Panasonic GF1 Field Report from Luminous Landscape

John Krumm says:

“The easiest way to summarize this accessory EVF is that it doesn’t hold a candle to the industry leading EVF on the G1 and GH1. But, it works, and is a whole lot better than not having one at all. The US price is $200, which is pretty expensive for what it is, but I still feel that it’s almost a must-have if you’re going to be considering using a GF1 for anything more than snapshots.”

The review is ok, not great, but the reviewer is just plain wrong when saying that lcd’s are only for “snapshots.” Certainly any of the sample shots he showed could be make with an lcd. We’ve got loads of photographers taking much more than “snapshots” with lcd’s all over the planet, and people are still saying stuff like this. Chase Jarvis does alright with his phone. I can compose with a fair amount of care using the stamp-sized lcd on an old Fuji I have. Just state your preference for a viewfinder, and leave it at that.

Mart says:

I love their site but I’m surprised at the almost off the cuff remark “Video mode is restricted to 720P mode rather than 1080i. That’s about it.”

This implies the video mode is almost as good as the GH1, which I bought partly based on their review!

If I want to use AVCHD and buy the GF1 here in the UK I’m shooting at 25fps. The GH1 will do 50fps – i.e. the same framerate as TV, (video) DVDs and most camcorders.

I recently edited together a DVD combining 50i and 30p. The 30p footage isn’t pretty. Perhaps shooting 25fps and doubling each frame to give 50p is better but still, the difference in motion judder will be clearly noticeable.

And note of course the GH1 will do 1080p at 24fps, not 1080i as stated. Not to mention the audio quality.