Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Well i just meet Terry up in my little cowboy town( Cave Creek) this morning to see the G1 . Okay the sucker is just so cute. She hated me saying that and not real macho. LOL
Anyway she is coming for dinner tonight and I will download the images i shot and compare them with the 520 . I shot them side by side for a few shots but I have to say the G1 is a lot smaller and the lens is very small. Certainly a camera to walk around with for a week and not notice it is on your shoulder. The viewfinder i was very impressed by . The Oly feels like i am looking in a tunnel and the G1 is much nicer in that regard and felt more like a DSLR FF finder. One curious thing though it seemed darker than the Oly 520. I also noticed the highlights on the LCD blew faster. Now not sure that will relate to real blown highlights or the camera just gives off the warning faster. Which i tend to think it does. The G1 does have way to many things going on which is a good and bad thing too. Certainly it is RTFM scenario and maybe twice. Just a lot of stuff going on but once you get used to it i bet there is a ways to make it look not so complicated and just picking it up it is a little overwhelming with all the options that it has. So it is certainly nice to have the options but like most folks that know me i do like a simpler path in camera's. I also brought Terry the Leica M8 8.2 to look at . She was afraid to like it too much. Darn thing is really quiet now and almost have to listen to hear it go off. Big improvement for Leica in that area.
One other thing i see why so many are excited about and it certainly is cool as can be is the magnification for manual focus built in. Okay HUGE plus for that and also see why the M8 shooters are getting really excited about the adapter. This alone would make me buy a G1 no question. The g1 does not feel like a DSLR though and that could be a plus or minus depending on where you come from. the Oly certainly does but the big downfall on the 520 is the finder in my mind and the lenses are twice the size. We did do a side by side shot with the Oly 520 and G1 and it is a big difference with regards to the lenses . I have the 14-54 on the Oly and obviously the kit lens on the G1 and let's not underestimate the size difference it is a huge one.
Certainly this is a camera to throw in a bag as a backup for maybe your big DSLR or MF systems. i can see tossing this little thing in my case and run off to a shoot. So no question the form factor is really nice the LCD screen going in all directions is also a big benefit for dog view and over the head views when shooting. i usually call shots over my head Hail Mary's because about all you can do is pray you are framed okay , with this no praying needed. Just adjust the LCD down and away you go and look up at the LCD for framing, nice touch for sure. So i do see the G1 as a really fun cute little camera. There is that word cute again. Hell I don't have a better word for it, it just is. Also the nice blue color i really like and from someone that has had maybe 50 different camera's in 35 years as black , well blue is kinda a change in color palette. LOL
Anyway just some first impressions and hope to get some quick and dirty shots up later. But i do see why your all so excited, i would be too if I had one.
Anyway she is coming for dinner tonight and I will download the images i shot and compare them with the 520 . I shot them side by side for a few shots but I have to say the G1 is a lot smaller and the lens is very small. Certainly a camera to walk around with for a week and not notice it is on your shoulder. The viewfinder i was very impressed by . The Oly feels like i am looking in a tunnel and the G1 is much nicer in that regard and felt more like a DSLR FF finder. One curious thing though it seemed darker than the Oly 520. I also noticed the highlights on the LCD blew faster. Now not sure that will relate to real blown highlights or the camera just gives off the warning faster. Which i tend to think it does. The G1 does have way to many things going on which is a good and bad thing too. Certainly it is RTFM scenario and maybe twice. Just a lot of stuff going on but once you get used to it i bet there is a ways to make it look not so complicated and just picking it up it is a little overwhelming with all the options that it has. So it is certainly nice to have the options but like most folks that know me i do like a simpler path in camera's. I also brought Terry the Leica M8 8.2 to look at . She was afraid to like it too much. Darn thing is really quiet now and almost have to listen to hear it go off. Big improvement for Leica in that area.
One other thing i see why so many are excited about and it certainly is cool as can be is the magnification for manual focus built in. Okay HUGE plus for that and also see why the M8 shooters are getting really excited about the adapter. This alone would make me buy a G1 no question. The g1 does not feel like a DSLR though and that could be a plus or minus depending on where you come from. the Oly certainly does but the big downfall on the 520 is the finder in my mind and the lenses are twice the size. We did do a side by side shot with the Oly 520 and G1 and it is a big difference with regards to the lenses . I have the 14-54 on the Oly and obviously the kit lens on the G1 and let's not underestimate the size difference it is a huge one.
Certainly this is a camera to throw in a bag as a backup for maybe your big DSLR or MF systems. i can see tossing this little thing in my case and run off to a shoot. So no question the form factor is really nice the LCD screen going in all directions is also a big benefit for dog view and over the head views when shooting. i usually call shots over my head Hail Mary's because about all you can do is pray you are framed okay , with this no praying needed. Just adjust the LCD down and away you go and look up at the LCD for framing, nice touch for sure. So i do see the G1 as a really fun cute little camera. There is that word cute again. Hell I don't have a better word for it, it just is. Also the nice blue color i really like and from someone that has had maybe 50 different camera's in 35 years as black , well blue is kinda a change in color palette. LOL
Anyway just some first impressions and hope to get some quick and dirty shots up later. But i do see why your all so excited, i would be too if I had one.