Micro Four Thirds camera
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- Atkinson
Any suggestions? I have a Canon S90 at present which is a great camera. Fancy moving up a step though.
- jaylarson0
Panosonic's seems to be getting better review than Olympus these days.
- as a GF1 owner i wouldn't agree with that.Hombre_Lobo
- they seem very very even.Hombre_Lobo
- Atkinson0
yeah I noticed that. Shame Canon dont make them yet. The Olympus Jpeg is as good as RAW it seems though. I'm not that into post shot fiddling!
- miesvan0
See this...
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/…
- Atkinson0
all the 4/3s get 69% on dpreview!
- hans_glib0
what about the sony nex-3 /nex-5? I'd initially plumped for the GF-1 but was put off by the lack of moveable screen. hoping the GF-2 will address this, but in the meantime the sony crew have come out.
- uh.. pardon the lack of englishhans_glib
- yeh the nex-3/5 are good. But the E-PL1/E-p1/GF1 are still getting better reviews.Hombre_Lobo
- Nex 5, looks awesome.akrok
- Atkinson0
Sonys don't sound good IMO, the GF1 has no video?
- The GF1 does have video. A recent firmware hack can do 720p 60mbps video, very sharp.Hombre_Lobo
- search "tester13 GF1 GH1 firmware hack" if interested.Hombre_Lobo
- miesvan0
yes, has video, but sound is creepy...
- taxiguerrilla0
I recently bought an E-P2 and be very happy with it. With a cheap adaptor I can mount Nikkor lenses. I only have some problems with autofocus in very very dark conditions, otherwise it is great.
Here is some example:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lee…
- Hombre_Lobo0
I have the GF1 + 20mm pancake kit -
the 20mm is incredibly sharp and compact, ive seen people switch their from 5D mk2's or D700 and say they cant believe how sharp it is.
I am thoroughly impressed with it.This is something you should really consider cost wise, because most olympus M43 owners (including QBN user taxiguerilla) still buy the Panasonic 20mm lens, because its so sharp and goes to f1.7 - making it great in low light. It has been called the best M43 lens by many. If you consider buying a M43 camera then spending £300 on a lens, this is not a concern for you (you could buy an Olympus kit with 14-42 lens then get the Panasonic 20mm).
S90? great stuff, lovely little cam. You should see the M43 camera not as a replacement though, but as an addition; the S90 is quite a bit smaller and you will probably still use it a fair bit.
taxiguerilla, myself and sea_sea i think are the only QBN members with M43 cameras, sea sea recently got an E-PL1 and she is over the moon! she's got some great pics too.
Ill post a real world comparison i originally wrote for jimbo jones between the GF1, E-P1 and E-PL1.
Also bare in mind taxiguerilla's E-P2 may be more than you wanted to spend, its one of the more expensive M43 cameras because it (usually) comes bundled with an EVF.
- Hombre_Lobo0
Also, as Taxiguerilla said, M43 are fantastic for lens compatibility, you can fit almost any Four Third lens to a M43 body via an adapter. That includes old school 70/80/90s's manual focus lenses (of which i own 3).
- and the crop factor is more than 1.5.... more like 2?vaxorcist
- taxiguerrilla0
E-P2's viewfinder is wonderful and really usefull on daylight. It also help manual-focus operations with "adapted" lenses.
I own Panasonic 20mm and it really is a great lens.
What impressed me with the E-P2 is the low noise at high iso's, pictures are "enjoyable" even when shot at 1600/3200 iso.
- yeh man, the pen series certainly got the perfect balance of sharpening at high isoHombre_Lobo
- the panas take a much less aggressive approach and leave more detail, but also noise. i prefer the oly iso.Hombre_Lobo
- quamb0
I'm crossing my fingers one day they'll release a full-frame version of these cameras - ie. an affordable m9 ftw.
- Hombre_Lobo0
This is my cam -
I love it, it takes great pics, v high quality. It is similar to the E-P1 and E-PL1.
The best 'micro four thirds' cameras that would be suitable for your price are these 3 cams. the
pros and cons -
E-P1
+ 4 stops of IN BUILT image stabalisation
+great high iso images, v little noise
+olympus m4/3 (micro four thirds) cams have incredible jpeg output, so much so the RAWs dontseem any better - obviously for post processing the raws are better
+better dynamic range than the GF1
+1/4000 shutter speed (unlike E-PL1 1/2000th)- no in built flash and the addition flash is expensive
-not as fast focusing as the GF1
-no addition Electroni view finder, only optical
-the kit lenses arent as good as the panasonic kit lenses
-low res LCd displayE-PL1
+has a lighter AA filter which produces slightly (very slighly) sharper pics than the E-P1
+great high iso images, v little noise
+olympus m4/3 (micro four thirds) cams have incredible jpeg output, so much so the RAWs dontseem any better - obviously for post processing the raws are better
+3 stops of inbuilt image stabalisation - not as good as the E-P1's 4 stops.
+better dynamic range than the GF1
+You can add an amazing elecreonic view finderneutral points - no dials, only buttons.
the ergonomics to me seem better than the e-P1-not as fast focusing as the GF1
-plastic body - not metal like the GF1 and E-P1
-max shutter of 1/2000th of a second - might be a problem in bright light, you could just stopdown, but you would lose DOF. or add an ND filter to retain that DOF shooting wide open.
-the kit lenses arent as good as the panasonic kit lenses
-low res (half res of GF1) LCD display and smaller than panasonic.
-slightly cheaper built quality doesnt look and feel as serious as the GF1 and E-P1GF1
+the kit lenses are amazing - sharper than both olympus lense
+the 20mm pancake (which can be used on the olympus cams) is incredibly sharp.
+very fast focusing
+in built flash
+1/4000 shutter speed (unlike E-PL1 1/2000th)
+The panasonic kit lens 14-45 offers lens stabalisation - which means you can shoot stabalisedvideo - something that the inbuilt image stabalisation of the oly cameras can not do, however you
can put the panasonic lenses on the olympus cameras and shoot stabalised videos.
+very high res LCD displayi prefer the ergonomics much more
Some would say the jpeg output is fractionally worse colour wise than the the olympus (its moreof a preference than anything), shooting RAW means this isnt a problem. Just depends on
weather you are a RAW shooter or not.
-no inbuilt image stabalisation
-the EVF isnt as good as the olympus ones.If you are not going to buy an EVF (costing £190) at any point the high res LCD of the GF1 -
which makes manual focusing a lot easier than the Olympus cams may be a big deal.
I'd say forget an SLR, unless you do a lot of low light shooting, there is no longer a need to buy
big DSLR's. the image quality of micro four thirds is good enough for A3 prints and A2 in some
circumstances. If thats not enough image quality, get a DSLR! :D
Overall id say get to a camera shop and try them all out. But more than likely the E-PL1 is
probably the best bet, its a bargain, in built image stablisation is great on that and the jpeg output is fantastic
(just like the E-P1), remember though shooting RAW on the GF1 negates the lesser jpeg output
of the GF1.
The G1 should also be considered. Its the cheapest but still fantastic.
+SLR style body
+in built EVF
+1/4000 shutter speed (unlike E-PL1 1/2000th)
+in built flash
+very fast focusing
+The panasonic kit lens 14-45 offers lens stabalisation (for video and stills), and is very very sharp. however the G1 body cannot capture video.-no in built IS
-no videoAnd also if video is your primary concern save up for the Panasonic GH1, which produces the best IQ of any M43 camera, comes with an incredible 14-140 lens which is optimised for video sporting very fast focusing. The GH1 does very shapr high quality 1080p, for video many say it is better than the 5D mk2, and its smaller ans cheaper. in built EVF too.
All this is off the top of my head, so forgive me if i miss stuff out.
- wow... epic post. thanks for the comparison!bigtrick
- no prob dude! :) i couldnt find a decent real world side by side, so i might as well.Hombre_Lobo
- sorry for bad formatting, wrote it in notepad and didnt think.Hombre_Lobo
- moniker0
- ive read that many times before purchasing my GF1, good post n1Hombre_Lobo
- JSK0
Had GF1
The quality is pretty good. Mounted Leica lens on it to try.
Both good results.Only down side is that lack of lens choice. Pan cake lens seems to be the best. Leica made a lens for Panasonic but it isnt not that good but better then other Panasonic branded lens.
Only down side for me was the size. It is slightly bigger than Olympus and heavier. A little bulkier for me.
If you dont mind the price, fixed lens or slow focus, I would get Leica X1. Higher quality.
One great thing about GF1 was the live view. It was the smoothest LV that I have seen on any camera except with video camera.
Compared to Olympus: 8/10
Compared to D90 / T1i: 6/10
Compared to Leica M9: 4/10
Compared to X1: 7/10
- vaxorcist0
very useful thread......I'm a DSLR guy.... but I may be travelling sometime....
- Hombre_Lobo0
@JSK
I would agree the X1 has better IQ than the GF1, but only by a fraction -
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/…I would expect more of an CMOS sensor camera.
Also looking at the auto-focus speed is terrible -Approx AF time
Leica X1 1.4 sec
Panasonic DMC-GF1 + 20mm F1.7 ASPH 0.4 sec
Olympus E-P2 + 20mm F1.7 ASPH 0.6 sec
Canon Powershot G11 0.7 secFor a camera costing more than twice as much as the GF1, i would think it would be a far bit better in all repsects, rather than only being slightly better image quality and a bit better high iso than the GF1.
Im not saying i dont like the X1 by any means, i do actually, they have a very special character to them (both images and camera), i just think you cant ignore its pretty bad value for money.
- X1 also only has 1/2000th s/s, Gf1 has 1/4000th - may or may not be an issue depending on your photography.Hombre_Lobo
- Hombre_Lobo0
and also JSK, i would agree a slightly smaller camera than the GF1, would be a nice benefit.
- Hombre_Lobo0
@vaxorcist
Yeh the crop factor is actually 2x for M43 cameras - which is beneficial for tele lenses, maybe not so for the wider end. I however think my 20mm is wide enough for me. The 14-45 pana lens Or the 14-42 oly lens would be nice though.
- Hombre_Lobo0
oops forgot to link high Iso X1 vs Gf1 and others -
http://www.focus-numerique.com/t…clearly X1 has the edge (dpreview shows that edge more clearly).