Review of G1 by DPreview

Two posts announcing this!

"Enjoy"? Peter, Come on!

I won't bother, I know everything I need to know about what the G1 can do for me.

I did however look at the list of 'Cons' and most of it is wrong or meaningless.

No video recording? Did they ding the D700 for not having that? What nonsense. That's like saying my Porsche can't tow a boat, so they take off points.

EVF difficult to use in low light? Did they actually use the camera?

I could list the rest, but won't waste anyone's time, or mine.

Geez.

monza said:

EVF difficult to use in low light? Did they actually use the camera?

Geez.

Click to expand...

Thanks for looking and posting it here, Monza (I did not and am not gonna).

Yup, that summarizes a standard online review. :thumbs:

As with Pop Photo, out of curiosity I cross referenced some of their standardized measurements made against some heavy hitters.

Resolution: 2350 better than Nikons D90, D300 and D700, Canons up to 5DmkII and, yes, the highly vaunted M Youknowwhat.

Color Accuracy: Again superb.

Dynamic Range: 8 stops. Not too shabby.

Noise: Well controlled to ISO 400. Acceptable from 800-1600. 3200? Fugheddaboudit.

Everything else is irrelevant. IMHO

Peter

The Nikon D40x has a noticeably higher dynamic range than the G1 (any ISO) in my hands.

DR sucks in G1.

The best quality color images are only at 100ISO for me (everything else will show shadow noise regardless of any software massage).

All this is consistent with the tiny sensor and the pixel density.

BTW i deleted the other thread as requested to keep only one thread on this review. I should add as someone that does do a lot of testing myself look at any review as part of a puzzle to get to the final results on making a call. Take the info given and process it with your on experience and also with forum members that use and report there experiences with gear. No single source will complete that decision for you so never go by only one report do your homework and research everything out before you put your hard earned money out.

Hey Guy,

I totally agree. There are so many sources available today whether from formalized testers to individual experiences. From all that din hopefully there are enough pros and cons that, coupled with one's own personal shooting style and preferences, a short list of candidates can be made.

Peter

Peter I think this goes back to an earlier discussion,you need to have a reviewer whose opinion you can trust.If you can find one who seems to view the world in a similar way then a lot of wasted time and money can be avoided.

Vivek said:

The Nikon D40x has a noticeably higher dynamic range than the G1 (any ISO) in my hands.

DR sucks in G1.

The best quality color images are only at 100ISO for me (everything else will show shadow noise regardless of any software massage).

All this is consistent with the tiny sensor and the pixel density.

Click to expand...

Hi Vivek

Hmm yes, tiny sensor:

Nikon D40x sensor is 15.5mm high pixel density 2.7 mp/cm2
Canon 50D sensor is 14.9mm high pixel density 4.5 mp/cm2
Panny G1 sensor is 13.5mm high pixel density 5 mp/cm2

I'm sorry, I just don't go for the 'tiny sensor' excuse for DR and noise. Not when other manufacturers seem to be able to manage with something having roughly the same size pixels.

Jono, Please clarify if the the DR and noise response are attractive or not with the G1 (excuse me for throwing in the pixel density factor, I honestly did not throw that in as an excuse. In fact I had no idea why I even threw that in!).
Ignore the distraction with terminologies (density, pitch, etc) and let us look at the end result.

Well the G1 review certainly demonstrated the superior quality of the Olympus ZD 50 f2 macro lens

The Highly Recommended rating is well deserved... especially since the price is coming down nicely.

Kind Regards

Brian

Vivek said:

The best quality color images are only at 100ISO for me (everything else will show shadow noise regardless of any software massage).
.

Click to expand...

While I reserve the right to expand on this notion after my G1 arrives, I'm going into this with the idea that I'm getting a limitless supply of ISO 100 "film", with great color rendition and of course B&W as well, to use fast Leica and Nikon primes with in an entirely new way using EVF articulation, magnification, etc, for $500, including a nice little zoom lens. I'll be very happy if that's all the G1 delivers. best...Peter

Here is a side by side comparison of M8 vs G1 on DP Review tests.

Had a look at DPreview on the G1. Was quite impressed at the IQ when compared against the likes of the 450D especially the RAW studio comparisons. The per pixel sharpness on the G1 is simply amazing for the size of the sensor.

What I did notice though, was that shadow detail for dynamic range on the G1 was considerably less than the competition which may be due to the smaller sensor and smaller pitch per pixel on the G1.

MAzor

:thumbup:I don't have a G1 (as yet) so I base my remark on what I see a bit everywhere on the net. There is a 3D effect with the images you hardly find on any comparable camera around and this is far more interesting than "mesurements of all kind".
As for noise, it looks pretty much like film, and the 3200 with the G1 seems far better than 3200 B&W film.... hey ! was there any 3200 color film ? I can't remember !

Sinwen,
I actually agree with you. My point in posting the numbers comparisons is that some people let their bias influence what they see. Thus they put down the G1 claiming its IQ just isn't up to the M8 in terms of detail or micro contrast when the numbers and an objective look say otherwise. Even the difference in DR isn't all that large. Frankly, some of the images I have seen posted here have blown away a lot of the M8 images I have seen posted or that I ever got out of my M8. Both cameras have noise in the shadows but I think the G1's noise is more film like and less objectionable. The G1 blows highlights but so does the M8.

You can pick up some DR by shooting Raw and tweaking the shadow recovery and/or your curves adjustments. I just wish i could use C1 with this camera about the only thing that is holding me back that and trying to sell my Oly 520. LOL

innerimager said:

While I reserve the right to expand on this notion after my G1 arrives, I'm going into this with the idea that I'm getting a limitless supply of ISO 100 "film", with great color rendition and of course B&W as well, to use fast Leica and Nikon primes with in an entirely new way using EVF articulation, magnification, etc, for $500, including a nice little zoom lens. I'll be very happy if that's all the G1 delivers. best...Peter

Click to expand...

Peter, I think I already reserved that right by saying that "for me". What applies for me may not be applicable to others.

As Guy mentions, yes you can tweak things to get more in the post but in my routines I also lose some (other) aspects such as contrast when I do such tweaks. Perhaps there are better (post processing) routines that I am yet to learn that would bring out the best in terms of DR while preserving other aspects of an image.

Yes, it is a fabulous camera when you have a pile of lenses that you can use.

Like many have commented, it is the joy of using which gives more motivation to use the camera that is a big plus. We can not quantify that in numbers and certainly can not put a value on it.

I'm tempted to put '+1' but that would be putting things in numbers.