Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/01/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]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 > > > > __________________________________________________________________ > Make your browsing faster, safer, and easier with the new Internet > Explorer? 8. Optimized for Yahoo! Get it Now for Free! at > http://downloads.yahoo.com/ca/internetexplorer/ > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information