"Panasonic G series" Owners Thread

I now have several legacy lenses in the 50mm range...

Rokkor 50mm f1.7, Rokkor 55mm f1.7, Zuiko 50mm f1.8 and Sigma 50mm f2.8 macro.

TBH I don't really know why I bought this latest one unless it's just because it matches my Rokkor 28mm f2.8 and 135mm f3.5 :LOL: It came without caps so I've ordered a pair and a nice metal lens hood too.
 
I've always liked using my old Zuiko 50mm with my GH2, since I found it in the loft after about 25 years :)

Would be interested in how you think the Rokkor compares. Shots look great!
 
woof woof said:
Rokkor 50mm f1.7, Rokkor 55mm f1.7, Zuiko 50mm f1.8 and Sigma 50mm f2.8 macro.
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Oops.. Just checked, I have the Zuiko 50mm... They look pretty similar - at least that's the excuse I'm going to use! (I've not used mine for a while...).
 
quentinsf said:
I've always liked using my old Zuiko 50mm with my GH2, since I found it in the loft after about 25 years :)

Would be interested in how you think the Rokkor compares. Shots look great!
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I did a little write up at post 6461...

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=262800&page=216

In use and handling wise I prefer the Rokkors although I do think that the Zuiko's look lovely, but I find the aperture rings a little clunky and they lack intermediate apertures.

The Rokkors look nice but are a little less lovely to look at than the Zuiko's IMVHO but the aperture rings feel less clunky and they have the intermediate settings. However, whilst the Rokkor aperture rings are less clunky than the Zuiko's they're easier to move accidentally so it's swings and roundabouts but the additional aperture settings on the Rokkors swing it for me.

And to add my brand new second hand Rokkor 50mm f1.7 to the mix...

It'll focus closer than the Rokkor 55mm f1.7 and I think that there's a touch less fringing/CA but it's early days yet and I'll have to shoot more to form a definite opinion but basically I'd be nit picking to say that lens nasties are a problem in real world images with any of these lenses as they aren't for me personally.

I'd say that the 50mm f1.7 gives more contrast than the 55mm but again this isn't a real world issue as it just means moving the contrast slider a little post capture.

4 x 50mm lenses...

Sigma 50mm f2.8 macro, Rokkor 50mm f1.7, Rokkor 55mm f1.7 and Zuiko 50mm f1.8.



And joined by 28mm f2.8's and 135mm f3.5's.

 
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Just a couple shots from my new Samyang 7.5mm that i picked up this week, took with my GX1 :)
 
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I will have too master the defish editing im quite new too fisheye lenses so straightening that totem is beyond my PP skills at the moment :thinking:
 
The secret is to get it right in camera ;)
 
I didn't know you could edit a fisheye in camera settings ? :thinking:
I quite like the effect on some photos so i can live with learning too edit it if needs be.

Not sure i this looks a bit of a improvement or not lol i'll keep working on it and edit this photo on this post
 
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Throttle said:
I didn't know you could edit a fisheye in camera settings ? :thinking:
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Noooo... I mean get the lines right when you take the photo. Generally, that means making sure you are parallel to the ground and items of interest are centreish...

This is one of mine with the 7.5...

down-the-tracks-new-800.jpg


There's also this one to show how the 7.5 bends lines:

P1000210-800.jpg
 
bl0at3r said:
I may be in the minority but I really like the way the fisheye distorts lines and try to exaggerate it.
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Yeah, sometimes I like to use the exaggerated distortion for effect, like in these shots, camera above and below the horizon

6956304352_28b606d7b6_c_d.jpg


7977368836_8820580a00_c_d.jpg
 
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Nice shots there guys, that lens has definitely moved higher up the wanted list now!
 
I took my brand new second hand Minolta Rokkor 50mm f1.7 out for it's second outing today. It seems to be a lovely lens and well worth the £18.99 (including delivery) it cost.

I wont bore you with whole images so here are some heavy crops, all are at least 80% and most are probably 100%. They're via photobucket which tends to mangle but all look very nice and sharp on my screen...









 
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Slightly OT but I could do with some advice if possible:

So for the nth time I decided to get out of m4/3, selling my GX1 and 14mm pancake in the process. And for the nth time I'm coming back (I lasted less than a week)Doh!

Just for a change, none of the Panasonic bodies have floated my boat, so I've ordered an EPM2 with the kit 14-42 kit lens. My dilemma is I kept my 14-45 Panasonic zoom - the non power zoom version that I've always really liked.

My dilemma : do I sell the Oly 14-42 kit lens and use my slightly larger Panny 14-45, or flog the Panny 14-45 and put the money into buying yet another 14mm pancake lens? I'm excited by the prospect of having a stabilised pancake lens - but the 14-45 has always been excellent for me, I've never had an Olympus camera or their kit zooms, but I was impressed by the quality of the 45mm Oly prime.

Anyone else had this same dilemma?

EDIT : Just posted a wanted ad for another 14mm. I guess I'm still undecided about which kit lens to sell though :-(
 
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I'm not really sure what the best solution is. The 14-45 is one of the lenses I'd be very reluctant to get rid of as the optics on mine are outstanding. I've never used Olympus stuff though so I don't know how good their 14-42 is, I've hovered over the buy button on that same EPM2 a few times this week though!
I guess itdependshowmuch you use the lenses too. If the 14-45 is your least used lens will the 14-42 be a good enough substitute so you can sell the more valuable one to fund the 14mm?
 
The creep away from ISO 100 with the latest cameras worries me so I've just reviewed shots from the other day and 22 out of 76 couldn't have been taken with a camera with a base ISO of 200 without using ND's, so that's quite a few fit the ND and then take it off again moments.

Does anyone else find that they're running into minimum ISO / max shutter speed issues or am I in more of a minority than I thought?
 
My latest legacy lens is something longer than I would normally go for. A tair 300mm f4.5 (600mm on the G1). It's really heavy and the focus ring is a wheel under the lens. I think it originally came with a photosniper shoulder holder thing (check photosniper images in google, I think I'd get arrested if I went out with one of those). The lens seems to have loads of blades so the bokeh is really smooth. It does seem really sharp even at f4.5.. Here are a couple of test shots all hand held

8710049570_044d7492ff_c.jpg


8709959186_1ea76f9168_c.jpg


8709956868_515936bc4c_c.jpg


edit: don't know what i was doing earlier, i seemed to totally forget how to put pictures on here! too much sun i reckon
 
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rugeyes said:
My latest legacy lens is something longer than I would normally go for. A tair 300mm f4.5 (600mm on the G1). It's really heavy and the focus ring is a wheel under the lens. I think it originally came with a photosniper shoulder holder thing (check photosniper images in google, I think I'd get arrested if I went out with one of those). The lens seems to have loads of blades so the bokeh is really smooth. It does seem really sharp even at f4.5.. Here are a couple of test shots all hand held

photostream


photostream


photostream
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You seem to have got the image links wrong as they aren't showing, and trying to follow the link back to Flickr gives a "Private image" message.
 
michael23 said:
Not come across any issues as yet, but I'm sure I will at some point. I would like to see a base iso of 5o.
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Yes, 50 and 100 please. I assume this is some sort of trade off to get very high ISO's at the other end.

I've been reading quite a few blogs and articles recently by people (including well known and pro's) using Leica and Fuji X cameras and many of them have highlights that are blown to buggery. Now, this may be a deliberate decision but I've always tried to retain highlights or to produce an image that's pretty near to what I saw by eye, for example in some of my shots I intentionally let some areas blow - like in those flower shots above - because the lighting was so harsh that I couldn't see any detail in some of the whites. What I haven't done though is let large areas that shouldn't be blown blow.

The next time I go out on a bright day or have high DR scene I'm gong to take two shots, one as I normally would retaining all or most of the highlights and one letting the highlights blow just to see if I get on with that style, if style is what it is.
 
Dave1 said:
You seem to have got the image links wrong as they aren't showing, and trying to follow the link back to Flickr gives a "Private image" message.
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thanks. don't know what i was playing about at, it's fixed now though.
 
rugeyes said:
My latest legacy lens is something longer than I would normally go for. A tair 300mm f4.5 (600mm on the G1). It's really heavy and the focus ring is a wheel under the lens. I think it originally came with a photosniper shoulder holder thing (check photosniper images in google, I think I'd get arrested if I went out with one of those). The lens seems to have loads of blades so the bokeh is really smooth. It does seem really sharp even at f4.5.. Here are a couple of test shots all hand held

edit: don't know what i was doing earlier, i seemed to totally forget how to put pictures on here! too much sun i reckon
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Wow, love the bokeh from that beast, looks more like a musical instrument than a lens :)
 
1.6kg! My shoulder began to ache so I had to just lean it against stuff. There is nothing plastic on it at all, it's 1950's Russian engineering. it has 16 blades so the bokeh is really smooth. I'm going to have a proper try with it soon. I just need accurate focus peaking to help me with my manual lenses and ill be very happy. I'd like to know how accurate it is on the G6.
 
rugeyes said:
1.6kg! My shoulder began to ache so I had to just lean it against stuff. There is nothing plastic on it at all, it's 1950's Russian engineering. it has 16 blades so the bokeh is really smooth. I'm going to have a proper try with it soon. I just need accurate focus peaking to help me with my manual lenses and ill be very happy. I'd like to know how accurate it is on the G6.
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I use a NEX-7 alongside my GH2, and wouldn't be without focus peaking. Assuming that Pannasonic's implementation is at least as good as Sony's then I would say:-

- It is much more accurate with longer focal lengths.
- Its effectiveness is highly dependant on the quality of the lens.
- lenses won't peak all the time depending on what light and contrast the scene has.
- It ain't a magic bullet. The only way to be sure of critical focus is to zoom in. In that regard, the NEX-7's OLED EVF comes into its own. Lets hope the G6's version is as good!

I'm excited about the G6 though. The features it has would tempt me to upgrade from my GH2 :D. Here's hoping.......

Cheers,

Simon.
 
I've pulled the trigger this weekend on a Panasonic 12-35mm, means I will sell up my 14-140mm, 25mm and 7-14mm. Too much gear not getting used.
 
ShrubMonkey said:
I've pulled the trigger this weekend on a Panasonic 12-35mm, means I will sell up my 14-140mm, 25mm and 7-14mm. Too much gear not getting used.
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If I'm being honest that's the reason I don't invest in high end lenses, I can only use one at a time and I get frustrated with myself for not using them all enough. I've limited myself to the 14mm, 14-45, Sigma 19mm and 45-200 so that I've got a good range of focal lengths to use, but I mostly just use the 14mm on the GF3 and the 19mm on my G2.
 
Mandoo said:
If I'm being honest that's the reason I don't invest in high end lenses, I can only use one at a time and I get frustrated with myself for not using them all enough. I've limited myself to the 14mm, 14-45, Sigma 19mm and 45-200 so that I've got a good range of focal lengths to use, but I mostly just use the 14mm on the GF3 and the 19mm on my G2.
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Having 3 bodies helps as I can take all 3 out in a small bag, I would have picked up the 12-35 initially but it was released after I purchased the lenses above
 
Ulfric M Douglas said:
Bear in mind the GF1 allows something later models have dropped : multifilm.
That's two or three exposures while holding down the shutterbutton. I include dynamic B&W (this mode is excellent), smooth B&W and one colour, I use a tweaked natural.
They removed this system in the G3 and later ... a real loss.
Just try it anyway.
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Wow. I did not know this! Is this enabled by default or does it need to be activated somehow?
 
My G1 has Multifilm. I've never bothered with it, sounds like I may be missing something.
 
How good is the Panny 100-300? Just back from a short break away in a farmhouse that had a great selection of finches and tits and woodpeckers visiting all day. My GX1 with the 45-200 tried hard - and I even used a tripod and remote shutter - but really didn't have enough length. Is the 100-300 of a quality of the 45-200 or better (or worse?).

I love the 12-35 and considering changing the 45-200 for a 35-100 and 100-300. Grateful for your thoughts, especially if you have a similar combo.
 
Tulipone said:
How good is the Panny 100-300? Just back from a short break away in a farmhouse that had a great selection of finches and tits and woodpeckers visiting all day. My GX1 with the 45-200 tried hard - and I even used a tripod and remote shutter - but really didn't have enough length. Is the 100-300 of a quality of the 45-200 or better (or worse?).

I love the 12-35 and considering changing the 45-200 for a 35-100 and 100-300. Grateful for your thoughts, especially if you have a similar combo.
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After I receive the 12-35 my next lens would be the 35-100 but its damn expensive. The 100-300 is a fab lens, one of my favourites after the Oly 45. I used it this weekend, image quality is superb :)
 
srhmoto said:
I use a NEX-7 alongside my GH2, and wouldn't be without focus peaking. Assuming that Pannasonic's implementation is at least as good as Sony's then I would say:-

- It is much more accurate with longer focal lengths.
- Its effectiveness is highly dependant on the quality of the lens.
- lenses won't peak all the time depending on what light and contrast the scene has.
- It ain't a magic bullet. The only way to be sure of critical focus is to zoom in. In that regard, the NEX-7's OLED EVF comes into its own. Lets hope the G6's version is as good!

I'm excited about the G6 though. The features it has would tempt me to upgrade from my GH2 :D. Here's hoping.......

Cheers,

Simon.
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Thanks for that. I think it's time to upgrade from the G1 and the G6 has enough to tempt me.
 
Mandoo said:
If I'm being honest that's the reason I don't invest in high end lenses, I can only use one at a time and I get frustrated with myself for not using them all enough. I've limited myself to the 14mm, 14-45, Sigma 19mm and 45-200 so that I've got a good range of focal lengths to use, but I mostly just use the 14mm on the GF3 and the 19mm on my G2.
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How much do you use the 19mm? Thought about one but wasn't sure if it was worth it already having the 14mm.
 
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