The Online Photographer

I think that Panasonic, viewing the growing EVIL market around them, have gone precisely the wrong way. Unless you're Tinkerbell, the last thing you needed, improvement wise, was something smaller than the GF1. Yet, in order to achieve this non-goal, they've sacrificed the one nose-ahead advantage they enjoyed over the competition - usability, as in dials, switches, etc. The last thing I want from a camera is the opportunity to smear it with my greasy fingertips in order to access basic controls in two or three steps, when previously it was one.

And pocketability? What is that, anyway? Really, who spends several hundred pounds/dollars on a camera to stick it in their fluff- and snotty hanky-filled pocket? In 30 years of owning cameras, I've never felt that particular need.

I wonder does the touch screen work with gloves on, for example when skiing. Touch screens can be tricky. I read a comment somewhere that an iPhone user used his nose to trigger the camera when skiing. Seems quite complicated.

"But I guess if you're going to get rid of the mirror you might as well get rid of the dials. It's all going in the same general direction."

It's news like that makes me sad since I keep hoping for an affordable manual-focus digital camera. Woe is me, it's never coming. If you say Leica M8 or M9, you lose a testicle. (Apologies to John Hughes and Jennifer Grey). And please don't tell me to get with the times and get an autofocus camera. I like to manual focus just like I enjoy the stick shift in my car. To each his own.

A Zeiss lens on a Canon or Nikon does not count because those cameras do not have viewfinders set up for manual focus. Along those lines, Mike, I remember you saying that the Contax Aria had great focus "snap." Are there any other manual-focus cameras that also have great focusing like that? Trying to search for "focus snap" on Google just doesn't seem to work. Thanks

And that, mefriends, is the way Mike is announcing that he is "shopping around" and having a tidal effecto on a specific camera.

Mebets: Pentax K5, or Sony SLT.
Reasons: Viewfinder, viewfinder, viewfinder; lowlight work, and ...

PRIMES!!!!!!
[so Mike back to the Pentax].

Mike, I am eagerly awaiting the X100 myself. I had considered the GF1 until the X100 was announced. If it lives up to what it appears to be, what a perfect little camera!(for its purpose of course)

seems to me the gf2 is a step backwards for serious photographers. i have the gf1 and i love it. why did they remove flash compensation in the gf2? i routinely dial it down to -1 or more just to add a little fill. and to remove the command dial and make everything menu driven (albeit touch screen) is absurd. not every camera has to be so small it fits into your pocket. there are plenty of them out there. including those made by panasonic. let's have one camera in the lineup that is gives the photographer more control, less. a real tool for making images. camera makers, please... please keep in mind that not every camera has to de-evolve into an expensive point and shoot.

The Nex 5 does NOT have a touch dial. Your post implies that it does.

Sorry, I don't understand the x100 reference

This is a tough one: but I'm actually FOR dropping the dial.

Whilst I think it made for a better LOOKING camera, I spent most of my time in either Aperture Priority or iA mode when I gave the camera to someone else. From a tactile perspective, the GF1's dial (and drive selector -- which could be moved far too easily) was a cheap plastic affair which should never have been on a camera that expensive -- especially when the switch gear only contributes about $5-$10 to the overall cost of the camera.

The new larger buttons on the rear look much more inviting -- and the smaller size: even better. But they have dropped the AE lock button, whilst they had the space for it. Given the GF1's spot metering mode, I loved this feature. I'm assuming (hoping?) it is replaced by a cool spot metering / focus touch screen feature.

I see they have kept the something similar to the old shutter release -- shame. I really wish those engineers at Panasonic would take the shutter release off the high end Nikons, if you were going to make a camera with a selling point around being more tactile, why not go for gold?

Or perhaps this is just all a ruse. What Panasonic have us waiting for is the GF1n, which will be water proof, drops the flash, the iA mode, has two control dials, faster focusing ...

Pak

I'm still shopping for a DSLR (a.k.a. DSL+reflex) camera these days, so I'm going in the other direction, myself.... the X100 due in March? I'm already saving my money for that.

Looks cool but it's a oddly chosen (over)buttoned design and no word on what Fuji means by "fast contrast AF" -- could be slower than your GF1, could have worse AF too (and a recent post by you said that was a problem for you). Save your money until after a few reviews!

Given your ownership and appreciation for the Minolta-mount design and lenses I'm a little suprised you're not looking at the a55 or upcoming a77. Small, light, fast-shooting, good AF and high ISO, and Sony has a sweet and inexpensive 30/2.8 macro that falls in your focal length sweet spot.

If you are giving up on EVFs for the time being, I understand. I have a G1 and like it a lot and while its EVF is better than the add-on for the GF1 (and is about the same as those in the Sonys) it is still an odd beast to deal with. I never realized how much I used to just look through my Nikon viewfinders, and I feel anxious with the EVFs because I worry about battery levels dropping, and I haven't sprung $45 for a 2nd battery yet.

I am a fickle bastard.

And more of a gearhound than you'd like too, I bet. Many of us are.

"What Panasonic have us waiting for is the GF1n, which will be water proof, drops the flash, the iA mode, has two control dials, faster focusing..."

...And body-integral IS.

Mike

Thanks for the x100 link!!

"I wonder does the touch screen work with gloves on, for example when skiing."

The iPhone screen (and other multi-touch screens I'd assume) is a type that requires electrical contact - and therefore won't work with gloves (or a stylus, or things in your pocket). Skin, however works properly unless it's very very dry. So yes, gloves won't operate it, but your nose will.

Other devices have pressure sensitive screens that use sound/light waves, or other types of electrical signals and can be triggered with anything.

So it depends on which type is used.

I just read this column again and this time, I picked up on the past tense of the sentence: "Large size never seemed to be a problem with my GF1, which always seemed very 'right-sized' to me."

Does this mean Mike has moved on from the GF1? Inquiring minds need to know! ;-)

I hadn't checked the K5 DxO numbers, they are quite impressive. For landscapes, that dynamic range must be sweet. And it looks like the best uber alles at low ISOs in that area. It pretty much equals the Canon 5DII pixel by pixel.
I wish I had money to switch gear more often, but I'm glad to see how good cameras are getting. Amazing.

I have a GF1 and love it, but, ironically, I would be tempted to upgrade only if the GF2 was slightly *larger* and had a built-in EVF.

Arrived here unexpectedly by a link so not a typical reader. I have owned and loved many gorgeous cameras since the seventies. Many Nikons, Linhofs, Leicas and an old Rollieflex TLR. They were all instruments of precision, a certain beauty and a physical pleasure to own, handle and to a degree lust after. They all gave excellent service, often for several decades repaying their cost in service profit and joy in handling. So far no affordable digital camera has appeared which is beautiful as an object and a joy to hold and operate and cause me to start planning an acquisition. This is a sad state of affairs.