"Panasonic G series" Owners Thread

After a couple of days following the latest Oly news with no more than mild disinterest a thought suddenly struck me... I use a manual lens on my G1 but if I stuck the same lens on this new Oly I'd have IS.

I still think that I might end up putting off buying something for a few months or a year or so to see what the Fuji is like and wait in hope that Panny will bring out something that'll interest me but none of those will give me a f0.95 IS lens, and the Oly will. I don't think it allows the screen to be turned to the body like my G1 does though and that's a big shame. Damn, just spotted that it hasn't got a flash. Oh well, no flash and can't reverse the screen, looks like it's off the list.

Anyone going to take a look at the Oly?
 
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Do you mean the new OM-D? I've been watching it with interest as a potential replacement/addition to my current EP2 as I do like it but I feel my EP2 is missing a few things that are present in the newer Oly's (Better Bracketing, More Customisation, Better Sensor!) but at £1000 its just about too much for me, I think I'd rather spend cash on getting another couple of native lenses (only have the 17mm) so probably the 25mm/20mm and 45mm and adding the much cheaper G3.

That said having read up a bit more it does sound like it could be a perfect match for my collection of Canon FD Glass which I've tended to use almost exclusively.
 
OM-D E-MS.

Lord what a name.:D

Such a shame that Panny doesn't have in body IS.
 
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It doesn't roll off the tongue does it?

They should have called it George, or Wendy, or something...else :D
 
woof woof said:
It doesn't roll off the tongue does it?

They should have called it George, or Wendy, or something...else :D
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Olympus are launching a new family of digital cameras under the name OM-D, this is the first of that family and it is called the EM-5; like Canon's EOS, which has the 60D, 7D etc.
 
It'd be better if they at least dropped the "-" and just called it the OMD EM5. That'd be better, just, but still a stupid name IMVHO :) OMD5 or OMD-E5 might have been better. There just seem to be too many letters numbers and dashes.
 
OMD? Wasn't this a band from the 70's?

Looking at the price, they should have called it OMG :eek:

Allan
 
allanm said:
OMD? Wasn't this a band from the 70's?

Looking at the price, they should have called it OMG :eek:

Allan
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Yes indeed, Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark, loved 'em!

Love the OMG bit!, lol :)
 
Er... I might have an album or two, somewhere...

It is a quite high price but it's a top end camera with metal body (although that doesn't really matter to me,) in body IS and weather sealing. I think they'll probably get away with it but the lack of a flash and not being able to turn the screen to the body (I don't think you can) will probably put me off.
 
Quite like the look of the new Olympus but a bit too expensive for me.

Is there a reason why none of the M4/3 cameras that I am aware of has a high res screen? When I had my 7D and 1DmkIV I really loved the high res screen for reviewing photos. I wish there was a M4/3 that did the same. Maybe a GH3....? lol
 
woof woof said:
OM-D E-MS.

Lord what a name.:D

Such a shame that Panny doesn't have in body IS.
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It would be better if they called it OM-D1

ie. Still use the reference of the old film OM series but D to indicate Digital.

But it does look good, as as people have said, the Olympus has one major advantage that is in body IS. If the new in body IS is better or matching the in lens IS of Pany lenses then I can see more people consider moving. The only thing holding people back at the moment is the cost!
 
Thom Hogan is predicting it'll be a sell out on day one.

I think he may well be right and if he is maybe they could have charged even more for it.

PS. To sort of add to the idea that (quite) expensive cameras can sell... I read that Fuji have sold 100k X100's. Makes me wonder how many cameras Panny would sell if they made a GF1 type camera with weather sealing... and an EVF in the LH corner. They could even give it in body IS if they liked :)
 
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EMA747 said:
Quite like the look of the new Olympus but a bit too expensive for me.

Is there a reason why none of the M4/3 cameras that I am aware of has a high res screen? When I had my 7D and 1DmkIV I really loved the high res screen for reviewing photos. I wish there was a M4/3 that did the same. Maybe a GH3....? lol
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Not sure but its something thats bugged me with the EP2, although I did think some of the newer Panasonics and Olympus's had better screens.
 
that e-m5 or whatever looks stunning ! would perfectly complement my gh1. BUT ! that price ?!!! I rather buy 2x gh2 for that. I hope it will drop to 600 till next summer :p
 
Starastin said:
that e-m5 or whatever looks stunning ! would perfectly complement my gh1. BUT ! that price ?!!! I rather buy 2x gh2 for that. I hope it will drop to 600 till next summer :p
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I think Olympus need to charge us a high price so they can pay for the court fees and fines!:razz:
 
Ricky said:
I think Olympus need to charge us a high price so they can pay for the court fees and fines!:razz:
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or spending it on booze and prostitutes whilst laughing at other people ! :D well - at least it seems that they did that before they got in trouble.
 
I'm also surprised at the lack of high definition screens on the G series, the GF2 screen is okay, but every time I go back to my (two and a half year old!) D90 I can't help but want its panel on my panny...

And I keep accidentally changing the white balance setting with my thumb, that what I get for buying a tiny camera and having gigantic mitts :)
 
A few shots taken over the last couple of days with my G2 and 45-200 lens :)

b7d86c54.jpg


[
4bb0df81.jpg


[
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[
18aba137.jpg
 
ronnus said:
I'm also surprised at the lack of high definition screens on the G series, the GF2 screen is okay, but every time I go back to my (two and a half year old!) D90 I can't help but want its panel on my panny...

And I keep accidentally changing the white balance setting with my thumb, that what I get for buying a tiny camera and having gigantic mitts :)
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I do that with the WB switch on my GF2. That whole button cluster seems kind of just about where your fingers go. :cautious:
 
EMA747 said:
I do that with the WB switch on my GF2. That whole button cluster seems kind of just about where your fingers go. :cautious:
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The panasonic range seem the worst for that,not had the same problem with Nikon J1 or Nex 5n, didnt have same problem even with GF-1.

But the G3 drive me mad for this :nuts:
 
No button trouble here.... G3+20mm - Winding the church clock, single tungsten bulb camera left, grain added in post.

Church_Clock_P1030449.jpg
 
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I've been thinking of buying this to use on my G series cameras, as it's a camera I take out when I don't want to carry my Nikon D7000, I like the idea of a lightweight pancake zoom lens. I'm just wondering how the photo quality and ease of use compares to the 14-45 kit lens.
 
hillwalkinggirl said:
I've been thinking of buying this to use on my G series cameras, as it's a camera I take out when I don't want to carry my Nikon D7000, I like the idea of a lightweight pancake zoom lens. I'm just wondering how the photo quality and ease of use compares to the 14-45 kit lens.
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No comparison, 20mm is leagues ahead in quality and you just have to walk backwards and forwards to zoom... :LOL:


michael23 said:
What iso was the church clock? That's a lovely pic.
I keep thinking about a g series to use my canon fd lenses on. Just don't know which one.
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Thanks, EXIF is there - but iso160.
 
hillwalkinggirl said:
I've been thinking of buying this to use on my G series cameras, as it's a camera I take out when I don't want to carry my Nikon D7000, I like the idea of a lightweight pancake zoom lens. I'm just wondering how the photo quality and ease of use compares to the 14-45 kit lens.
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Gary (Vulcan2912) will be along sometime to give you his opinion, he has this lens coupled with the GX1.
 
michael23 said:
thanks for that. how is it at high iso?
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Sorry misread.. ..

It's not in D3 territory, but very respectable and you can put it in your pocket!
 
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I have a 20D and a G1+GF1 and I think that ISO 1600 is possibly very slightly better on the 20D but probably not a stop.

Here's a little test, all processed the same, whole image @1600 followed by heavy crops at something like 80/82% to make them look about the same size...

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20D...

IMG_4772c1.jpg


G1...

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I try to expose to the right and then correct post capture if at all possible and I think that ISO 3200 is useable on the G1 and GF1. Here's a real world ISO 1600 shot 1/20 second in poor light and pouring rain :D

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Perfectly useable IMVHO.
 
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So if you could choose between the Panasonic 20mm and 14mm for your first prime which would you go for?
 
Both very nice, but 20 would be my choice if I had to have just one of them!
 
michael23 said:
being used to a 30d i am used to a useable 1600 so if any of the g series matches that i would be happy.
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Michael it really depends what you want to do with the images. Prints up to A4 and maybe bigger are fine, as are files for posting on the net and viewing on a computer. If you are a pro and selling to papers etc then M4/3 aren't quite up there yet.
Have a look at my very non-technical test I did with the Canon 1DmkIV I have just sold and my GF2 in reply #2658 here http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=262800&page=89
(y)
 
Alan thanks very much for those pics, that is very useful.

Andy, If I do print it wouldn't be any bigger than a4, unless it was a real cracker of a pic. I want something which will breath life into my fd lenses I have, and just some kit when I don't want to carry my 30d stuff around. Will take a look in your linked thread
 
altaz said:
So if you could choose between the Panasonic 20mm and 14mm for your first prime which would you go for?
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It's a difficult choice but probably the 20mm lens for its wide aperture and 'normal' focal length which makes it reasonably versatile as a walkaround lens with the wide aperture giving it some low light capability and shallow depth of field.

The 14mm lens is a good little lens and being wide angle it used to get plenty of use with me plus it was better for video as its AF is much quicker and silent (the 20mm is a bit slow and grindy with AF). However it doesn't have the same low light capability which makes it less essential to me.

They are different lenses for different purposes though and neither can do what the other one (the 20mm can't go to wide angle, the 14mm can't go to a particularly wide aperture) so you need to decide which suits your use better.

John
 
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