G1 with 7-14mm - show yours !!!!!

[f6cvalkyrie]

Stunning gallery, Phil !

My favorite is the restored oldtimer, and it reminds me I have to wash my vintage car, and give it a go with the 7-14, or with some vintage lenses

thanks for sharing, and C U,
Rafael

 

[Michiel Schierbeek]

]If you have any questions, I would happy to answer them here in this thread. I hope those of you who already have this lens, or are considering adding it, will find this gallery helpful.

Phil Douglis[/QUOTE]

No real questions. Looked at your wide angle serie. Enjoyed it very much and the great variation in subjects which truly shows the capabillitys of this lens, in the right hands of course .
The world war II bunker is my favourite.
I bought the 9-18 Olympus lens wich I also can use on my E-3. AF works on the G1 as well.

Since bunkers may interest you, here are two of the same bunker on the coast of Normandy, where my second home is.
The bunker fell over the years of its base.

With my sold E-300 with 14-45 kitlens in a very cold februari in 2008

This photograph shows better the scale of the thing.

With the E-3 and 12-60 lens in september 2008

Kind regards, Michiel

 

[Brian Mosley]

Wow, Michiel that's a subject worth some study!

Thanks, and also - as always to Phil Douglis - really enjoyed your UWA gallery & hope you will do much more.

Kind Regards

Brian

 

[pnd1]

Thanks Brian, Michiel, Rafael, Leica77, and Terry, for your responses. Yes, I do plan to add more 7-14mm images to my new super wideangle gallery on pbase. I will be shooting in Gloucester, Mass later this month, and will be traveling by train from Montreal to Vancouver in September. I will also be shooting in Istanbul, Kiev, and Bucharest in October. All in all, I plan to be on the road with my G1 and its three lenses for six weeks worth of shooting this summer and fall, which I hope will produce some worthwhile new images.

Thanks, Terry, for letting me know about the EP-1. I did not know that it had been released. The bi-directional level sounds wonderful. I understand that the EP-1 weighs less than the G1, can use all of its lenses, and has movie capability, but it does not offer either an internal EVF or an articulating LCD. You apparently now use both the G1 and the EP-1 interchangeably. What advantages does your EP-1 offer you?

Thanks,
Phil

 

[Terry]

Phil,
I don't really know yet what advantages it has. There are some specific features that are better on the E-P1 but other aspects of implemtation where the G1 works out better for me. I've only had it since Tuesday so stay tuned I'm not shy about posting! Like the G1 it is a fun camera to use. I am very enthusiastic about micro 4/3 or mirrorless in general so for me it is fun to try them out and support the new format. Someone has to keep this economy alive!!!

 

[pnd1]

Thanks, Terry, your thoughts on the EP-1. What intrigues me about it is the possibility of using it exclusively with my Panny 7-14mm wideangle zoom. By keeping that lens on the EP-1, and my 45-200mm zoom on my G1, I would rarely have to change lenses in the field. The internal leveling device in the EP-1 would also be very helpful in avoiding distortion.

Thanks,
Phil

 

[GrahamWelland]

I’ve just returned from a two week shoot in the Pacific Northwest, where I used the G1’s new 7-14mm lens for the first time in the field. I was so impressed with its potential for expression that I have added a new gallery to my pbase cyberbook devoted to using a super wide angle lens effectively. The gallery features ten of the images I made with the 7-14mm lens under various conditions and purposes. You can see these images, accompanied by my commentary, at:

http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/super_wideangle_photography

If you have any questions, I would happy to answer them here in this thread. I hope those of you who already have this lens, or are considering adding it, will find this gallery helpful.

Phil Douglis

Phil,

What an excellent site you have on PBASE!! In addition to the G1/7-14 shots I've spent hours going through your site and it's insightful essays/examples and overall beautiful photographs.

Folks, I highly recommend paying Phil's Site a visit! :thumbs:

I'm a recent convert to the G1 for my walk around camera and I was hoping that this would be an inexpensive addition to my camera arsenal. Unfortunately the allure of the 7-14mm is beginning to change that view! Yet another lens that is already tugging at my purse strings.

 

[Brian Mosley]

Thanks, Terry, your thoughts on the EP-1. What intrigues me about it is the possibility of using it exclusively with my Panny 7-14mm wideangle zoom. By keeping that lens on the EP-1, and my 45-200mm zoom on my G1, I would rarely have to change lenses in the field. The internal leveling device in the EP-1 would also be very helpful in avoiding distortion.

Thanks,
Phil

Hi Phil, do you not find yourself framing the 7-14 with your articulating live view LCD? I find eye-level viewfinders too restricting with an UWA lens... and wonder whether the E-P1, despite the amazing angles of view possible on the fixed LCD - would be similarly restricted?

Terry, what are your thoughts on this?

Cheers

Brian

 

[Terry]

Brian I was holding the E-P1 very low with the 7-14 yesterday. The viewing angle of the screen allowed me to see how close to level I was. If I could get it within one square in either direction I was fine and didn't have a big distortion problem. Holding that low and doing fine tuning adjustments with your hands isn't easy.

I agree with you Brian that eye level on such a wide angle isn't the optimal way to frame. I find if I don't have it lower I do miss a critical element to the shot. For instance on this one I really wanted to make sure that I didn't cut off the bottom center where you see a little bit of the ice plant showing. It shows the viewer that the little cove of water stops where it does. If I didn't get the whole camera low, I would have had to point it downwards and would then have a flagpole going at a crazy angle.

With the G1 I always have the grid lines on with this lens. With the EP1 you can't have both (grid&level) but I would rather have the level. I would trade the grid lines for the level in a second. There are times when I don't shoot the lens level but that is a conscious decision understanding the ramifications and doing it for artistic purposes. That type of the effect is one reason I bought this lens.

 

[pnd1]

Thanks, Graham, for spending so much time on my site. I now have 70 galleries holding nearly 3,000 images there, and am glad you find them helpful.

And thank you, Brian, for asking about how I frame with the 7-14mm lens. I almost always use the articulating LCD, because like Terry, I prefer to work a wideangle vantage point from waist level rather than eye level. It creates far less distortion. It is very easy to work with the camera held low when we have an LCD that flips out as the G1 screen does.

It is probably a bit more difficult to hold the EP-1 low, since the screen does not flip out. However, Terry tells that she uses her own 7-14mm lens on the EP-1 from a low vantage point. I would assume, Terry, that you probably must lower the camera and hold it at arms length in order to see what is on its vertical screen. Am I correct?

Thanks,
Phil

 

[Terry]

It is probably a bit more difficult to hold the EP-1 low, since the screen does not flip out. However, Terry tells that she uses her own 7-14mm lens on the EP-1 from a low vantage point. I would assume, Terry, that you probably must lower the camera and hold it at arms length in order to see what is on its vertical screen. Am I correct?

Thanks,
Phil

It is more difficult than a fold out screen to see but I wasn't being a contortionist either. The good news is the viewing angle of the LCD on the Pen is very good so you can see what you are doing. In addition, the best news, with the level confirmation you have a good degree of confidence/control that you are getting what you want.

 

[pnd1]

Thanks, Terry,

It is good to know that the viewing angle of the EP-1 screen is so large. On the other hand, it is hard for me to visualize exactly where I would stand relative to the position of the camera in order to hold it low and still see my image on a vertical LCD, and also see the readout on the leveling control at the same time. If you can, would it be possible for you to post a picture of how you are holding the EP-1 while using the 7-14mm lens? It would really help. Thanks, Terry.
Phil

 

[Terry]

Ok you asked.
This picture is from my iPhone. The camera is about 1 foot from the ground (look at the grid line versus bed height in the LCD). I am bent over at waist level to hold the camera that low. So with my head a bit above waist level, I can completely see the horizontal and vertical lines getting me level. I can also see what is on the screen and how the picture is being framed. I was a bit handicapped trying to take the picture with one hand holding the iphone and keeping the camera reasonably level with the other. In practice it is much easier.


click picture to make bigger
View attachment 19029

To simulate, take your G1 and have the lcd on in the same position as a fixed LCD. Holding the camera with one hand hold it about a foot off the floor and see what you can see on the screen.

If this example doesn't help, I will enlist the help of a neighbor .

 

[pnd1]

Thanks, Terry -- it's a good start. I now I at least can see what you driving at here, but when I tried it with my G1's LCD in a vertical position, and held the camera a foot off the ground and looked down on it, I could not see anything on the screen. The eyepiece blocked part of it, of course, and the part of the screen I could see from that angle was not readable.

I still am wondering how you can see detail on the EP-1's screen from such an angle. If you can ask a neighbor to take a picture of you holding the camera so I can see where your head is positioned relative to the angle of the screen, it would be a huge help. Thanks so much, Terry.

Phil

 

[Terry]

First up, I tried what I told you to do with the G1 and it doesn't work. You need to flip the screen out. the eyepiece gets in the way and the Oly has a different sort of screen with a bigger viewing angle.

OK, I set up the G1 on a tripod and used a cable release along with the 7-14 to get in as much as possible although this makes for a rather unflattering body position even further accentuated at 7mm So, this shot is cropped
The other option is to put my knee on the ground

So here is a crop. I could see both the content of the picture and I could even more clearly see the leveling lines.

View attachment 19031

 

[pnd1]

Thanks, Terry -- sorry to put you to such gyrations, but this is a big help. It shows me that you CAN do this standing. The reason this is so important to me is that I have bad knees and can't kneel. (That is why the G1's articulating screen is so important to me.) You seem to be aiming off to the side instead of straight in front of you -- does that help, or am I just reading that into this picture? I assume that you are not kneeling in the shot, right? Thanks again for helping me grasp what needs to be done when composing on the EP-1 using the Panasonic 7-14mm lens.

Speaking of the EP-1, in my research over the last day or so, I turned up a mockup of what looks like Panasonic copy of it. I attach a link. Do you, or anyone else on this forum know of any forthcoming "EP-1 type" micro-four thirds camera from Panasonic? (I notice that this site deals in "rumors," so I can't put much stock in what I see here.)

http://www.photographion.com/micro-thirds-m43-camera-body-photos/

Thanks again for your help,
Phil

 

[simonclivehughes]

Phil,

If I remember rightly, those pictures are CAD versions someone put together and are not official Panasonic pictures. They've been circulating around for a while now.

Cheers,

 

[pnd1]

Thanks, Simon. I am not sure what a CAD image is, but I did assume that these pictures were digital mockups, which may be what you are referring to here. From the dates on the responses, I assume that they were posted awhile ago. I was just trying to find out if anyone out there might know of any Panasonic plans to actually make such a camera, and if so, when it might appear? These mockups are quite similar to the Olympus EP-1 in appearance, although cleaner in design, and less retro-looking.

Thanks,
Phil

 

[Terry]

Phil,
No, I was not kneeling. No the camera isn't directly in front of me but a bit off to the side. I wouldn't like to walk around shooting like that all day but it certainly wasn't a hardship when the shot called for it.

These were released by someone in Japan way back about a month after m4/3 was announced and before Panasonic showed the G1 at Photokina. Everyone went wild and loved the mockup. The person who did the renderings said that they were are dream but I still have a few doubts that they were truly a dream. On the camera they showed a 20mm fast pancake lens and then Panasonic announced a fast 20mm lens. That lens is due to come out this fall and it won't surprise me if it is attached to this sort of a body.

 

[pnd1]

Hi, Terry,

I don't see any big problems here, since you say you were able to read the information on the LCD from this position. It speaks well for the screen's angle of view.

As for those mockups, I had not seen them until today. It would certainly make sense for Panasonic to introduce its pancake lens on a body such as this. The mockups were spectacular. Panasonic should hire that fellow as a camera designer.

I definitely would like to add a second body for that 7-14mm lens so that I would not have to constantly be changing lenses in the field. A body the size of the EP-1 would be so light that it would not make a significant difference in the weight I am carrying about with me. However, I am now wondering if it might be wise to wait to see what Panasonic may have in store for us later this year in terms of compact body.

Thanks,
Phil