The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

a quick spin (out)

nostatic

New member
Well, another camera comes and goes. This one set a record I think...I unboxed the GF1 last night, and boxed it back up today. I see people enjoying and getting good results, but I'm just not feeling this camera.

I had an E-P1, so I have images to compare back-to-back. I will admit to not playing around too much with the GF1 settings, but I shot jpg and raw (using raw developer). The GF1 soundly trounces the EP1 from a responsiveness standpoint. AF is brutally fast, and the GF1 is well behaved.

But...

I shot it back to back with my DLux4. At low iso the GF1 gives a very nice file. But it didn't outperform the DLux4 as much as I expected. Better, yes, but not night/day. At iso 1600, I found the GF1 to not be pleasing to my eye (either jpg or messing with raw - and in fact the default RD settings gave a pretty hideous output). The DLux4 doesn't do very well there either, but I expected the GF1 to do better. Frankly, I think the EP1 iso 1600 files had a very nice grain and look (this was shooting jpg as Aperture doesn't support either). I also think the Oly has better colors.

And I was reminded of the somewhat "neither beast nor fowl" aspect of the form factor. Like the EP1, it is larger than you expect, and certainly bigger than the DLux4. With the kit 14-45 it won't fit in my Terraclime bag, and ends up being not quite big enough to fit in my hand, and not quite small enough to fit in my palm. I suspect that the 20/1.7 is a better combination, but I can't find that anywhere. And the reality is that the 5D2 fits my hand quite well, and with a small prime isn't that much more to haul than the GF1.

So it is going back to my local shop where I bought it, and I'll likely get some more L glass for the 5D2 and wait to see what the X1 is like. The search continues. I'm sure that if I spent time tweaking both capture and post settings I could get better results with the GF1, but I'm somewhat lazy and I just didn't take to it right off the bat like I did with the DLux4 and now 5D2. *sigh* I blame my OCD.

I blame my OCD.

I blame my OCD.
 

helenhill

Senior Member
Well, another camera comes and goes. This one set a record I think...I unboxed the GF1 last night, and boxed it back up today. I see people enjoying and getting good results, but I'm just not feeling this camera.

Eric asked me after reading your Post "Is this your Long Lost Brother?"
and I though I was BAD ....:eek:

Well now I guess thats why for the LAST YEAR
I have stuck with shooting Film...and am still MESMERIZED when i see my developed neg

I do want a little digi for the occassional 'Instant Gratification' pix
but I cannot Decide which camera /DP2 , GRD3, EP1, GF1
and get BORED reading about all their Pros & Cons
so just when I decided to get the GF1... YOU blew my Mind

back to putting Film in the M4 I guess...:p :grin:
 

nostatic

New member
Eric asked me after reading your Post "Is this your Long Lost Brother?"
and I though I was BAD ....:eek:
Some aspire to greatness. Others just give into their OCD :D

Artistic tools are odd. I've been a musician for 40 some odd years now (yikes). I can pick up a guitar or bass and it either works for me or doesn't. While one can adapt to most anything, there are some things that send you and others that just don't click. The good thing with cameras is that there are a number of different choices, and none of them are perfect. So you pick your battles and for me, since I'm not into a lot of tweaking or intervention, I like something that I "get" quickly. I was on the fence about the G-series, and though part of me likes them another part of me doesn't.

The reality is that the whole problem is expectations. The Buddhist in me doesn't seem to rise to the surface as much as it should (oh wait, there are those expectations again).

Did I mention OCD? :ROTFL:
 

nostatic

New member
I do want a little digi for the occassional 'Instant Gratification' pix
but I cannot Decide which camera /DP2 , GRD3, EP1, GF1
and get BORED reading about all their Pros & Cons
so just when I decided to get the GF1... YOU blew my Mind
If it helps any, I still am in love with the DLux4 ;)

And certainly plenty of evidence on this forum that the GF1 is a great camera, so don't let me talk you out of it. I just view this as sort of like a CA (cameras anonymous) meeting, and I'm sharing my sad story :p
 

jonoslack

Active member
HI Todd
No good if it doesn't feel right.
I suspect that if Aperture supported it you might have felt differently. I find the detail for outdoor work is rather better and more convincing than the D-Lux4 . . mind you, aperture doesn't support that either:mad:

I'm very much in the same boat as you with the perfect small camera . . . they come and they go - although I have rather fallen in love with the GF1 and that little zoom - it fits nicely in my small fogg bag with the M9 and a couple of lenses.
 

nostatic

New member
HI Todd
No good if it doesn't feel right.
I suspect that if Aperture supported it you might have felt differently. I find the detail for outdoor work is rather better and more convincing than the D-Lux4 . . mind you, aperture doesn't support that either:mad:

I'm very much in the same boat as you with the perfect small camera . . . they come and they go - although I have rather fallen in love with the GF1 and that little zoom - it fits nicely in my small fogg bag with the M9 and a couple of lenses.
Hi Jono,

No doubt it would be better if I had my seamless workflow (shoot raw, connect camera to laptop, Aperture sucks files in, minor tweak if necessary then output). I did compare lo iso and the GF1 does beat the DLux4. My issue is that I shoot a lot of indoor low light and I wasn't crazy the iso1600 files from the GF1. By comparison, I rather liked the EP1 iso 1600 look. Also the kit zoom is too slow for those condition, and the 20/1.7 doesn't have IS (yes, I'm spoiled).

I totally get why people like the GF1. It is most everything the EP1 is along with better AF. It has a nice solid feel and is largely well designed (though I have some issues with button placement). I also may have been more smitten had I been able to get the 20/1.7, though I have to admit that with the EP1 I preferred the kit zoom to the pancake wrt look/output.

Bring on the X1! I just better not buy too much glass over the next month or so...yeah, right ;)
 

Rawfa

Active member
I know exactly what you mean. When I looked at the pictures taken with the E-P1 in day light I always thought that they were on pair with high end compacts like the LX3 (I still like the Dp1 images better)...a bit more dynamic range and more workable RAW files, but I really didn't feel like it was the difference between a compact and a DSLR. But the ability to use different lenses is really really cool and the low light performance on the E-P1 is outstanding in my opinion. I've posted iso 4000 that were just perfect in my opinion. Plain and simple, if the E-P1 and the GF1 did not offer the ability to change lenses I would have never changed from the DP1....I would actually never have even considered these cameras in the first place. The dream remains of a DP3 with interchangeable lenses...
 

Brian Mosley

New member
The perils of internet shopping... ah well, there will be another m4/3rds cam along in a moment :ROTFL:

Cheers

Brian
 
Top