[Leica] more on the GF-1, the finder, and a portrait of an artist

[henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff)]

I agree, Dick. The differences are indeed there, 
and I use both. The G1 is more versatile, and has 
that great EVF. The GF1's EVF is not nearly as 
good, is slightly more awkward in use and 
appearance, and I don't use it with the camera 
more than 10% of the time. Mostly I use the C/V 
minifinder, which is tiny and works great with 
the 20mm lens. You still have the option of using 
the back LCD at any time when you want to check 
data before a shot, but I don't have any problem 
ignoring the LCD and just looking through the 
viewfinder.

I don't think I'd want to forego the G1 if I 
intend to use zooms at all. Also for macro the 
articulated screen is great. On the other hand, 
the GF1 with the 20 and a viewfinder is a very 
nice package in itself.



>Joe - I know you were asking Henning, but since 
>I have both, I thought I'd comment as well.  I 
>got the GF-1 specifically so I could use an 
>optical finder with the Lumix 20mm pancake lens. 
>It's a great combination.  You can't easily use 
>an optical finder on the G-1.  I use the G-1 
>with my Leica lenses, use the EVF for focus and 
>framing, and open my left eye to decide the 
>moment of exposure.
>
>They're both great cameras but enough different in use to have both.
>
>Regards,
>
>Dick
>
>
>
>On Jan 11, 2010, at 7:15 AM, joe leung wrote:
>
>>  Dear Henning,
>>
>>  I have the G1 and love it's EVF. Is GF1 so 
>>much better than the G1 as to warrant trading 
>>up?
>>
>>  Best Regards,
>>  Joe Leung
>>  (Still in Hong Kong)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>  ________________________________
>>  From: Henning Wulff <henningw at archiphoto.com>
>>  To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
>>  Sent: Sun, January 10, 2010 4:38:55 AM
>>  Subject: Re: [Leica] more on the GF-1, the 
>>finder, and a portrait of an artist
>>
>>  It's quite easy to focus manually. With the 
>>latest software you can set it to magnify the 
>>image with one press of the multifunction 
>>wheel, so you do that when you focus and then 
>>touch the shutter button lightly to get back to 
>>composing. It's really quite quick and smooth. 
>>You can do it fairly decently with the back 
>>screen as well as the electronic viewfinder. 
>>The EV is fairly coarse, so while focussing is 
>>actuall quite easy and possible, it doesn't 
>>give you the confidence a higher resolution 
>>screen would give. The coarseness of the screen 
>>might be related to the size of the viewfinder, 
>>since the better viewfinder of the Olympus EP-2 
>>is a lot bigger, making the camera fairly 
>>clumsy in my opinion. Neither are as good as 
>>the electronic viewfinder in the G1, so if 
>>you're mainly interested in using an electronic 
>>viewfinder you're probably best off getting the 
>>G1, which with lens isn't any bigger than the 
>>GF-1 with electronic viewfinder in every 
>>dimension, and
>>  you get a better and integrated viewfinder and a swiveling LCD.
>>
>>  I use the 20/1.7 (since October) mostly with 
>>the GF-1 with the VC mini-28-35 finder, and 
>>sometimes Leica lenses from 35 on up. The 
>>shorter lenses haven't produced satisfactory 
>>results, and now that I have the 20 haven't 
>>been as important.
>>
>>  I especially like the 50 ASPH; easy to focus, 
>>high speed and a good portrait length without 
>>being too big. The 75/1.4 is also excellent, 
>>but starts being a bit of a handful. The 
>>interesting thing is that as you stop down, the 
>>view through the viewfinder doesn't get darker 
>>but the dof increases.
>>
>>
>>
>>>  On Jan 9, 2010, at 10:20 AM, Nathan Wajsman wrote:
>>>
>>>>    Wonderful, Kyle. By coincidence, I 
>>>>received my GF-1 today and have tested it a 
>>>>bit this afternoon, inside a bar and on the 
>>>>street. Very pleasant indeed. I got it with 
>>>>the 1.7/20mm lens too, but I also have the 
>>>>M-MFT adapter, so tomorrow I will test it 
>>>>with my M lenses.
>>>
>>>
>>>  this all sounds like a very attractive 
>>>combination, especially with the Pana 20mm 1.7 
>>>lens. If you use it with the electronic 
>>>viewfinder, adapter, and manual focus M 
>>>lenses, how easy is focussing through the 
>>>viewfinder? compared to the LCD screen ? Is 
>>>focussing easy enough to attract people who 
>>>care to frequently use their leica M lenses 
>>>with manual focus?
>>>
>>>  thanks,
>>>
>>>  Steve
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>    Cheers,
>>>>    Nathan
>>>>
>>>>    Nathan Wajsman
>>>>    Alicante, Spain
>>>>    http://www.frozenlight.eu
>>>>    http://www.greatpix.eu
>>>>    http://www.nathanfoto.com
>>>>
>>>>    Books: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/search?search=wajsman&x=0&y=0
>>>>    PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
>>>>    Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>    On Jan 9, 2010, at 5:44 PM, Kyle Cassidy wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>    I'm finding the GF-1 with the 20mm f 1.7 
>>>>>an awesome ... really, substitute for what I 
>>>>>used to use my Leica for. Though it gets 
>>>>>noisy at 400 asa, the lens is fast enough 
>>>>>and sharp enough that I'm finding it not 
>>>>>difficult to shoot in relatively low light 
>>>>>situations at 100 or 200 ASA and for 
>>>>>on-the-fly portraits, it's been fabulous -- 
>>>>>two photos of the painter John Ennis 
>>>>>(www.johnennis.com)
>>>>>
>>>>>    http://www.kylecassidy.com/lj/2010/john-ennis-1.jpg
>>>>>    http://www.kylecassidy.com/lj/2010/john-ennis-2.jpg
>>>>>
>>>>>    I really like having JUST A CAMERA in my 
>>>>>_pocket_. It seems when I leave the house 
>>>>>with the Leica d700 I'm always thinking 
>>>>>"well, I need to take the 85 1.8 because 
>>>>>it's an awesome lens. but it's too telephoto 
>>>>>for a lot of stuff, so i'd better take a mid 
>>>>>range zoom. Oh, and heck, the room might be 
>>>>>crowded, so I'd better bring the fisheye, 
>>>>>cause it's small and all. Heck, if I'm 
>>>>>bringing that I should bring a flash, and I 
>>>>>can't bring the flash without the cable, 
>>>>>because on camera flash blows......" and now 
>>>>>my back hurts.
>>>>>
>>>>>    The electronic viewfinder (i wanted to do 
>>>>>a macro through the lens but it's not in the 
>>>>>cards) isn't a gimic -- its really useful. I 
>>>>>MUCH MUCH MUCH prefer shooting through a 
>>>>>viewfinder to using the screen on the back 
>>>>>of the camera, i'd consider the finder part 
>>>>>of the camera (i.e. don't get one without 
>>>>>the other). it's a low resolution LCD but 
>>>>>it's fine for composing, you know what the 
>>>>>scene looks like (if you forget, just open 
>>>>>your other eye). i don't think an optical 
>>>>>finder will work nearly as well, because you 
>>>>>have your exposure and FOCUS info in the 
>>>>>electronic finder as well and you needs 
>>>>>that. you can also change the angle of the 
>>>>>finder and look straight down into it if 
>>>>>you'd like, useful for shooting straight up 
>>>>>or around corners (you can totally hold the 
>>>>>camera around a corner and look through the 
>>>>>finder -- i don't know why you would, but 
>>>>>you can).
>>>>>
>>>>>    it's surprisingly loud. the shutter goes 
>>>>>off with a "CLICK" you can feel, seriously, 
>>>>>it's like a tiny mousetrap went off inside 
>>>>>the camera. by default focus is also 
>>>>>acknowledged by a chirp (you can turn off 
>>>>>sounds).
>>>>>
>>>>>    and it's FAST, like a lot faster than i 
>>>>>can wind and shoot a leica (you can probably 
>>>>>kick it's butt with a rapidwinder, but you 
>>>>>won't accidentally stab yourself in the leg 
>>>>>with this one. This really is the digital 
>>>>>LikaLeica I've been waiting for.  It just 
>>>>>needs a couple of stickers.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>    I am totally listening to Led Zeppelin IV right now.
>>>>>
>>>>>    kc
>>>>>
>>>>>    _______________________________________________
>>>>>    Leica Users Group.
>>>>>    See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>    _______________________________________________
>>>>    Leica Users Group.
>>>>    See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>>
>>>
>>>  _______________________________________________
>>>  Leica Users Group.
>>>  See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>
>>  --
>>    *            Henning J. Wulff
>>    /|\      Wulff Photography & Design
>>  /###\  mailto:henningw at archiphoto.com
>>  |[ ]|    http://www.archiphoto.com
>>
>>  _______________________________________________
>>  Leica Users Group.
>>  See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>_______________________________________________
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-- 

    *            Henning J. Wulff
   /|\      Wulff Photography & Design
  /###\   mailto:henningw at archiphoto.com
  |[ ]|     http://www.archiphoto.com