Beginner Struggling to find upgrade from my G3...

Forkbeard

Forkbeard

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Jim
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I've had my G3 for a while now and overall I'm pretty happy with it, but I'm beginning to want a bit more from higher iso settings and a bit more dynamic range, but I'm struggling to find a m4/3 body that (on paper at least) looks much better for the massive price hike from my secondhand g3. Is there much point to upgrading or would I be better getting a decent flash for low light stuff? I'm guessing dynamic range/slight ISO improvement alone are not worth the upgrade?
 
If the G3 is anything like the G1 I had a GX85 would be an upgrade and quite a good one as would a GX7 or G7 but personally I'd avoid those due to the shutter shock issue.

Other than MFT if you haven't got too much invested in lenses think about a Sony A6xxx.
 
Forkbeard said:
I've had my G3 for a while now and overall I'm pretty happy with it, but I'm beginning to want a bit more from higher iso settings and a bit more dynamic range, but I'm struggling to find a m4/3 body that (on paper at least) looks much better for the massive price hike from my secondhand g3. Is there much point to upgrading or would I be better getting a decent flash for low light stuff? I'm guessing dynamic range/slight ISO improvement alone are not worth the upgrade?
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Your problem is the very low G3 used resale price.
Your bonus is that the G3 was the last 'gripped' body to use sensor with poorish high-ISO, although the G5 and G6 weren't as good as the later models.
To recommend a new body I'd like to know what you personally find good about your G3,
then like in every thread I'd say go buy a used Olympus E-M10 :D (not really, it depends)
I got a used GH3 for cheap money and it is excellent but I process RAWs from my Panasonics, and let my Olympii do Jpegs.
 
The things I like about the G3 are the Panasonic menu system (I had an fz200 so I'm used to it), the compact size, the kit lens (14-45) is pretty decent and the and as you say, the price has ruined me - it was next to nothing used with a bunch of extras. Being cheap I'm also more likely to use it and not worry about using it and it getting damaged/nicked etc.

I sold a Nikon D3200 and went to a fz200 for portability but was disappointed by the noise, so the G3 seemed great in comparison. On the other hand, the ISO performance is not brilliant (world's apart from the FZ200 and it's tiny sensor though), the white balance can be a bit weird, battery life could be better, there's no on-body stabilization and there's the relatively low dynamic range. The touchscreen is old and not altogether responsive too, but I don't know if this is because of the year it was released or overuse.
 
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The E-M10 looks like a good option, would I be able to use my Panasonic kit lens if I bought the body only?
 
Forkbeard said:
...the white balance can be a bit weird, battery life could be better, there's no on-body stabilization and there's the relatively low dynamic range.
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Yes, you'll be able to use your Panny kit lens.

On the other stuff, I've never used a digital camera yet that got the white balance right every time but shooting raw means that I can usually get a good result. These cameras are no doubt behind the state of the art when it comes to dynamic range but when using my ancient G1 shooting raw, exposing to the right, correcting the exposure and boosting the shadows as required post capture helped it to compete with my Canon 5D and that is IMO no mean feat for such a humble bit of kit. My point is that it's worth giving the kit the best possible chance of giving you the results you want.
 
woof woof said:
..., I've never used a digital camera yet that got the white balance right every time but shooting raw means that I can usually get a good result..
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All my Olympii get WB right in non-dodgy-indoor-light situations much more often than any of my Panasonics, so there is a big difference there.
My G3 is always forced to daylight WB & RAW because of this, while my Olympii have stayed on Auto-WB forever.
I find my G3 touchscreen really good, especially for focus during video.
 
I think my decision is made - a used e-m10 and the 25mm f1.8 (oly).
 
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