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My first digital camera

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frenchspur

Guest
Hi all,
Last week I bought my first digital camera,a G1.On the same shopping trip I bought 20 rolls of film for my Leica R8s and Contax G2s,so I'm not a novice photographer.So this world is new to me.My 3 questions are is it worth shooting in Raw? is 4-3 better than 3-2? Finally,I have 3 Leica lenses-50/2,90/2.8 and 35-70:f4,is it a good idea to but an adaptor for the G1?
Ta
DM
 

Brian Mosley

New member
Hello and welcome to the forum :)

Yes, I think it is certainly worth shooting the G1 in raw - which raw converter do you use at the moment?

Personally, I'd buy the 20mm f1.7 before a converter for your leica lenses... it's only recently become available, but offers fantastic performance as a native m4/3rds lens.

There should be advice coming soon from forum members who use Leica lenses with their G1.

Kind Regards

Brian
 
F

frenchspur

Guest
Cheers Brian.
Well I'm only using the software that came with the camera.Yes,I thought of that 20mm lens.I believe it has a 46mm filter thread,of which I have plenty.
I have started using a Nikon polarising filter,is this worthwhile with digital?
I must say I'm impressed with the G1!
Ta
DM
 

Terry

New member
Hi and welcome.
I've used M lenses on my G1 but don't own any R lenses. Not sure how heavy they will feel in relation to the body. I know on the heaviest of the Olympus 4/3 lenses people are a little bit wary of the weight of the lens putting stress on the lens mount. I'm not sure of the size/weight of the lenses you list.

Like Brian said, I agree that you are better off shooting RAW but before giving advice again like Brian asks, what are you using now and what is the digital part of your workflow with your film scans?
 

kevinparis

Member
hi there and welcome to what is most likely the friendliest forum around.

Don't have a G1 myself - but an e-P1 - but your questions really apply to any 4/3 or micro 4/3

Its worth shooting in RAW if you want to get the maximum out your files - especially for printing, otherwise if your photos are for social purposes or personal records then JPEG is going to be OK. Well exposed images in good light onscreen or printed snapshot size there is probably no noticeable difference between RAW and JPEG. You can set your camera to shoot both - maybe try that first and then go one way or another.

4:3 or 3:2 - your choice - you have been shooting 3:2 with the Leica and the G1

as for the leica lenses - yes it is an option - but remember on the G1 the lenses field of view will half - so your 50/2 will look though the viewfinder like a 100mm lens - plus you will be using only the centre sweetspot of the lens - which may change some of the character you may be used to with the lens on 35mm full frame. You will also have to use stop down metering.. all is doable and can be fun - but don't expect the same results you would get on the R8

hope this helps

cheers

Kevin
 

Terry

New member
Kevin,
I don't get the bit about stop down metering. Are you saying focus wide open and then stop down? The G1 gains up a bit as you stop down so I haven't had problems getting focus at the actual desired aperture (OK f11 and f16 aren't areas where I've tried this).
 
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frenchspur

Guest
Well well this is a friendly forum!So much good advice to work on.So 3-2 is like film,that's useful.Maybe I should keep the two medias apart for a time.I like the idea of a 20/1.7 I have a 21mm Contax G2 lens that I'm fond of, so that may be the way to go?
My software is only the stuff that came with the G1.Another thing,do digitalist mainly keep their shots on hard drives to email or do they print and frame them?
Ta,
DM
 

kevinparis

Member
Terry

was forgetting the G1 has the EVF - was really speaking more from my experience of using lenses on my 510.
Also I do find it easier to 'see' I am in focus with the lens wide open as the narrow DOF helps pinpoint the point of focus

cheers
K
 

kevinparis

Member
hi

The Panasonic 20/1.7 will give you a field of view equivalent of a 40mm on a 35mm camera.

to get the same field of view as your 21mm Contax on a G1 or any micro 4/3 camera you will need a 10.5mm lens..... and neither olympus or panasonic actually make a prime lens that size :)

K
 
V

Vivek

Guest
The 50/2 would be most useful. The size and handling is swell. Images are superb.

The 90/2.8 handles OK.

The 35-70, well, you would find out how that would be. The kitzooms are better.

For the 50/2, I focus wide open and stop down. Works best this way.

Get used to framing for 4:3. That makes use of most of the tiny sensor in G1.
 
F

frenchspur

Guest
Thanks you guys.I think I will buy an adaptor for my Leica Rs.It will be interesting.Is there any point of using filters?
Ta,
DM
 

Terry

New member
Back to software,

I haven't used Silkypix which comes with the G1. People have a love hate relaionship with it.

The next easiest solution for the G1 is Lightroom or Camera Raw/Photoshop combo.
Aperture doesn't have full support and C1 doesn't support the camera - you can do some DNG conversions but just starting out my best suggestion is learning Lightroom (just an opinion others will probably have a different opinion). Lightroom is not simply a RAW developer but really works on the whole workflow from camera through printing or slideshow.

You can download a 30 day trial from Adobe.

In addition there is plenty of on-line training available. Personally for the money, I found the Lightroom training at kelbylearning.com very good. ($25/month for unlimited training - you could probably sign up for a month - get what you need and cancel). THere are also several books available - I like books for reference - I'm not great at learning from them.
 
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ddk

Guest
You got most of your answers by others so I'll limit my comments to the raw processor. In my experience Silky Pix (what came with your camera) does a better job with color and tone of Panasonic files than the Adobe products, even if it has a clunkier interface. But this is all subjective and in time you should run your own tests, at the very least its worth trying SilkyPix for a while before deciding for or against it.
 

kwalsh

New member
Yes RAW is worth it. You can of course shoot JPG+RAW for awhile and see what you think yourself.

4:3 is the native format for the G1, I'd shoot in that mode and then crop later to what you want. A nice thing with 4x3 is that it sits in between 4x5, 5x7 and 2x3 so it gives you a lot of options to the final print. Of course if you like 2x3 and are most comfortable with that then there is nothing wrong with just shooting in that mode.

People here seem to enjoy mounting other lenses to the G1. I'm not familiar with your lenses but it looks like you are getting plenty of advice from others already.

Yes, a polarizer is still very useful in digital photography - one of the few filters that is still useful in digital. With the G1 either a linear or circular polarizer will work just fine.

As far as RAW converters go if you have Photoshop CS4 already then definitely try out ACR which is included - very powerful RAW converter. I happen to use Lightroom, same RAW engine as ACR in a more pleasant work flow. I've also used Silkypix in the past, it is surprisingly good but the work flow is a bit poor. If you spend some time with Silkypix I recommend spending about $3 for this E-book:

http://www.eos-images.com/silkypix-resources/ebook-an-introduction-to-silkypix

It is much better than the poorly translated help files that come with Silkypix and is worth the few bucks it costs. For ACR and Lightroom there are gobs of books to choose from.

Enjoy your new camera!

Ken
 

f6cvalkyrie

Well-known member
If you spend some time with Silkypix I recommend spending about $3 for this E-book:

http://www.eos-images.com/silkypix-resources/ebook-an-introduction-to-silkypix
I just purchased the e-book, and can confirm that it contains a lot of very useful information.
I also purchased a package of "tastes" for something like 15$, very useful as well, gives you the possibility to develop your shot in all kinds of ways, like different colour & B/W film imitations, sepia toning, ...

Thanks for mentionning, Ken :thumbs:

C U,
Rafael
 

Cindy Flood

Super Moderator
I have a G1 and I also own a 35 f/2 R lens. The R lenses are very heavy. I have mounted my 35R on my G1 and it is doable, but you must support the lens at all times. The mount of the G1 was not built for that weight. There are reports of the mount pulling out of the body. I think you would be better off with the 20 f/1.7.
I assume that when you said Nikon polarizer, you were speaking of a circular polarizer.... any brand of circular polarizer will work fine.
Congratulations on your first digital camera.
 

Y.B.Hudson III

New member
yehh... I mounted a R 19mm v1 on a G1, it won't fit in my heLLo-KittY bag... and My sherpa refuses t' carry it... nice image files though.

You bought the "RIGHT" camera, with an excellent EVF for Ultra fast glass...

regards, Hudson
 
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