Busted Shutter

For the last year or so, my main setup has been a D700 as my main body and a D200 as a secondary or backup body. I was pretty happy with this setup, but I began to think that it was pretty pointless to have a large DSLR for a secondary or backup camera. I don’t really do weddings (still not sure if I’ll ever want to), and I don’t really shoot the kind of events that would require me to have a second set of pro gear in case something unfortunate happens to my main body. I had also been thinking that sometimes it doesn’t make sense to lug the D700 around and having something a little smaller and more compact would be beneficial. Enter the micro four thirds cameras.

I had been becoming increasingly intrigued with the GF1 and the Olympus PEN cameras. They’re small enough to fit in a coat pocket (depending on lens choice) and take some pretty great looking pics. After doing some research, it wasn’t long before I had sold my D200 and placed an order for the GF1. I’ve had it for a few weeks now and I’m finally getting around to doing a little review. Click on the images for larger sizes. Without further adieu…

Build Quality, Menus and Controls
The GF1 is a pretty solid camera. Pretty much everything is made from a hard plastic, but when you hold it, it feels very durable. There really isn’t any competition when compared to the D700, but has far as compact cameras go, it’s up there in terms of build quality. There isn’t any weather sealing, so I wouldn’t be taking this out in crappy weather, but the camera feels like it will stand up to the standard abuses a compact would take. The rear LCD screen has amazing resolution. Pretty much any shot looks fantastic on that screen…so much so, that you’re almost disappointed when you review the images on the computer afterward. The built in flash is a nice feature, but I’ve yet to use it and doubt I ever will. Menus and controls are easy to adapt to. Giving the manual a full read through is very helpful and I even found myself going back a few times to look things up. The menu is so huge and some functions aren’t as self explanatory. I wouldn’t call the menus complexity a drawback however, it just takes some time to learn.

Performance
The GF1 implements a contrast based auto focus which is quite snappy. My only gripe is that there doesn’t appear to be a way to move the focus point on the fly like you can with a DSLR. You need to access a quick menu first before selecting the focus point control options. Other than that, the AF is amazing and a real treat to work with. When using manual focus on the lens, the camera has a zoom option that automatically zooms in on the LCD to get a better fine tune adjustment which also works quite well, especially if on a tripod. Image quality is also quite good. I’m a RAW shooter, so the JPEG output is of no concern to me, but I have read that the Olympus has better JPEG output from the camera. If you’re someone who doesn’t edit all their photos after the fact, the Olympus might be a better choice. If you shoot RAW however, you’ll be quite pleased with the GF1′s output. Images are very good up to ISO 800, but above that, things start to get pretty noisy…better nail that exposure!

20mm f1.7 Pancake Lens
When purchasing the GF1, there are a couple kit options. I chose to go with the 20 1.7 pancake lens instead of the 14-55. Both lenses are sharper than their Olympus counterparts, but the main reason I went with the 20 was that it has a much faster aperture, and it keeps the size of the camera down to a more “pocketable” size. It certainly wont fit in the front pocket of your jeans, but it does fit nicely in the front pocket of a hoodie, a cargo pocket, or a coat pocket. It’s also VERY sharp wide open. All of the images here were shot with the 20 1.7…many wide open at 1.7

Video
The GF1 also shoot HD video at 720p, 30fps. There are no manual controls, which is kind of a bummer, but you can adjust exposure compensation and there’s also a depth of field controller (which is basically aperture adjustment) which allows you to determine how out of focus the background elements can become. However, the audio recording is in mono, unlike the stereo recording of the Olympus PEN, and isn’t all that great. I wasn’t as concerned with the video features however…they were only a bonus for me. That being said, I’m really excited about the video possibilities and am looking forward to messing with it some more. You can see the test video I put together one afternoon in this post I did a couple weeks ago. Click here.

Closing Thoughts
I absolutely love this camera. It really makes taking pictures fun and gives you that feel of and old time range finder camera. It brings the complexity of a big DSLR way down and still keeps the image quality up. It really forces you to slow down and get back to the photography basics. This is an excellent little camera to have with you when the big DSLR just wont do. Again, it was pretty much a toss up between this camera and Olympus PEN. I would recommend the GF1 over the PEN for the following reasons… 1) The image quality is pretty much the same if you shoot RAW. 2) Panasonic has some sharper lenses, not to mention the great 20 1.7 which comes in the kit. These lenses can still be used on the Olympus though…I think. 3) The auto focus is way better than the Olympus from what I’ve read and seen. I think the Olympus has improved their AF with a firmware update, but I’ve heard it’s still not as snappy as the GF1′s. Either one you go with will be sure to satisfy I’m sure, I’m just very happy with my purchase and wouldn’t dream of swapping it for the Olympus.

Hope this quick review helps, and I’m always available to help and answer any questions.

Cheers.