[Leica] Re: Micro 4/3

[leica at screengang.com (Didier Ludwig)]

Frank

I've checked the G1 in a local store recently. It's true the finder is 
bigger and brighter (or lets say more illimunated) than of any Oly 
E-something, but personally I guess I'd have a long time to get used to that 
pixel viewer, though the pixels are significantly smaller than in all other 
EVF's I've seen. Then I also noticed a small time lag, and also noticed 
strong AF troubles when heading it into a dark corner. And as, said, the 
size  is about the same of a E-420 or 520 while I expected such a camera to 
be smaller. But this is just a beginning and the system has nevertheless an 
interesting potential. 

I'm still not shure if such a body is really interesting for old manual 
focus lenses, but that's up to each one's taste. For many, the ability 
ofusing their old glass is the main feature a new body must have. Personally 
I prefer AF on dslr cameras, and manual focus on rangefinders.

The micro 4/3 advantage is compactness together with a sensor bigger than 
almost all other compacts, but in terms of picture quality (and also manual 
focusing ability) it likely can't rival the middle and upperclass dslrs with 
aps-c or bigger, or a M8.

Btw, the E-420 viewfinder is small, but definitely not dim. I just looked 
through it and compared the brightness with a M6 (with MP upgraded finder) 
and the R-D1. The R-D1 wins this comparison hands down, but to my own 
surprise, the M6 is clearly dimmer than the Olympus' finder, which is as 
sharp, but brighter. I also can't share your opinion about the Olympus 
autofocus, mine (a E-420) is astonishingly fast and accurate, and from what 
I've heard from users the E-3 is quite better. I've shot a junior sport 
event with the 420, yesterday, and of course I had a lot of unsharp pics, 
but less than with a rangefinder, and not more than with another DSLR except 
the high end pro Canons and Nikons with their advanced AF features.

Didier




At 12:03 07.12.2008, Frank Dernie wrote:
>I had a play with a Panasonic G1 at Photokina. I was particularly  
>interested by the viewfinder since I find the Olympus 4/3 optical  
>viewfinders give an awfully small and dim view. Th E3 is the biggest  
>and brightest 4/3 finder so far but the autofocus is poor and the  
>screen not good enough for consistent manual focus results (though,  
>with long lenses, I get a better hit ratio with manual than auto focus).
>The G1 viewfinder was much better than I was expecting, both big and  
>bright. The only problem I had was that the little press and turn  
>adjustment wheel on the front grip was almost impossible not to press  
>accidentally whilst holding up to the eye. About 1/3 of the people at  
>the booth, myself included, were looking puzzled as the camera beeped  
>warnings and they tried to guess what pressing the dial did.
>I have no idea about picture quality, and the sensor has almost the  
>same pixel density as would be found on a 50 megapixel full frame  
>sensor, so noise is unlikely to be a strong point.
>The viewfinder is by far the best I have tried on a 4/3 camera.
>Frank



>On 6 Dec, 2008, at 23:24, Didier Ludwig wrote:
>
>>There's one micro 4/3 model out, the Panasonic Lumix G1, which has  
>>received mixed reviews so far. It's literally as big as the smallest  
>>dslr models on the market, but with no optical viewfinder. An  
>>interesting Micro 4/3 camera could be, IMO, a very small body  
>>without EVF, but hotshoe for accessory finders, and fast, compact  
>>primes. That would fill the gap between the APS-C dslr and the usual  
>>1/1.8" sensor compacts, and also fill the pocket of many LUGgers,  
>>likely.
>>But I'm not shure how much sense it makes to use bigger, heavier,  
>>older lenses with limited functionality on a digital system which is  
>>intended for compactness and digital conveniences like contrast  
>>autofocus and others.
>>But as an alternative to a M8, just for using Leica glass with  
>>(expensive) adapters, but no rangefinder coupling - hmm, don't know.
>>Didier



>>>Does anyone have any information about the progress of the micro 4/3
>>>cameras? I have plenty of Leica lenses but can't afford a new M8.
>>>Larry Z