Thanks, Peter. That was very helpful. I ended up giving back the D90 for a refund and I'm now researching between the G1 or a Canon 1000D/ Rebel XS. To be honest I thought the video abilities of the D90 left a lot to be desired, but I the picture quality was REALLY incredible! I mean, the dynamic range was EXCELLENT...and here is where the G1 scares me a little bit with it's smaller sensor. I really need to do some more research and try to get my hands on these cameras...I'm finding it hard to find people to vouch for the Canon 1000D/ Rebel XS here at the forum.
Rawfa,
I'd heard that the video quality on the D90 sucked too. Now as far as image quality goes, fear not. While the 4/3s sensor is small, it's not THAT small. Just a tad smaller than the D90's and Canon Rebel's APS sized sensor (remember it's a scaled up 4x3 sensor, and that's it). Pixel density is 5 mp /cm2 (million pixels per square centimeter) vs 3.3 mp/cm2. While at first blush may seem significant, it really isn't when you consider that point and shoots come in around 33- 36 mp/cm2.
That said consider the following facts that I gleaned from Pop Photo:
Image quality from ISO 100 to 400 is the same as the D90 and the Rebel. At 800 it falls just slightly. And then starts to fall after that. Here both the Rebel and D90 beat the G1. No argument.
Resolution: 2370 lines per millimeter. That's typically beaten out by cameras with larger sensors. But for some reason beats out the D90 and D300. The Rebel comes in at 2265. (The $5500 M8 by the way comes in at 2230).
Color accuracy: One word, unsurpassed. The best score of all cameras tested so far.
Noise: Until 400 it beats the D90 and Canon. At 800 it's only slightly worse. At 1600 and beyond..well let's say this ain't a camera for those needs.
I think part of the success is the fact that Panasonic which has long been plagued with less than stellar image processors may have finally hit its stride with the processor they put in this one (known as the Venus HD engine). So noise is really down while image quality is high with this camera's use of the 4/3s sensor.
From what I've seen the camera exhibits phenomonal dynamic range, too.
The autofocus employs a technology called "contrast detection" which uses an approach that focuses directly on the sensor itself. This (if you'll excuse the pun) is in contrast to the "phase detection' used by DSLR's. Interestingly, all prior usage of this contrast detection were in very slow point and shoots. For reasons I'm not technically knowledgeable to address here, on the G1 the AF speed using contrast detection rivals DSLR's. Is it as fast as a five grand Canon D1? No, but from most user's experience I've read here, including my own, it's apparently fast enough.
I would not recommend this camera if you plan on applying for work at Sports Illustrated. There are far better machines out there that can focus and shoot faster, more repeatedly than the G1 (like the Rebel you're interested in). But for what I would consider (at least from what I've observed) 94% of all shooters out there, the G1 more than delivers the goods. Even on the occasional rapid fire situations, which at 3.5 fps, shooting RAW, I think you'll find more than adequate.
Optics are the real excitement here. The kit lens, which while somewhat disappointingly slow by light gathering standards, is a very very good lens. The sharpness, contrast and freedom from chromatic aberration are, indeed, excellent as can be judged by some of the images that have been posted here. There is also a 45-200mm lens which completes the introductory package. All told you would be covering the equivalent of 28 - 400mm with just two lenses. Panasonic is promising faster lenses, starting with a 20mm f1.7 lens that many are eagerly awaiting as well as others for release later this year.
Being a micro 4/3s camera which means it's got the same sensor as a regular 4/3s camera, with an adapter that makes up the difference in distance between where a lens designed for a 4/3s camera would be mounted and this one, you have access to some really fine optics from Panasonic/Leica and Olympus. Panasonic has already a 25mm f1.4 prime lens from Leica that, even with the Panasonic adapter still has AF capability. This is extremely sharp and contrasty. And it has a very pleasing bokeh (background blur). The same holds true for a 14-50mm f2.8-3.5 Leica Zoom and another zoom.
Olympus, on the other hand, has made some lenses that are nothing short of jaw dropping in their image making. I've seen some of the results on these pages and flickr that are simply amazing. (Unfortunately, some of these optics come with some equally jaw-dropping price tags...they are not for the faint of heart.) Of particular note are a 7-14mm f4.0, 14-35mm f2.0 (yes you read that correctly!), 35-100mm f2.0 (yep..this one too) zooms that give you the range in 35mm speak of 14 - 200mm in three amazing pieces of glass. There are other single primes too that are equally breathtaking. There is also a noteable 12-60mm f2.8 that with one lens gives you the equivalent of 24 - 120mm which is a superb single lens to have. I should warn you, however, the Olympus lenses are not coupled as of yet to the autofocus and must therefore be focused manually. This may change in time due to firmware but I suspect that as Olympus gets into the micro 4/3 fray, they will offer some equivalent zooms that work in this format.
Now for the good stuff. Adapters from other manufacturers that are allowing you to mount the crown jewels of optics: rangefinder lenses from Leica, Zeiss and Voigtlander. Yes they'll be manually focused and manually set for the aperture, but with the G1's focusing patch, it will be swift and highly accurate. Early reports show this has an extremely high potential. Particularly if you have access to some of their fast f2.0 to f1.0 optics which would be serve the camera well with its impressive imaging characteristics at ISOs of 800 and under, able RAW handling and live EVF manual focusing which eliminates focus errors. And, in short, you've got a formidable picture taking machine that can take on just about anything.
Not bad for a 'small sensor' you were concerned about eh?
If you shoot RAW and process Raw you will end up with files in the 69 Mb range which at a typical 240 dpi on a good printer will yield a very high quality 12.5 by 16.6 print.
Some reviewers have suggested the Rebel XS is a better bang for the buck. That's subjective. The Rebel has access to Canon's superb optics some of which are legendary. This is true. No adapters necessary. Also it's blazingly fast. And can produce wonderfully clean images high into the ISO stratosphere. But to me it's sooo old school. (Sorry.)
When you consider the smaller size and the ability to mount some of the world's most treasured optics coupled with what appears to be equally excellent images that equal or surpass the Rebel at ISO's of 800 or under along with its superb live view EVF (well that's subjective vs the Rebels optical finder) and articulating rear LCD (which can seem like a Hasselbad's ground glass viewing screen), all in all there are a lot of compelling reasons to go with the G1 over the Rebel.
As others here would easily attest.
Peter