 

If I keep the camera, I'll have to post-process every image, and that's where I glaze over and want to drop it in the bin

 

Never had a crappier camera in my life (and I am used to crappy cameras!)

 

Next...

[ChrisLumix]

I've now given-up on the G1 and it's going back on ebay as part of next Thursday's auction lots.

 

I've not had a truly sharp image from it yet. This is with the same lenses I've largely been using for the last twenty years on one body or another.

 

If it's not sharpness, it a general over-all misty milkiness to the images. Even in jpeg, max sharpen and contrast, the images have a softness about them that I don't like one bit. I've compared images from the same lenses taken on a friends E-PL1 and the latter shows the lens to be more than capable.

 

If I keep the camera, I'll have to post-process every image, and that's where I glaze over and want to drop it in the bin

 

Never had a crappier camera in my life (and I am used to crappy cameras!)

 

Next...

 

Funnily enough, our friend Steve (seajunky) said the same about the G3 and wished he had gone for the FZ200 instead.

[GrahamNfk]

Glad it's not just me 

[ChrisLumix]

Glad it's not just me 

 

It's hard to account for though, given it's a standard M4/3 camera, and the 14-42 kit lens is quite highly rated. Did you get a poor example perhaps?

[GrahamNfk]

No idea Chris, but it's hard to fathom what might be 'wrong' with it given everything's electronic.

[Black Pearl]

I've use a G1 - G2 - G3 and pretty much all of the other G's and never had anything but biting sharp results from them. 

I know a few people who have them as a main kit and say the same - shame you've had bad luck. 

 

Try a Sony NEX - bigger sensor and they're faster.

[fuzzyedges]

Might I add that a crop sensor, whilst annoying the hell out of wide angle landscape boys is a positive boon to macro giving you an extra reach from a smaller physical sized lens

[GrahamNfk]

I've use a G1 - G2 - G3 and pretty much all of the other G's and never had anything but biting sharp results from them. 

I know a few people who have them as a main kit and say the same - shame you've had bad luck. 

 

Try a Sony NEX - bigger sensor and they're faster.

I bought this based on seeing no poor reviews, and some really superb example shots, so I can well imagine why people like them. The only thing I haven't tried on it are standard kit lenses etc, because I don't have one. My 'standard' lens for walkabouts is an 18mm f/2.8 set pretty much permanently at around f/8 to f/16. On the E-PL1 it produces really nice sharp images, albeit with a little vignette in the extreme corners. On the G1 the images are soft and a bit 'wishy-washy'. I even tried the latest v1.5 firmware as they reportedly solved a few 'issues' on that version. It's strange, that's for sure.

 

NEX are still out of range at the moment, and I do like to have an EVF (they're expensive for the NEX) but maybe one day.

 

For now I'll try not to think about it until the G1 sells, which I think I'll do in a manner to get the buyer round to try it with their own lens.

Might I add that a crop sensor, whilst annoying the hell out of wide angle landscape boys is a positive boon to macro giving you an extra reach from a smaller physical sized lens

Yes I agree. Macro is an area I want to play with much more.

[ChrisLumix]

I bought this based on seeing no poor reviews, and some really superb example shots, so I can well imagine why people like them. The only thing I haven't tried on it are standard kit lenses etc, because I don't have one. My 'standard' lens for walkabouts is an 18mm f/2.8 set pretty much permanently at around f/8 to f/16. On the E-PL1 it produces really nice sharp images, albeit with a little vignette in the extreme corners. On the G1 the images are soft and a bit 'wishy-washy'. I even tried the latest v1.5 firmware as they reportedly solved a few 'issues' on that version. It's strange, that's for sure.

 

 

I think that must be it - it's the combination of a good camera with a good lens but from a different camera / manufacturer, producing unsatisfactory results. Panasonic lenses have a special coating designed by Leica specifically for their camera range, so using other lenses might or might not work, depending on the particular combination.

[GrahamNfk]

I think that must be it - it's the combination of a good camera with a good lens but from a different camera / manufacturer, producing unsatisfactory results. Panasonic lenses have a special coating designed by Leica specifically for their camera range, so using other lenses might or might not work, depending on the particular combination.

Ah, I see what you mean. The lenses for these are also 'intelligent' I gather, and have upgradeable firmware etc. Maybe taking away half the 'intelligence' is making the camera 'guess' things that the Olympus models don't, and hence the difference in performance with other lenses. One of the things in the v1.5 firmware was to make the camera work properly with Sigma lenses. Seeming likely that it's a good camera, but not for my purposes.

 

Most of my use for this thing is with faster manual lenses, so it would seem logical to sell it off and go with an Olympus seeing as I know the combinations work ok. Shame, I really liked the EVF on the Panny, and they're an expensive add-on for the Oly.

 

Live an learn!

[ChrisLumix]

Ah, I see what you mean. The lenses for these are also 'intelligent' I gather, and have upgradeable firmware etc. Maybe taking away half the 'intelligence' is making the camera 'guess' things that the Olympus models don't, and hence the difference in performance with other lenses. One of the things in the v1.5 firmware was to make the camera work properly with Sigma lenses. Seeming likely that it's a good camera, but not for my purposes.

 

Most of my use for this thing is with faster manual lenses, so it would seem logical to sell it off and go with an Olympus seeing as I know the combinations work ok. Shame, I really liked the EVF on the Panny, and they're an expensive add-on for the Oly.

 

Live an learn!

 

Yes, it's harder and harder to use interchangeable lenses not designed for the camera. Which is why you see quite a few mentions here of people using their old pre-digital lenses on their cameras, as there is no 'lens intelligence' to complicate the picture. Tamron, Sigma, et al, still manufacture lenses that will produce good results irrespective of camera make or, as you point out, the camera maker produces firmware for them.