Panasonic GF2
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 16:07 ;)
Mostly Hands │ GF2 + Voigtländer Nokton 25mm F0.95 │ 25mm F1.2 1/2000s ISO100My partner, Lindsey, needs a camera, but doesn't use it that much. I need a backup camera, which also gets used for incidental photography. In other words, when the primary aim of the trip is not photography and I want to carry as little gear as possible. No point lugging around a full kit when I'm not sure if I'll even be taking photos.
Her camera was a Canon S90, with which she took less than 2000 photos in the 1½ years she owned it. That's just not economical for taking so few photos. In our 4 week trip through India, she took little more than 100 photos with her S90. At the same time, I was lugging around a Panasonic GF1 as a backup camera which never got used once (Thankfully, otherwise it would have meant something happened to the GH2).
It occurred to me that she could carry and use my backup camera. That way we wouldn't be lugging around two rarely or never used cameras in addition to my primary camera. To serve as my backup body the new camera obviously had to be compatible with my micro Four Thirds lenses. That meant it had to be one of the Olympus Pen cameras or the Panasonic GF1/2.
;)
Lindsey wants a camera that is as light as possible. The S90 was pretty ideal for her as it weighed only 200g. Unfortunately, she takes quite a few photos indoors at social events where the Canon's small sensor struggled quite a bit. 90% of her photos are zoomed out to a wide 28mm (equivalent). So a 28mm (equivalent) prime lens is just fine. That's also an ideal focal length for someone who needs a small kit: the new Lumix 14mm F2.5 pancake lens is currently the world's smallest and lightest system camera lens.
Having decided that her needs would be best served by the tiny 14mm pancake, the choice of camera was pretty obvious: it's a lot cheaper to buy the lens as part of a kit, making the GF2 the obvious choice. Importantly, the GF2 is and feels more compact than the GF1 and competing Olympus Pen cameras.
;)
Lindsey just sets any camera on automatic and starts taking photos. The GF2 works extremely well in this mode. It's very adept at figuring out what kind of subject you're shooting and then selecting the appropriate settings. When one or more faces are detected, the camera automatically optimizes focus and exposure for the face(s). Panasonic's intelligent ISO lets the shutter speed drop to and adequate 1/60s before bumping up the sensitivity. If the camera detects subject motion and/or camera shake it uses 1/125s as long as the maximum sensitivity of 1600 allows it. That's pretty ideal for social situations without a flash. I've set up a custom mode for Lindsey with the best settings for automatic shooting. Even if she inadvertently changes a setting, turning the camera off and on again will cause the GF2 to revert to the saved settings.
;)
For my own use, I have some concerns about the simplified user interface of the GF2. Compared to the GF1, the GF2 has lost a number of direct controls while gaining a touch screen.
Two physical controls on the GF1 have been replaced with virtual buttons on the GF2's touch screen: the mode dial and the “DISPLAY” button. Once you get used to the new interface, neither is a problem. Two quick taps on the screen are required to change the shooting mode while tapping the virtual “DISP.” button toggles through the various amounts of on-screen information. Easy.
Not so easy to deal with is the missing AF/AE LOCK button. I need the ability to lock exposure independently of autofocus, so I programmed the GF2's “Q.MENU/Fn” to act as an AE lock. The button is not in an ideal location ergonomically, but it works. The problem is that I've now used the only programmable button on the camera. So I can't assign any additional functions. Unfortunately, I also need a quick way to access the metering mode.
To do this, I've enabled a virtual “Q.MENU” button on the GF2's screen. Tapping it once brings up a quick menu. It's programmable; you can add only those items you need to the quick menu to avoid having to scroll through items you don't need. To always get to exactly where I want, I've assigned one single item to the quick menu: the metering mode. That's quick: one tap to select the quick menu, then a tap on the desired metering mode followed by a half press of the shutter to confirm my selection.
Everything else is set in the camera's normal menu. I don't change other settings much anyway. Besides I still have 2 custom modes available for unique shooting conditions (the third is in use to store Lindsey's optimal settings).
;)
All this tapping on the screen is not without its downsides. First of all, there are a minimum of 2 (3 the way I have the camera set up) rather juvenile looking button icons obstructing parts of the edges of the frame. Fortunately Panasonic has thought to make all but the mode button disappear when you half press the shutter. Also stabbing at the glossy screen with greasy fingers doesn't do much for its visibility. Panasonic has thoughtfully provided a plastic pen which attaches to the camera strap. But you have to grab it first with your free hand before you can change settings on the screen. Maybe I should get a nail extension on the index finger of my left hand. Do they come in a matching “camera finish” black?
Generally though, the GF2's user interface is good enough. It's got all the essentials like full control over exposure, an ability to shoot RAW and custom modes. The controls are also firm and decisive and settings won't be changed unintentionally. There's nothing I hate more than dials and buttons with a mind of their own. But then you wouldn't expect that to be a problem on the GF2 since its predecessor was also good in this regard. And while we're on the subject of its predecessor, my old GF1 was perfectly suitable as a backup camera. But the GF1 + 20mm pancake lens was just a little to large to serve as Lindsey's primary camera.
When Lindsey's not using it, I'll use the GF2 as a compact camera that I always carry with me. I'll mainly use it with the larger 20mm pancake, popping its 14mm sibling into a corner of my pocket. That's a pretty small kit covering two useful focal lengths.
;)
Panasonic DMW-CGK3-K Body Case. I really like this leather case for the GF2 with either the 14mm or the 20mm pancake attached. The camera remains very accessible despite being in a protective case. I've posted more photos of the case here.
Pansonic GF2, impressions, review
Reader Comments (10)
LOL Sounds like someone just needed an excuse to buy an new toy. ;-)
Just kidding (sort of) your reasoning is certainly sound. I was curious about this camera but decided to go a different route for travel. Getting burned out on my last trip images with the Olympus XZ-1 and ready to find a way to fund some travel again and go somewhere else. Not sure where. Might even be in the U.S. Or, maybe back down to Mexico to do some writing in the desert.
After editing 52 of the images from the recent motorcycle trip that you already checked out I believe, I put the a gallery of them HERE
I've also been publishing photo book/mags on MagCloud. If you select perfect-bound and get the page number up there, the paper they use is heavier and the printing is stellar. They're not as expensive as blurb books and I have to say the printing is much better to my eye. You should do a book of your India photos. My most recent ones just used the Flickr set I designated and publishing is pretty easy. You can check out the ones I've done so far HERE but I'm not certain if they offer the service in your part of the world. I bet they do since they're owned by HP. You should definitely check them out because I've been really happy with the print quality and I know you share a similar aesthetic regarding images as I do. If you publish one with your best India photos, let me know!
Cheers,
Skip
What, a new camera? Uh, I mean, what a surprise :D I did not see that one coming. A GF2. And the ultimate question remains: "Does Lindsey like the camera?"
You're not that far off Skip: I'm using the "new toy" as well. I certainly did check out your gallery from your recent trip through the Southeastern US. I like how your photos really "pop." I need to experiment more to get more abstract results.
The MagCloud concept is great. I've printed books before, but never sold them online. Are you able to generate income this way? MagCloud itself is not quite international yet: for example, no metric paper size and shipping costs/restrictions outside their area.
I'll definitely do an India book!
Wouter; I didn't think anyone read the camera settings under the photos that I post. I guess you proved me wrong when you noticed a shot taken with the GF2. Lindsey at least was surprised. She really likes the camera; it's quite chic in its black leather body case. She seems to get good results with the camera, although she obviously hasn't tried it under a variety of conditions yet.
Not much, but it's great to be able to flip through and see how they look in print and use as a leave behind of your work. You might also check out FotoMoto. They've got code that's easy to install on a squarespace site that automatically installs some "buy print" etc. links in your squarespace galleries. I installed it on mine today and it seems to work fairly well from what I've seen so far. Heck out my image galleries. They've all now got the "buy print" etc. added and all I had to do is set my pricing, etc. and paste in the code in the squarespace backend. Really easy. Check it out HERE and click through one of the galleries. The new links are below the images. You can really fine tune it easily as well.
Hey Skip, you have a lot of great ideas for your site; I feel like I'm several steps behind.
Fotomoto looks good and the "easy" part sounds promising :-) Be great to earn some cash for the next toy.
Björn, I haven't had anything printed by them, but they don't do the printing. I've read good things about them and the printing in the U.S. is done by bayphoto. Their site says they're adding more printers worldwide though. Like I said, it was really easy to add the code after setting all my pricing parameters. When and if someone buys a print from you, you get an email that they need the hi-res version. Or, you can set it up where they can automatically have access to it. They also allow you to set pricing if someone wants to download a hi-res version for commercial use.
I tried them out about a year ago and found the backend confusing. I kept the account open but didn't use it. Then out of the blue I read about them and some others recommended them. I checked them out again yesterday and saw that they'd really improved the back end and even had easy instruction for adding to squarespace. Just passing it on to you my brothah! :-)
Skip, I'll give them a try, but first I have to update my galleries section. Keep passing it on!
hi could you tell me the filter brand and model you have on your GF2?
I assume you mean the optical filter for the 14mm pancake? I use a B+W 010 46mm UV-Haze MRC.