Hi All,
I see that many of you are looking at my post but I haven't gotten any replies so I thought that I would reply to myself.
The GX100 should be here Friday. I am getting excited for it's arrival and have been reading everything that I can find from users of this camera.
The only reasons that I didn't buy it in the first place was the RAW write times and the lack of a 1:1 RAW format. But when I weighed the reasons to buy against these two problems I finally found that I just couldn't pass it up. I have been looking for a small serious compact for years. The closest camera I found was the Panny LC1 (delightful lens but just too large, an incredible camera with a few problems otherwise) and the LX2 (fantastic lens but no viewfinder, no 1:1, no step zoom). I have discovered that I MUST have a viewfinder or the option to easily add one. No holding the camera at arms length for me. The 1:1 square format is a great added bonus too. I can get around the lack of RAW in this format. Maybe Ricoh can add RAW 1:1 to the firmware at some point. I worked with a TLR for years. I have been waiting forever for the perfect compact and even though one might show up this fall I just couldn't wait any longer.
This
http://flickr.com/groups/seriouscompacts/discuss/72157605687135206/ was pointed out on Amin's blog and really struck a chord with me as I have usually worked with one camera and very often one lens combination for long periods of time. It was interesting that this article came along as I have been doing some serious thinking on this subject lately.
My search for the perfect compact has taken me from camera to camera and I think that this has hurt my photography over the last few years. My current stable includes:
1) Pentax K10D with 18-55 AF, Sigma 24mm f/2.8 MF, Pentax 28mm f/2.8 AF, Pentax 35mm f/2.8 MF, Pentax 50mm f/1.8 MF.
2) Panny LX2.
3) Panny FZ7 long zoom.
4) Fuji F20 for a high ISO small family camera.
5) Pentax ZXn film camera.
6) Olympus Stylus Epic.
7) Olympus RC rangefinder.
8) Olympus RD rangefinder.
9) Yashicamat TLR with a broken shutter.
I think I got the majority and some of them are going to go. But I have tried and sold at least 4 to 5 compact digitals that I did not list over the last 3-4 years. Also, the film cameras are not getting used much anymore. (Laziness I guess.) I will not sell everything but some housecleaning is in order.
Before I bought my first digital back in 2002 I used a Yashicamat TLR, Leica M2 and a Pentax SLR with a 50mm lens for most of the 25 years of my photographic career and was pretty happy with them. I would work with one camera for long periods of time and got to know them very well. All of this digital hopping is not a good thing for me. I need to settle down with one camera for a while and be happy with it. Looking for the perfect digital has to stop for a while.
So my thinking was to forget about the perfect compact for a while and use the GX100 for the majority of my work for an extended period and see how it goes. I think that the GX100 can work for me. At least that is what I am hoping. I don't have it in my hands yet but I feel that I know it pretty well from the multitude of reviews and user reviews that I have read. I am very familiar with cameras and photography. So as I take inventory of what I really want in a compact here is what I find in no specific order.
1) RAW ability.
2) Option for a good viewfinder.
3) very sharp lens.
4) Decent sensor to make 11x14 to 13x19 prints with.
5) Small and light.
6) Easy to access the main photographic functions (this is where the LC1 and Digilux 2 excelled). I don't want to be fumbling with controls to make simple adjustments. Sean Reid's review of the GX100 really covers this well.
Thanks for listening.
