Panasonic Lumix GF1

[blueskye168]

Great camera for travelling.

Yes, agreed and that's why I initially so much wanted/eager to buy but :bigeyes:when you're running out-of-juice/no-batt liao...hahaha, then it'll definitely unable to record all those 'Precious Moments' anymore then it becomes many Great disappointments rather than Great camera for travelling liao:bsmilie::bsmilie: coz 3rd-party-batt is sooo:sweat:$$$:thumbsd:you know...sigh...!!!

 

[Ouverture]

Frankly speaking, normally we have to pay more when we adopt a new system or technology in the market.

If we are going to buy GF1 for it's small size and convenience, then we should be prepare to pay more for it's accessories or lenses.

I don't think the price of batteries is such a big issue since buying the camera at 1.5k is already not cheap.

We cannot compare this to DSLR or PNS...yes, many things are cheaper from those segments but not to forget that if you are looking at m4/3, it means this segment interests you and shouldn't be overly concerned too much in price of batteries.

In any case, you will only need the most 1 or 2 more extra batteries. If you need more juice, this segment is not for you.

 

[wire]

I do not quite agree. The problem is that each battery represents significant portion of the cost of the system. Even at S$150, it's 10% the cost of the camera system for each battery. While it is not an outright dealbreaker, the cost nevertheless is something buyers need to note, especially if you are used to paying S$50 for each battery. It's important to go into each system with your eyes wide open so that little things like these do not catch you offguard. That's why I always survey this forum before plunking in any money .

 

[wildcat]

I half disagree with Ouverture :wink:

While I agree when buying into a system, it comes with pros and cons, frankly the battery issue is a bit too much. Given that the two major four third players Olympus and Panasonic are offering compatible products, I keep wondering why Oly Flash are cheaper than Pana Flash, Oly batts are cheaper than Pana batts.

If Pana batteries were cheaper, 3rd party batteries may not be an issue afterall.

Things which a person who has not done homework may not know until he has committed to the system. But most of us who use Pana systems already know :embrass: Pana accessories are not cheap. Neither are Sony things. Maybe it's a Japanese thing :dunno:

 

[Ouverture]

I half disagree with Ouverture :wink:

While I agree when buying into a system, it comes with pros and cons, frankly the battery issue is a bit too much. Given that the two major four third players Olympus and Panasonic are offering compatible products, I keep wondering why Oly Flash are cheaper than Pana Flash, Oly batts are cheaper than Pana batts.

If Pana batteries were cheaper, 3rd party batteries may not be an issue afterall.

Things which a person who has not done homework may not know until he has committed to the system. But most of us who use Pana systems already know :embrass: Pana accessories are not cheap. Neither are Sony things. Maybe it's a Japanese thing :dunno:

Yes of course I agree that Pana should make their accessories cheaper for consumers to adopt their system easier, at least to normal consumers' wallets...

Who doesn't want everything to be cheap and good right?

However, sometimes as you also agree, we should not focus on things which are not the dealbreaker and keep pondering on them.

We really can't do much if Pana insists to sell their stuff at a premium. However, if the quality matches the requirement and affordable to the people buying it, I believe pricing of the batteries should not be affecting the decision of buying a camera with decent quality (better than PNS) and yet smaller than DSLR.

 

[taurian]

Hi, Thanks for your reply

Btw, are they(G1, GH1 and GF1)using the same battery-type?

As for that kind of price as stated above is like..... cos can you imagine if I were to purchase about 3 of this batteries for travel and...whatever, what will be the total $$$ then(ranging from about $405-$597...ahhh... and with this amount I can buy another lenses, speedlite and or even PnS liao lor...:sticktong)agree, bro??

Actually you don't need to buy 3 batteries cos you already get 1 in the package. So just need to buy 2. Plus if you buy your batteries from overseas merchants that ship to Singapore direct (VPost does not ship Li-Ion batteries so don't even try), their prices are way lower than our MSRP. Only thing you have to factor in is the shipping which can be marginal if you get a few more and "share" out with others (like what I did). In the end, you will be paying ~SGD120 (or lower depending on GST, shipping and forex rate) per batt which is still not too bad considering the features of the camera. I don't think I will ever let the price of batteries deter me from owning the camera, especially if I can circumvent the price issues by tapping on online merchants.

My main complaint now is the lack of m4/3 lenses to play with ;(. But all that is gonna change with the 20mm F1.7!

Forgot to add that G1, GH1 and GF1 are all using the same batt (and I have one more original batt to let go )

 

[Ouverture]

Exactly brother. How often do we actually replace our batteries? I would say from the day I buy, it stays with me until the camera up lorry or sold.

In fact, sometimes I don't even get to open up the spare battery...

This situation is like want to buy a big cc car and yet afraid that fuel consumption is too high...

 

[dRebelXT]

DC Resources samples are out now.. not exceedingly impressed..
I think I like Canon's way of treating the grasses better..

 

[Nature88]

Ouverture:

I beg to differ. Because some people uses Live View more, and especially on the GF1. Hence they might require more battery per trip. This need to be taken into consideration especially when GF1 did not have built in viewfinder. Maybe you have left this point out.

Personally, I think the higher tech the equipment is, the more battery juice they need. My 20D can last 2 full days outdoor shoot with no problem. I do sport shoot. But when I keep checking my picture with the display when doing personal shoot, after 30mins shooting time my battery will change to half a bar. And I do use battery grip as well. So Live View in short draws alot of power I assume. (20D no Live View, just checking pictures only!)

Besides, most review site will state the number of shots with VF and LV and you can see with LV the number of shots is reduce as much as a whopping 50%.

Regarding their quality, I cant say. Because I didnt own any of Pany camera and DSLR. But if their quality is as good as Leica ones, then I sure will pay for that amount. But GF1 is still a machine built DSLR like any DSLR, just that smaller. Better then P&S, that really depends on the user. Because I have seen people work with P&S really beat my pictures hands down with 20D. :embrass:

 

[Nature88]

blueskye168:

My apologies. Because I am actually a poly student, now is holiday hence working to save up for my lens. Thanks for understanding though.

And yea. I think the ID battery is sort of wrong move of Pany. Some sort of like killing their own market especially competition from Olympus is strong. :embrass:

Yupp. Agree that the battery ID is a :thumbsd:. But I doubt they will unlock their ID battery move since they just implemented on the G1, which is pretty new and the latest GH1. As for lens choices, I think Pany is pretty slow compared to Olympus. Haha. thanks for the compliment on the choices of lens.

 

[Nature88]

Wildcat:

True that Pany and Sony things are highly priced but quality wise I have no idea(didnt own any of the brands mentioned), maybe like you mentioned its Japanese pride. But I think they cant just cut the lower segment off which might in turn be their loyal customer in time to come, say student and amateur. $150/batt is really alot to me. (I can use that as 3 week expenses in school.)

Somehow I think they are killing their own market. Like Leica and Voigtlander. Leica didnt want to produce camera entry level RF which now the Voigtlander is mainly the provider of entry level RF. Now Leica are somehow stuck as people need cheap and good RF like RF journalist will go for Voigtlander instead of Leica. Even Voigtlander lens as good as Leica ones are at a quarter of the price.

So yea. Really need to do alot of research before dive in and invest in equipment. If not tio carrot head in long run also known as the road of no return.:bsmilie:

 

[Fotophilic]

my experiences of traveling with just one camera battery tells me that you just have to be mindful using it. Switch it off when not in use, off those stabiliser thing in broadday light, use evf instead of lcd, don't preview so much, charge it whenever possible, etc.

Don't think panasonic will reduce battery price based on this discussion here. No point. Ultimately, if the consumer can't bear the cost of the battery, he or she will just need to find other options.

 

[Ouverture]

Yup, cruel but that's life. Photography is not a cheap hobby to begin with anyway...

 

[blueskye168]

I do not quite agree. The problem is that each battery represents significant portion of the cost of the system. Even at S$150, it's 10% the cost of the camera system for each battery. While it is not an outright dealbreaker, the cost nevertheless is something buyers need to note, especially if you are used to paying S$50 for each battery. It's important to go into each system with your eyes wide open so that little things like these do not catch you offguard. That's why I always survey this forum before plunking in any money

Good points you've got:thumbsup:well said:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Well, as the saying goes "It's never a bad thing to think twice or even more than just concluded with just only a little/surface of thought given" understand...now...

 

[blueskye168]

I half disagree with Ouverture :wink:

While I agree when buying into a system, it comes with pros and cons, frankly the battery issue is a bit too much. Given that the two major four third players Olympus and Panasonic are offering compatible products, I keep wondering why Oly Flash are cheaper than Pana Flash, Oly batts are cheaper than Pana batts.

If Pana batteries were cheaper, 3rd party batteries may not be an issue afterall.

Things which a person who has not done homework may not know until he has committed to the system. But most of us who use Pana systems already know :embrass: Pana accessories are not cheap. Neither are Sony things. Maybe it's a Japanese thing

Yup, worth mentioning:thumbsup:
Yes, then most probably and safer=not much worries to bear if one were to use the Orig.Batt you see...so:thumbsup:

 

[blueskye168]

Actually you don't need to buy 3 batteries cos you already get 1 in the package. So just need to buy 2. Plus if you buy your batteries from overseas merchants that ship to Singapore direct (VPost does not ship Li-Ion batteries so don't even try), their prices are way lower than our MSRP. Only thing you have to factor in is the shipping which can be marginal if you get a few more and "share" out with others (like what I did). In the end, you will be paying ~SGD120 (or lower depending on GST, shipping and forex rate) per batt which is still not too bad considering the features of the camera. I don't think I will ever let the price of batteries deter me from owning the camera, especially if I can circumvent the price issues by tapping on online merchants.

My main complaint now is the lack of m4/3 lenses to play with ;(. But all that is gonna change with the 20mm F1.7!
Forgot to add that G1, GH1 and GF1 are all using the same batt (and I have one more original batt to let go )

Well, you'd have keep/retain your extra orig batt if you have the intention of purchasing GF1, agree bro?

Yes, so far(for my G7, TZ1, FZ50...)I'd used to owned 2-extra plus one is the Orig.Batt which I think somehow mixed-up during my calculation of extra-batt-costs so should be 2-Extra & 1-Orig.Batt...:thumbsup: (Do Note that my saying/mentioning of having at least 3-in-total-of-Extra-/batts is solely based on "Travelling experiences" that I'd encountered so far through the years and that's, if one were to shoot/snap here and there and almost any/whatever deemed suitable and most importantly "Worth to record for memories"(which usually happened to be quite alot/plentyful cos those were places which we/I've not been to before, right...?) purposes shots, than I can confidently tell you to "try-it-out" your own "Travelling-with only One or just Two-batt/s", then you'll certainly agree that even 2-in total may sometimes likely to still faced with "Out-of-juice" situation when evening or night time approaches=no batt for night or even dinner/supper food/sceneries shoots liao:cry:then even a good/light-weight camera also pointless, do you guys agree at this point of time???

 

[blueskye168]

Exactly brother. How often do we actually replace our batteries? I would say from the day I buy, it stays with me until the camera up lorry or sold.

In fact, sometimes I don't even get to open up the spare battery...

This situation is like want to buy a big cc car and yet afraid that fuel consumption is too high...

(IMPORTANT: Do take Note that we(which included you, me and those extra-batt-related)are just Purely sharing each of our point-of-view and requirements may base/apply on different scenarios of whether or not to get how many extra-batt for this case, so hopefully all bros will be as as we can thus far:thumbsup:yah)

I believed when you mentioned that "How often do we actually replace our batteries? and sometimes I don't even get to open up the spare battery, is most likely based on normal to shorter or not-so-much-phototaking scenarios right, bro?

 

[blueskye168]

Ouverture:

I beg to differ. Because some people uses Live View more, and especially on the GF1. Hence they might require more battery per trip. This need to be taken into consideration especially when GF1 did not have built in viewfinder. Maybe you have left this point out.

Personally, I think the higher tech the equipment is, the more battery juice they need. My 20D can last 2 full days outdoor shoot with no problem. I do sport shoot. But when I keep checking my picture with the display when doing personal shoot, after 30mins shooting time my battery will change to half a bar. And I do use battery grip as well. So Live View in short draws alot of power I assume. (20D no Live View, just checking pictures only!)

Besides, most review site will state the number of shots with VF and LV and you can see with LV the number of shots is reduce as much as a whopping 50%.

Regarding their quality, I cant say. Because I didnt own any of Pany camera and DSLR. But if their quality is as good as Leica ones, then I sure will pay for that amount. But GF1 is still a machine built DSLR like any DSLR, just that smaller. Better then P&S, that really depends on the user. Because I have seen people work with P&S really beat my pictures hands down with 20D. :embrass:

Fully agreed with Nature88's trips experiences:thumbsup:

 

[blueskye168]

blueskye168:

My apologies. Because I am actually a poly student, now is holiday hence working to save up for my lens. Thanks for understanding though.

And yea. I think the ID battery is sort of wrong move of Pany. Some sort of like killing their own market especially competition from Olympus is strong.

Yupp. Agree that the battery ID is a :thumbsd:. But I doubt they will unlock their ID battery move since they just implemented on the G1, which is pretty new and the latest GH1. As for lens choices, I think Pany is pretty slow compared to Olympus. Haha. thanks for the compliment on the choices of lens.

Well, all I can say is :thumbsup:move and bet you'll take even better care of your gears purchased with your own hard earned $money$, right bro??

Btw, do PM me if you'd like to pick-up a little more in terms of photography...yah =)

 

[blueskye168]

Yup, cruel but that's life. Photography is not a cheap hobby to begin with anyway...

Yeah...absolutely

What can we do then:dunno:, just have to move on then