[ Field Testing ] - Part 1 of Panasonic m43 G1 with 45-200mm!!!!

[microcosm]

I realised that over the last few days with the G1, is that its Auto WB sensing is far more superior than Olympus cameras. This is somewhat a surprising and disappointing (towards Olympus) find. I have switched to shooting in jpg from RAW just for the sake of testing the camera performance, and this camera turns up awesome for events shooting! I would take this camera out for events coverage anytime.

Contrary to the report earlier about the reddish cast when using flash, I personally like warm skin tones in my photos, and this can be easily fixed. The consistency of the Auto WB detection is a BIG plus for the Panasonic G1... very impressive indeed.

I am waiting in serious anticipation for what Olympus has to offer for their m43 body... it is getting to become a very impressive system afterall.

 

[egnaro]

I realised that over the last few days with the G1, is that its Auto WB sensing is far more superior than Olympus cameras. This is somewhat a surprising and disappointing (towards Olympus) find. I have switched to shooting in jpg from RAW just for the sake of testing the camera performance, and this camera turns up awesome for events shooting! I would take this camera out for events coverage anytime.

Contrary to the report earlier about the reddish cast when using flash, I personally like warm skin tones in my photos, and this can be easily fixed. The consistency of the Auto WB detection is a BIG plus for the Panasonic G1... very impressive indeed.

I am waiting in serious anticipation for what Olympus has to offer for their m43 body... it is getting to become a very impressive system afterall.

I am impressed by this cute little professional camera as well.

 

[spidey89]

same here,am impressed,now am excited for Olympus's own camera,wonder how will it be like

 

[eow]

I realised that over the last few days with the G1, is that its Auto WB sensing is far more superior than Olympus cameras. This is somewhat a surprising and disappointing (towards Olympus) find. I have switched to shooting in jpg from RAW just for the sake of testing the camera performance, and this camera turns up awesome for events shooting! I would take this camera out for events coverage anytime.

Contrary to the report earlier about the reddish cast when using flash, I personally like warm skin tones in my photos, and this can be easily fixed. The consistency of the Auto WB detection is a BIG plus for the Panasonic G1... very impressive indeed.

I am waiting in serious anticipation for what Olympus has to offer for their m43 body... it is getting to become a very impressive system afterall.

Hi microcosm the panny range of digital camera awb all along since the fz1 day had been very accurate in particularly the cwb which worth mentioning abt is by far the easiest n the most accurate under any indoor lighting whether it tungsten, fluoroscent and incandesent lighting even without the aid of any white or grey subject for colour sampling.
of course the G1 had bring it up to another level....
however my gripe is still the reddish tone if used with bounce flash when last tried on mike camera....may i knw which film colour setting u using?
some of them exhib more reddish tone than others.

 

[microcosm]

Hi microcosm the panny range of digital camera awb all along since the fz1 day had been very accurate in particularly the cwb which worth mentioning abt is by far the easiest n the most accurate under any indoor lighting whether it tungsten, fluoroscent and incandesent lighting even without the aid of any white or grey subject for colour sampling.
of course the G1 had bring it up to another level....
however my gripe is still the reddish tone if used with bounce flash when last tried on mike camera....may i knw which film colour setting u using?
some of them exhib more reddish tone than others.

The reddish tone, I believe, comes from the camera trying to balance between its flash output and the ambient light (usually tungsten indoor lights that is causing the more severe colour cast of reds). There are times when it is very warm and there are times when it is ok (really pending on the ambient light in the place where I am shooting). I am using "standard" mode, setting the ambient light to be little under by -0.3~-0.7EV which should yield a "colder" image. But that said, I try not to use the on board flash because it is weak and try to use a more powerful external flash which I have no problems whatsoever.

Maybe it is also my personal preference for warmer images too. I don't like "balanced" or "cold" images unless it is a special effect that I am trying to achieve. People tends to look healthier when the image is overall warm.

Hope this sheds some light into your settings.

 

[tao]

I actually prefer this 'reddish tone' from the Lumix cameras... when shooting flash photography with my L1, in comparison with Olympus gear, I prefer the output from the L1, simply because in spite of using flash, the output is much more close to what I see with my eyes. So this 'WB compensation' is very much welcomed.

 

[denizenx]

slightly OT also, tried handling it at Best Denki, but find the grip similar to the Canon 450D -- not comfy...

 

[microcosm]

slightly OT also, tried handling it at Best Denki, but find the grip similar to the Canon 450D -- not comfy...

Yup, like I mentioned, it is meant for smallish hands. But the handling is good nevertheless, and well built.

 

[nightpiper]

U THE MAN!! :thumbsup:

Which camera colour o/p u prefer? Panny or Oly? Lens quality shud be something like the ZD 12-60 judging from ur comments?

I like the lamp in the corner & conrad's bear tree pic no.1 :lovegrin:

 

[microcosm]

U THE MAN!! :thumbsup:

Which camera colour o/p u prefer? Panny or Oly? Lens quality shud be something like the ZD 12-60 judging from ur comments?

I like the lamp in the corner & conrad's bear tree pic no.1 :lovegrin:

Thanks bro.

Camera color, Panny's colours are "sweet", pretty and cheerful, in my opinion. Not easy to push this camera to produce gritty images which I like. Which becomes the problem for me. Therefore I still long to use my E-3.

No no no, the lens are not comparable to the ZD HG. Better than some of the ZD SG but not yet at the ZD HG quality, somewhat contrast details are not there. (Hence the pretty images). One thing I have to say, this is a well engineered and designed system and Panny did not cut corners. Body operations are amazing, the Live View, like I have mentioned, is the bench mark now for Live View operations.

That is why I am waiting for the Olympus release for the m43 body. And lens.

Glad you like the pics. I love them too... the Conrad bears cheer me up, hope it does for you too...

 

[Adammax]

Microcosm,

How is the Contrast AF performance. Whats your view when compared to traditional Phase AF?

 

[microcosm]

Microcosm,

How is the Contrast AF performance. Whats your view when compared to traditional Phase AF?

For my shooting needs, the AF is unreliable, with me having to reach for the focusing ring many times when I am doing delicate shooting, but the deeper DOF from the slower lenses compensates well for normal shooting.

If you use working distance of lenses a lot to achieve shallow DOF in your shooting or critical shooting like news coverage, you might want to consider a professional camera with reliable AF system. But for general shooting where you can take your time, then the G1 is overall good.

The AF system is not very suited for demanding framing and professional journalistic work in my opinion. But then again, this is a consumer "prosumer" level camera. You get what you pay for. When you try to isolate something in a crowd, you will be reaching for the manual focusing ring definitely. Standard shooting, the AF is a real performer. I got used to it pretty quickly and it yielded 85% AF, pretty much up to par with any other camera. In low light, however, it will have some problems. (But note this, even if it does achieve a lock at low light, the image taken will be crappy in any case, bad lighting equals bad picture).

Hope this answers your question.

 

[Adammax]

Thanks microcosm.

Looks like m4/3 AF still isnt as good its 4/3 counterpart. I read that Contrast AF is 'stop focus'. This will delay the AF and wont be as responsive as Phase AF.

I was wondering if Oly and Pan and segregate into various levels for m4/3 aiming at various needs.

 

[microcosm]

Thanks microcosm.

Looks like m4/3 AF still isnt as good its 4/3 counterpart. I read that Contrast AF is 'stop focus'. This will delay the AF and wont be as responsive as Phase AF.

I was wondering if Oly and Pan and segregate into various levels for m4/3 aiming at various needs.

I have to be fair to the G1. The camera has inherited something from Panasonic's superb R&D with video cameras... it "pre-empt focus" (something you have to see to understand) so that there is little effort to fine tune the focusing, thus making its focusing fast... it kinda guess the focusing for you, and helps you fine tune the focusing... cannot recall what is this technology called.

So this makes up for its lacking thus overall, it is still a pretty fast focusing camera. Just not fine/robust/reliable enough for professional work. For a journalist who needs speed, this camera system might not be suitable but for general shooting, it is more than suffice. See my action shots... it was more than 80% usable. That speaks a lot about the AF capabilities of the AF system.

 

[sprit]

Please Microcosm, you can upload pics in full size or make link for see in full size.

Thanks

 

[microcosm]

Please Microcosm, you can upload pics in full size or make link for see in full size.

Thanks

Let me go sort them and post something... hmmm...

 

[Rurouni]

Hey v nice shots. I think this micro system has some potential.. Maybe a slightly slimmer rangefinder like body would be cool with some micro prime lenses

Oh what's the street price of the G1 anyways?