[Leica] OT Pana GF1 (20 pancake) & Ricoh GRD-III Mark's views now he has a GF1

[mark at whitedogs.co.uk (Mark Pope)]

Having just taken delivery of a GF1 with 20 Pancake lens, my initial 
thoughts are that I am going to get along famously with this camera.
Likes:

- overall build quality

- size - not too big, not too small.  Perfect for Goldilocks :-)

- ergonomics - it didn't take too long to suss out where everything was. 
  Why though does a camera need a 196-page manual (see below...)

- optical quality - which is what really matters isn't it?  The first 
few prints that I have made are nice an sharp and the colour rendition 
is excellent (according to Karin, whose colour vision is much, much 
better than mine).

- autofocus - the face-detection and follow-focus features work very 
well indeed.

Dislikes:

- the battery/SD card door feels a bit flimsy.  It spoils an otherwise 
very nicely made camera.

- vertical pictures are not auto-rotated when imported to Lightroom.  I 
subsequently discovered that this feature which is known as the 
'direction detection feature', isn't supported with the 20mm pancake 
lens.  Not a deal-breaker, but as I like to shoot portrait format quite 
a lot, it's an annoyance.

- more modes than you can shake a stick at.  I think the camera was 
dipped in Complicatonite. There are scene modes: 17 of them, plus the 
usual Program, Aperture priority, Shutter Priority, manual, movie, 
intelligent auto, two custom modes and one with an artist's pallette, 
which I have no idea about.  Then there are the flash modes (which I 
haven't looked at yet).  This little camera is very a la mode!   In 
short, I think it, like many other cameras of Japanese origin, is too 
complicated.  Features have been added for three reasons: first because 
the marketers think it's a good idea, second because the opposition do 
it and third because they can.

In terms of physical size, the body is roughly the same size as a Ricoh 
GR1 (film compact) with the lens retracted.  The 20mm lens is quite a 
big lens and does add considerably to the bulk of the camera (it's not 
really  pocketable) but the balance is nice.

For me, the biggest advantage of the GF1 is definitely the 4/3 sensor. 
I've used it up to ISO 800 and produced some pleasing prints.  Yes, they 
are noisy, but whether the noise is acceptable is a personal thing.

Overall, then I think it's a smashing piece of kit.  I haven't tried an 
optical finder yet: that's on its way thanks to Nathan.
Is it better than the GRD III?  Probably.  Whilst the Ricoh is now in 
its third generation, I feel that the small sensor will still be a 
limiting factor in its overall image quality.  I have heard that 
Panasonic are due to bring out a 14mm pancake lens, giving a field of 
view equivalent to a 28mm.  Now that will be an interesting combination!

I hope you find this useful.  Pictures to follow, probably when I post 
my PAW on Friday.

Best wishes


Mark

Mark Pope,
Swindon, Wilts
UK

Homepage               http://www.monomagic.co.uk
Blog                   http://www.monomagic.co.uk/blog
Picture a week (2010)  http://www.monomagic.co.uk/index.php?gallery=paw/2010
Picture a week (2009)  http://www.monomagic.co.uk/index.php?gallery=paw/2009
                (2008) 
http://www.monomagic.co.uk/index.php?gallery=paw/2008


Steve Barbour wrote:
> I'm wondering with the recent interest in the Panasonic GF1 with the 20mm 
> pancake lens and an external optical VF, has any used/compared this to the 
> Ricoh GRD-III with its 28mm lens and the optional external viewfinder...
> 
> I 'd be very interested to hear your thoughts, reactions, comparisons,
> 
> appreciated,
> 
> 
> Steve
> 
> _______________________________________________
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