M4/3 advice please

redmonkee

redmonkee

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This weekend i went on a walk with my girlfriend. I took along my only camera a 1D3 along with an attached 35mm 1.4. Now I love the images this combo gives, but carrying it around all day on a hot day really began to bug me.

I often crave my GF's Point & shoot but I know i'd miss the bokeh of my 35mm 1.4.

This got me looking at a smaller alternative and so far i've come across the M4/3 systems and in-particular the panasonic 20mm 1.7 'pancake' lens.

I'm seriously impressed by the size of this lens and also what looks to be superb bokeh and good sharpness.

Now my question is which body would be the best to get. Would you go for an Olympus pen or Panasonic G series? Also what's the difference between the Panasonic G and the GF's in terms of performance and image quality.

Any advice would be great :thumbs:
 
The Panny range is a little confusing but it seems to be...

GF... a compact like camera, heading towards touch screen controls although there may be a more enthusiast centred model later this year.

G... styled more like a mini SLR with a EVF and a little mock pentaprism hump with a flash on top.

GH... The top model and possibly more video orientated.

AFAIK the sensors in the GF and G are pretty much the same but the GH gets a better one.

I originally went for a GF1 +20mm f1.7 as at the time it was thought to be faster operating and focusing than the Oly but the newest Oly's have probably cured the slightly sluggish performance of the first models and you get in body IS too whereas the Panny has IS in the lens, the advantage going to Oly as any lens fitted gets IS :)

I've since got a G1 with 14-45mm. Great camera, as is the GF1. The new G3 looks good and might be worth a look.

Bokeh. 1st GF1 and 20mm f1.7, 2nd G1 and 14-42mm.

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I personally like the more manual controls of the GF1 rather than the touch screen goodies of the later ones, others might like the touchy screeny thingy and the smaller size of the new models. I don't know about image quality, the newer ones may have better higher ISO performance so you'll need to Google your way to some reviews.

If I was just thinking of buying one of these now I think I'd take a long and hard look at the G3 as it's smaller than the previous model and by accounts has improved speed and higher ISO performance and might just be a good choice if size isn't the deciding factor. The rumoured new enthusiast targeted GF might be worth waiting for too.
 
Take a look at the new PENs that just came out. Same m43 mount and sensor size.
 
First decision is do you want a more DSLR like body i.e built in EVF or something more compact like the GF1/Pen Range

If you want a DSLR style then its got to be a Panasonic G1/2/3 really as Olympus don't do them!

If you want a smaller body then if you can find a GF1 then fantastic but the general view on the GF2 and GF3 is that they are really aimed at point and shoot users upgrading rather than the enthusiasts who lved the GF1.

The new Pens look good and I can only speak for my EP1 but I love it, I would imagine that the EP3 will be more of the same only better!

Panasonic 20mm is meant to be a cracker, I bought one only to send it back but I'm contemplating picking one up again to accompany my 17mm Olympus pancake.
 
The 20 1.7 is a great lens. The main question is whether you can cope with the handling of a camera that is essentially an oversized compact (Panny GF/Olympus PEN), or you want a downsized SLR style body with a proper viewfinder (Panny G).
 
chrism_scotland said:
First decision is do you want a more DSLR like body i.e built in EVF or something more compact like the GF1/Pen Range

If you want a DSLR style then its got to be a Panasonic G1/2/3 really as Olympus don't do them!

If you want a smaller body then if you can find a GF1 then fantastic but the general view on the GF2 and GF3 is that they are really aimed at point and shoot users upgrading rather than the enthusiasts who lved the GF1.

The new Pens look good and I can only speak for my EP1 but I love it, I would imagine that the EP3 will be more of the same only better!

Panasonic 20mm is meant to be a cracker, I bought one only to send it back but I'm contemplating picking one up again to accompany my 17mm Olympus pancake.
Click to expand...

To be honest the main criteria i'm looking for would be image quality and compact size. I could cope without the viewfinder as this wouldn't be to replace my 1D3, just an alternative when I'm feeling lazy and dont feel like lugging the big kit round.

Do you have any sample portraits taking with your E-P1?
 
redmonkee said:
To be honest the main criteria i'm looking for would be image quality and compact size. I could cope without the viewfinder as this wouldn't be to replace my 1D3, just an alternative when I'm feeling lazy and dont feel like lugging the big kit round.

Do you have any sample portraits taking with your E-P1?
Click to expand...

Not really a portrait person to be honest! I terms of image quality I'd reccomend the 20mm with just about any of the bodies!
 
That hot chocolate shot is f1.7 and here's a couple more, whole images followed by 100% crops.

My GF, secretly caught indulging in expensive tastes...

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She insisted that I shoot this, very old and of interest she said...

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Olympus only offer one style of body, albeit no 2 models are exactly alike, which is roughly equal to the GF seried from Panasonic. However, the Newest Olympus models feature the fes
tes AF et in m4/3 and an apparant improved sensor, putting them ahead of the GF series by a country mile in my book. The differences are mostly personal preference reall yas obviously lenses are full interchangeable between brands.

I personally prefer the higher IQ afforded by the Panasonic GH sensor as well as the DSLR stlying which is a nice balance between size and fetaures. I only rarely need to enter a menu.

The JPEG engine of Olympu cameras has always been the best available, so if you opt for a Panny, expect to shoot RAW if you want decent results.

I don't own the 20 1.7, so can't comment on that, but have plenty of fastish manual glass which is a joy to use with the EVF.
 
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