Micro Four Thirds
April 22, 2010 06:06 PM Filed in: Gadget
I have been eyeing large sensor small cameras, particularly the micro four thirds format, for some time now. The obvious reason to get a small camera is that it is with me more often, especially when I am traveling—which I do frequently. Carrying the hulking Nikon D700 with its huge lenses is not always practical, for example when I am out at dinner with the family or at a school event with the kids. Two things had been holding me back until recently. The first was the that the right product (for me) wasn't out yet—each of the initial first generation products on the market had some shortcoming. The second was that these cameras were not supported by Apple Aperture which is my primary raw converter, photo editor and cataloguer.
Both of these issues are solved with second generation products and upgrades to Apple Aperture. I finally acquired a micro four thirds camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1. The other choices were the Olympus pen EP-1 or EP-2, the Leica M9, and the Leica X1. What made me go with the panasonic in the end were:
The Panasonic GF1 image quality is as good as an entry level DSLR (but costs twice as much). And its ability to focus and meter are also as good as an entry level DSLR both in terms of accuracy as well as speed. I have been using it for a few months now and it goes with me where ever I go. I have two lenses with it—the 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens and the 14-140mm f/4-5.8 zoom with silent focus. The added bonus is the video capability. The GF1 takes superb video at 720p / 24 frames/sec so I can mix and match video clips during editing with clips from my larger video camera. Of course, the sound quality does not match the large camera but the image quality is good enough for mixing clips. With the 14-140mm lens I also get continuous focussing and it is completely silent so there is no sound to interfere with the recording.
You can see some photos using the Panasonic GF1 from my trip to the Joshua Tree National Park here. The captions on the photos identify which camera/lens was used for each photo.
Both of these issues are solved with second generation products and upgrades to Apple Aperture. I finally acquired a micro four thirds camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1. The other choices were the Olympus pen EP-1 or EP-2, the Leica M9, and the Leica X1. What made me go with the panasonic in the end were:
- It had fast and accurate autofocus compared to the others (this is important when photographing people, especially children)
- It was less than one tenth the price of the Leica M9
- It can have interchangeable lenses unlike the Leica X1
The Panasonic GF1 image quality is as good as an entry level DSLR (but costs twice as much). And its ability to focus and meter are also as good as an entry level DSLR both in terms of accuracy as well as speed. I have been using it for a few months now and it goes with me where ever I go. I have two lenses with it—the 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens and the 14-140mm f/4-5.8 zoom with silent focus. The added bonus is the video capability. The GF1 takes superb video at 720p / 24 frames/sec so I can mix and match video clips during editing with clips from my larger video camera. Of course, the sound quality does not match the large camera but the image quality is good enough for mixing clips. With the 14-140mm lens I also get continuous focussing and it is completely silent so there is no sound to interfere with the recording.
You can see some photos using the Panasonic GF1 from my trip to the Joshua Tree National Park here. The captions on the photos identify which camera/lens was used for each photo.
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