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Panny G1 - the first m4/3 has arrived

Terry

New member
The first new micro 4/3 has been launched. Here is the hands on preview...

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0809/08091202panasonic_DMC_G1.asp

Looks interesting although the lenses are pretty slow. New EVF technology will be interesting to see in action.

Lens Roadmap......in addition to the two lenses launched (see link) in one of the threads there is a list of lenses coming for 2009 which includes a 20mm F1.7 :thumbup:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0809/08091201panasonic14-45_45-200.asp

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=29289187
 
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Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
I'm sold :thumbup:

Can't wait to try the viewfinder, and that lens roadmap... wow... :D

If Olympus follows up with more interesting lenses (and a weather-sealed camera?), this will be an unbeatable travel system.
 

Jonathon Delacour

Subscriber Member
Lens Roadmap......in addition to the two lenses launched (see link) in one of the threads there is a list of lenses coming for 2009 which includes a 20mm F1.7 :thumbup:
I was utterly skeptical about the Micro Four Thirds standard until tonight, when I looked at the Lens Roadmap and saw that 20mm f1.7 prime listed.

I became a 40mm (EFoV) convert earlier in the year after reading Mike Johnston's Why 40mm? essay and putting a 28mm (42mm EFoV) lens on my D300. Heaven on a stick! (Although I have a Voigtlander 40mm f2.0 lens, I've held off using it until I have a D700 to put it on.)

Given that enthusiasm for 40mm lenses, the Olympus 25mm f2.8 pancake lens was a huge disappointment: too long and too slow.

But, Panasonic, you can sign me up for a G1 + 20mm f1.7. I can hardly wait.
 

Terry

New member
I was utterly skeptical about the Micro Four Thirds standard until tonight, when I looked at the Lens Roadmap and saw that 20mm f1.7 prime listed.

I became a 40mm (EFoV) convert earlier in the year after reading Mike Johnston's Why 40mm? essay and putting a 28mm (42mm EFoV) lens on my D300. Heaven on a stick! (Although I have a Voigtlander 40mm f2.0 lens, I've held off using it until I have a D700 to put it on.)

Given that enthusiasm for 40mm lenses, the Olympus 25mm f2.8 pancake lens was a huge disappointment: too long and too slow.

But, Panasonic, you can sign me up for a G1 + 20mm f1.7. I can hardly wait.
I love the Voigtlander 40mm on the D700. There are a lot of nice touches on this camera and that huge tilting screen is one of them.
 

ecliffordsmith

New member
Hi All,

It does look like a good start. I am very curious to see what Olympus offers.

A 25 Summilux would be nice to see eh ...
 
P

PeterLeyssens

Guest
Hi,

The Panasonic G1 looks like a very interesting camera and I'm looking forward to a rumoured second Panasonic body and the Olympus offerings.

Some people aren't too impressed by the size of the body and the lenses. But look at it this way: the G1 is 8mm thinner than the E-420. The grip is sticking out quite a bit, so the real thickness of the body will be very noticeably thinner than the E-420. Also, the body has this big 3" flipout screen. So a body with a smaller grip and a non-flippable LCD will be easy to slip into a pocket.

Same for the lenses. The 45-200 is as long as the 12-60, but it's one centimeter shorter. But instead of up to 120mm equiv., it goes up to 400 !

The lens roadmap looks sketchy, but the 20/f1.7 rocks :thumbup:. I'm still looking for something like the 11-22/f2.8-3.5, though. I'm not sure the m4/3 7-14 will be particularly small, and it's slow at a fixed f4.

My personal preference would be a very good wide zoom (a la 11-22), then a great walkabout lens (like a tiny 25/f1.4 if it can be done in m4/3) and a decent telezoom (like the current 40-150: tiny and without OIS). And then an IS body, of course :D If Olympus announces a body that's very simple but offers IS, similar LVF/AF performance as the Panasonic, retro styling and something close to the lenses I described, I'm selling my E-420.


Peter.
 
N

nei1

Guest
Its a shame they didnt release at least one prime lens first,if the 20mm f 1.7 had come with the camera then my order would be in.However releasing the lenses in this order suggests there are better bodies to come.
 

Arne Hvaring

Well-known member
A very promising debut of the new mount. I see no reason to worry about lenses (or lack thereof) at the present stage. Olympus and Leica (and perhaps even Zeiss) will no doubt add to the arsenal.
I find at least two intriguing and I think novel features worth pointing out: switching to manual focus instantly enlarges the view 5x or 10x to facilitate pinpoint focusing. Pushing the DOF button will NOT darken the image in the viewfinder, thus giving a realistic visualisation of the effect of the chosen aperture. Indication of things to come in advanced future EVFs IMO.
Now Leica and Panasonic have had a close relationship for the last decade or so, perhaps some of this technology will find its way into Leica cameras as well...
 

johnastovall

Deceased, but remembered fondly here...
It is an ugly camera and not very imaginative in its look is my reaction. Why make it look like a faux dSLR? Also that snout from the popup flash will constraint the size of lenses you can put on it with an adapter. And loss the grip.

I was hoping for a clean functional design start with new ideas not old ones.
 

Terry

New member
It is an ugly camera and not very imaginative in its look is my reaction. Why make it look like a faux dSLR? Also that snout from the popup flash will constraint the size of lenses you can put on it with an adapter. And loss the grip.

I was hoping for a clean functional design start with new ideas not old ones.
I think it is just a matter of time. In one article Panny said they can make the cameras much smaller but wanted to keep some size on it for easier handling. Don't forget their first aim is to capture the fast growing market for people upgrading to dslr's and the superzoom market. This is a system where there can be very different camera styles using the same lenses.
 

Arne Hvaring

Well-known member
It is an ugly camera and not very imaginative in its look is my reaction. Why make it look like a faux dSLR? Also that snout from the popup flash will constraint the size of lenses you can put on it with an adapter. And loss the grip.

I was hoping for a clean functional design start with new ideas not old ones.
Faux dSLR; well, I suppose the EVF needs some space. Not very imaginative I agree, but ugly? I'd rather call it inoffensive :)
Re the popup flash: it will not constrain the size of lenses at all, the adapter will push the lenses 20 mm forward, thus well out of the way of the protruding flash.
 

Terry

New member
Actually this is from the DPReview preview

"From the outside it looks for all the world like a conventional SLR (albeit a very small one) - we're told that the design (complete with faux prism 'hump') is deliberately conservative; Panasonic's research has shown that its target market (particularly in Japan) still prefers a camera that looks like a camera is supposed to, and wasn't going to risk falling at the first hurdle by producing something too radical."
 

clay stewart

New member
I think if they were aiming for the broad side of a barn, they missed it by a country mile! At least from what I've gathered so far.

1. It's not much smaller than a E420.

2. The slow kit lenses which the specs sheet says are 100mm long. Isn't that like four inches? The Oly kit lens 14-42 is less than three inches long.

3. There is no AF support for the regular 4/3 lenses, so what's the point in a 140.00$ adapter? I'm sure there will be one on ebay for twenty bucks soon enough.

It really seems like a camera for soccer moms, yet with the interchangeable lens factor, I doubt they will see the benefit, over the superzoom compacts, unless of course they can match their soccer uniforms to the funky colors it comes in:).

I was really jazzed when I saw the mock up of the LX3 look-a-like. I guess I got my hopes up.

I really can't for the life of me, figure out why people want really small camera bodies for, if they are just going to put a big, long, slow zooms on them.

Seems like another brilliant idea, dashed in an instant. Hopefully Oly will fare better.
 
A

asabet

Guest
The 20/1.7 looks smaller than the ZD 25/2.8 despite the former having a significantly larger aperture.
 
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