"Panasonic G series" Owners Thread

wardy07 said:
I think my main problem is reach to be honest which could be resolved by buying a 100-400 to go on the G80 when funds allow. I find the 100-300 limiting and erratic, it's not the most reliable lens for IQ in my opinion.
I've tried legacy lenses but I'm not a huge fan of manual focus so they've not really worked out for me.

I also think I need to learn the camera a bit more as I came from Canon DSLR with high end lenses and I knew what the cameras and lenses could do far better than the Panasonic range so my learning curve still has a way to go. Probably expecting too much too soon to be honest.

I'm determined to continue as I really like the smaller set up and I do like the G80 for landscape and general photography.
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The other two areas that dont help with the 100-300 is the slower focus motor than the 100-400 and the fact it does not support DFD
 
woof woof said:
A quick question about touch screens... Can I fit a screen protector or will it stop the touchscreen working?

I have to say... I love the GX80's shutter :D
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It will be fine, I put one on my G80 as soon as I got it and the touch screen works exactly as it should with no interference at all.
Go for it, saves the scratches!
 
mikew said:
The other two areas that dont help with the 100-300 is the slower focus motor than the 100-400 and the fact it does not support DFD
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Yes it definitely has its limitations.
I'll be saving up for the 100-400 and I'm sure I'll be a lot happier once I get that.
As I say I do really like the set up generally, the G80 is the first M43 camera that feels just right in my hand and once I get used to the menu, I'm sure I'll be happy with it.
 
Go on then, as the 100-300 is (was?) going to be one of the first lenses I buy for my newly acquired G3 what is dfd and why is it's absence important?
 
justa1972 said:
Here are a few from a recent trip to London with my new G80 - I am really happy with the camera, its a joy to use and the image quality is good. Panasonic seem to be pretty aggressive with what they do to JPEGs at higher ISO compared to my last system (in black and white if you pixel peep it looks like a pencil sketch) but I don't view my pictures like that :) In normal viewing they look decent. I will try shooting in RAW at some point but am just getting used to things at the moment.

Very pleased with the 12-35 which compliments the G80 nicely and the stupidly cheap but sharp Oly 40-150R :)
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Fantastic set of images Justin. I really like your compositions. Glad to hear the G80 is working out for you :).

Simon.
 
srhmoto said:
Fantastic set of images Justin. I really like your compositions. Glad to hear the G80 is working out for you :).

Simon.
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Thank you Simon that's very kind - especially from someone who is so accomplished! When I was worried about whether micro 4/3 would be good enough I looked at your photos and realised how daft I was being :)
 
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srhmoto said:
I haven't been out with the camera since the beginning of November for a variety of reasons, so here's one from October that I just got around to looking at yesterday.

Mossdale Bay by Simon Harrison, on Flickr

Taken with my GX8 + Oly 12-40mm f2.8. A sunrise that promised much, but delivered very little LOL

Cheers,

Simon.
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This is still a fantastic shot though Simon, great reflection.
 
wardy07 said:
This is still a fantastic shot though Simon, great reflection.
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Cheers Chris :). Ullswater was incredibly still that morning. Unfortunately, the sky never got any more colour in it than what you see here. Still a grand morning to be out and about on.

Simon.
 
srhmoto said:
I haven't been out with the camera since the beginning of November for a variety of reasons, so here's one from October that I just got around to looking at yesterday.

Mossdale Bay by Simon Harrison, on Flickr

Taken with my GX8 + Oly 12-40mm f2.8. A sunrise that promised much, but delivered very little LOL

Cheers,

Simon.
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Wish I could just 'find' a shot like that in my collection ! As said the reflection is lovely :)
 
Anyone using the Olympus 9-18? If so what are your thoughts?
 
CSB said:
Anyone using the Olympus 9-18? If so what are your thoughts?
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It's a nice lens.

The collapsible mechanism thingy does irritate me but at least it makes the lens compact when not in use.

Other than the irritation of having to unlock/lock it I'd recommend it without reservation :D
 
CSB said:
Anyone using the Olympus 9-18? If so what are your thoughts?
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Had one. Liked it. But not as much as other lenses so it didn't get used much and I sold it.

It goes pretty wide for not much moolah. Only
you can know if that's what you want.
 
Thanks for the replies :)

I've seen a few videos on YouTube and it seems to flare quite badly on some of the examples, did either of you notice any issues with flare?
 
Here's what DPR say...

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympus-m-9-18-4-5p6-o20/4

"Control of flare is a critical feature of a superwide lens; with such a broad view of the world, bright light sources will find themselves in the frame on a regular basis. Overall the 9-18mm does well in this regard, showing only occasional problems with flare, even without a hood. The only real problems occurred with a very bright light source towards the center of the frame, and with side lighting striking the front element at an oblique angle.

The samples below illustrate what you might be able to expect. With the sun in the corner of the frame at 9mm, the image is impressively clean, with contrast and detail well-retained. But with oblique side light we see multi-coloured flare streaks across much of the frame, which means it will probably be wise to invest in the optional lens hood when it becomes available."

That's pretty much what I'd expect and in real world use I haven't found flare to any more of a problem than with other wide angle lenses I've owned and in fact I think it's probably one of the better ones flare wise. I use mine without a hood.
 
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I use my 9-18 without a hood too : although mine is the old 4/3rds version with adapter.
9mm is a lot wider than 12 : a whole different species to the short zooms.
 
Just a few thoughts on changing to a G series camera after a few years with Fuji (I know I'm a trend bucker)

I've just looked back over the last few sets of photos I've taken with my G80 and the XT-1 and XT-10 it replaced - including those that I deleted because they were rubbish, blurred or just poorly conceived.

One thing has definitely become apparent and that is that the G80 is without doubt consistently sharper - I can't prove this scientifically of cause but the images look sharper to me and the percentage that I deleted because they weren't sharp enough were much much higher with the Fuji - so in short I am keeping a far greater percentage of photos taken with the G80 than I am the Fuji....and they are sharper.

Just wondering what the reasons would be for this ? I admit with the fuji I used the cheaper 16-50 and 50-230 but they are supposed to be as near as dammit as sharp as the more expensive 18-55 & 55-200. With the G80 I am using the 12-35 2.8 so yes it is perhaps unfair to compare but I also use the Oly 40-150R (that I paid £70 for) and its just amazingly sharp - much sharper than the Fuji 50-230 and soooooo much quicker to focus its just embarrassing. See random photo plucked from LR below



My other explanation could me technique ? I am a masher of the shutter rather than a masseur - I try but get all excited and end up mashing the shutter button...

So could the image stabilisation of the G80 be helping me take sharper images or is it the lenses ?

Whatever the reason its a positive outcome for me !
 
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Really pushed for time at the moment, so took advantage while everyone was still asleep at home to nip out first thing on Saturday morning to the Infinity Bridge which is only about 15 minutes from where I live. Conditions were great for reflections, but unfortunately there was a lot of low cloud / mist that killed the chance of any decent colour around sunrise. Still, I'm please with what I came away with.

Infinity Bridge by Simon Harrison, on Flickr

This is an 8 frame portrait orientation panorama taken with my GX8 + Oly 12-40mm f2.8.

Cheers,

Simon.
 
I put my GX80 in my pocket when heading out to shoot the sunset with my A7 to take a shot or two to see how it stood up to the A7. The sunset wasn't too spectacular but the GX80 raw file stood up well to adjustment post capture.

GX80 with Olympus 17mm f1.8. There's some banding in the sky here which isn't visible in the original file. I assume this is due to whatever Photobucket has done.

 
I had a run over to Blea Tarn on Sunday morning, as the forecast looked much better over in the Lakes than it did on the North East Coast. I wasn't disappointed, although it was bitterly cold at -6 deg C. In fact, I had to smash the ice to stop my tripod sliding around as I was setting up, and then smash it again 10 minutes later to let me lift it up again once I had taken my shots LOL.

Blea Tarn Winter Dawn by Simon Harrison, on Flickr

However, the light and colour contrast made suffering freezing cold feet worthwhile :). Taken with my GX8 + Oly 12-40mm f2.8 and a 4 stop soft edge ND grad filter to hold back the sky.

Cheers,

Simon.
 
srhmoto said:
I had a run over to Blea Tarn on Sunday morning, as the forecast looked much better over in the Lakes than it did on the North East Coast. I wasn't disappointed, although it was bitterly cold at -6 deg C. In fact, I had to smash the ice to stop my tripod sliding around as I was setting up, and then smash it again 10 minutes later to let me lift it up again once I had taken my shots LOL.

Blea Tarn Winter Dawn by Simon Harrison, on Flickr

However, the light and colour contrast made suffering freezing cold feet worthwhile :). Taken with my GX8 + Oly 12-40mm f2.8 and a 4 stop soft edge ND grad filter to hold back the sky.

Cheers,

Simon.
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Well worth the effort. A great shot.
 
New owner here, just upgraded my E-M5 to a GX80...loving it so far but don't know where anything is after a few years on Oly!
Snapped on the freezing ride home last week, Ultrapod clipped to a fence railing - please excuse the terrible compression from the cdn ;)

Rjqme4iGxDm2uINVI2hrNeA2WdhD0xjIVGPIrQQCU6d7LuWKKf6_hE2Tll2q5QiNZYdbdkImUEWq=w1186-h891-no
 
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srhmoto said:
I had a run over to Blea Tarn on Sunday morning, as the forecast looked much better over in the Lakes than it did on the North East Coast. I wasn't disappointed, although it was bitterly cold at -6 deg C. In fact, I had to smash the ice to stop my tripod sliding around as I was setting up, and then smash it again 10 minutes later to let me lift it up again once I had taken my shots LOL

However, the light and colour contrast made suffering freezing cold feet worthwhile :). Taken with my GX8 + Oly 12-40mm f2.8 and a 4 stop soft edge ND grad filter to hold back the sky.

Cheers,

Simon.
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I am planning to sell off all my DSLR kit in the new year and look at either a GX8 or a Fuji something. I thought I had decided on a Fuji but have to say your stuff with the GX8 is causing me to think again. Lovely photo..
 
GaryS70 said:
I am planning to sell off all my DSLR kit in the new year and look at either a GX8 or a Fuji something. I thought I had decided on a Fuji but have to say your stuff with the GX8 is causing me to think again. Lovely photo..
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Cheers Gary, glad you like it. Best thing to do is to go and handle the different bodies you're interested in. I don't really think there's many real world differences in IQ, however some of the features and functionality might make you favour one format over the other. M4/3 does have extremely good glass!

Simon.
 
Well, I've just taken delivery of an Olympus 12-100 F4 pro, to use with my EM1 mainly, but decided to give it a go on my GX8 (not expecting much in the way of stabilization), but to my surprise, it works almost as effectively as it does on my EM1.

That's crazy as the EM1 is using lens and body IS together, where as I understand it, the GX8 uses only the lens IS. Whatever Olympus have put inside this lens sure works, as not only is it tack sharp, but I can shoot handheld at 100mm (200mm equiv) @ shutter speeds as low as 1/4 to 1/2 second all day long, and with a bit of support (I.e. resting the camera on my lap), managed to get a tack sharp shot last night at 2 seconds !!

Here's an example just taken. Apologies for the content, just some feedback switches on my desk at work.

GX8, Olympus 12-100 F4 Pro - 1/2 second @ F6.3 ISO 100 - 100mm Handheld - SOOC Jpg, no sharpening.

By my reckoning, that's 7 stops from 1/250th (the "safe" shutter speed using the 1/F length rule for 200mm) and ½ Second. I did this several times, just holding on the in breath and slowly squeezing the shutter. I bet with the electronic shutter and 2 second delay I could get even lower :)

 
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GaryS70 said:
I am planning to sell off all my DSLR kit in the new year and look at either a GX8 or a Fuji something. I thought I had decided on a Fuji but have to say your stuff with the GX8 is causing me to think again. Lovely photo..
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I wont be thanked by some for saying this but if you are looking at the GX8 consider the implications of shutter shock. It wont be an issue if you avoid lenses that are affected and you can always use the electronic shutter but that in itself gives issues in some situations, namely rolling shutter which isn't an issue for me and banding under flickering artificial light which is.
 
woof woof said:
I wont be thanked by some for saying this but if you are looking at the GX8 consider the implications of shutter shock. It wont be an issue if you avoid lenses that are affected and you can always use the electronic shutter but that in itself gives issues in some situations, namely rolling shutter which isn't an issue for me and banding under flickering artificial light which is.
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Lets bury the hatchet Alan;) this reply is exactly where shutter shock should be discussed IMO,out of interest do you have a list of lenses which are prone to SS and any links to explanation as to why its lens dependent,as while i don't disagree it is i struggle to understand why it should be.
 
Sootchucker said:
Well, I've just taken delivery of an Olympus 12-100 F4 pro, to use with my EM1 mainly, but decided to give it a go on my GX8 (not expecting much in the way of stabilization), but to my surprise, it works almost as effectively as it does on my EM1.

That's crazy as the EM1 is using lens and body IS together, where as I understand it, the GX8 uses only the lens IS. Whatever Olympus have put inside this lens sure works, as not only is it tack sharp, but I can shoot handheld at 100mm (200mm equiv) @ shutter speeds as low as 1/4 to 1/2 second all day long, and with a bit of support (I.e. resting the camera on my lap), managed to get a tack sharp shot last night at 2 seconds !!

Here's an example just taken. Apologies for the content, just some feedback switches on my desk at work.

GX8, Olympus 12-100 F4 Pro - 1/2 second @ F6.3 ISO 100 - 100mm Handheld - SOOC Jpg, no sharpening

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Thats all i need,a reason to buy another lens :D that is a very good result.
 
Well this year we did 2 weeks in Croatia, and I took just my GX8 and two lenses - the Panasonic 14-140 II and the Olympus 9-18. The Panny lens is one of the supposed "affected lenses" and was used for around 90% of the photos, and honestly, whilst I had plenty of images culled due to poor skills on my part at times, I genuinely couldn't see one that was as a result of shutter shock. As I was shooting outside mainly at F8 and ISO100, I was in the shutter speed "Danger Zone" quite often (1/60 to 1/320 sec), and using the standard mechanical shutter, saw not one image with SS on it. When I focussed and composed correctly, every image was tack sharp (viewed at 100% on screen)

I'm not saying it doesn't exist (there are too many claims and examples on the internet to prove that), but I can only assume it affects some cameras and not others - maybe something was slightly different during assembly, or maybe it's how I hold the camera - who knows, but I do know it's just not an issue for me.
 
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woof woof said:
I wont be thanked by some for saying this but if you are looking at the GX8 consider the implications of shutter shock. It wont be an issue if you avoid lenses that are affected and you can always use the electronic shutter but that in itself gives issues in some situations, namely rolling shutter which isn't an issue for me and banding under flickering artificial light which is.
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Thanks for the info -- wasn't really aware of this so good to hear about it. I mainly shoot long exposures so not sure if this would affect me but will read up on it..

As Mike says, is there a list of lenses that are prone to the issue ?
 
mikew said:
Lets bury the hatchet Alan;) this reply is exactly where shutter shock should be discussed IMO,out of interest do you have a list of lenses which are prone to SS and any links to explanation as to why its lens dependent,as while i don't disagree it is i struggle to understand why it should be.
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GaryS70 said:
Thanks for the info -- wasn't really aware of this so good to hear about it. I mainly shoot long exposures so not sure if this would affect me but will read up on it..

As Mike says, is there a list of lenses that are prone to the issue ?
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I have no list of affected lenses. I do know that the 14-42mm Mega OIS is affected as I have that lens and from what I remember when I first came across and then Googled this issue the 14-140mm is known to be affected. Beyond those two I don't remember what others are affected. The obvious thing would be to Google for any shutter shock information on any lens you're interested in and to visit the usual forums and search for information.

As to why SS seems to be lens dependant, I think what happens is that some lenses are susceptible to the shutter shock the body produces and some are not but I don't know why. It can't be a purely lens mass issue as I have the usual primes and they've very light but I've never seen any evidence of SS with them. Not all zooms are affected as my 12-35mm f2.8 isn't affected and my years old original 14-42mm doesn't seem to be affected either. Maybe it's more a lens construction issue than a mass issue or a combination of construction and mass? Who knows.

I'd never encountered SS until I bought the G7 which came with a 14-42mm Mega OIS and using that lens on my G7 and GX7 intermittently produced shutter shock but I was never able to pin down exactly what caused it before I gave up. I suspect it's not only dependant upon the camera and lens combination and of course the shutter speed but also the angle the camera and lens are held/pointed. If I'm right that could account for the difficulty I had when trying to reproduce SS upon demand. Sometimes it happens... sometimes it doesn't... but with the 14-42mm it happened too often for me to trust it.

I'm not sure that long exposures would be a problem as the problem seems to be predictably limited to a known shutter speed range so staying below or above should avoid the issue as will switching to the electronic shutter and the latter works for me when shooting under natural light but as I do quite a bit of indoor shooting I'm left with the problem of banding in flickering lighting. The combination of the potential for SS and the potential for banding when switching to the electronic shutter effectively make the 14-42mm unusable for me for indoor shooting with either my G7 or my GX7. It seems to work just fine on my G1 though.

The way out of all this for me was to buy a GX80. I had promised myself that I wouldn't buy another camera with the (IMO) poor field sequential EVF but I've been so impressed with the 14-42mm Mega OIS that I wanted a camera I could use it on and get reliable results.

I expect Panasonic to fit the new shutter mechanism to whatever replaces the GX8 and if they do that it'll be an even nicer camera but until that happens I think that anyone looking at that camera or any other affected model such as the otherwise excellent G7 should consider the SS issue and decide if it's a problem or not. Avoid affected body and lens combinations and it's not an issue, shoot exclusively with the electronic shutter and it's not an issue... but be careful shooting under flickering lighting.

Hope that helps.
 
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