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

[henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff)]

Now I get to jump in and answer a question directed at Dick :-).

Which manual focus lens you use in conjunction 
with the 20 depends of course on what you have 
and what you like.

The lens i use most commonly is the 50 ASPH. It's 
not too big, and makes a great portrait lens on 
the GF1. After that are lenses like the 35/1.4 CV 
which is fairly compact and fast, and the 75/1.4 
when I want reach and speed, but in that case it 
starts becoming 'attaching the camera to the 
lens' rather than the other way around.

The minifinder is still available, but now at 
$295 from Steven Gandy. A real 40mm finder 
(larger and with a plastic housing is available 
from him for $128. That one makes more sense at 
present. In any case, he is probably the best 
source for new finders.

The 20 gets used almost always in autofocus. 
Autofocus on the GF1 works well and is quite 
configurable. I usually leave it on face 
recognition because if there is a face in the 
picture, that's usually what I want to focus on. 
If there is no face, it defaults to the 
multi-point, which is also usually OK for the typ 
of shots I take with this camera/lens. Part of 
what makes this work is that the lens is a 20mm, 
and dof is quite deep. I rarely have focus 
problems, even though I usually have the camera 
set on aperture priority at f/2. On my Canon 
5DII, on the other hand, I always have the focus 
set at the center point only, and then I focus 
and recompose.



>On Jan 11, 2010, at 7:16 AM, Richard Taylor wrote:
>
>>  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.
>
>
>so GF1, Pana 20/1.7, optical VF, sounds 
>wonderful...assume only for auto focus...
>
>
>do you use any Leica M lenses with manual focus? 
>what's best in that situation?  where did you 
>get the optical VF,
>
>Dick...?  which one?
>
>
>thanks,
>
>
>Steve
>>
>>  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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>>
>>
>>  _______________________________________________
>>  Leica Users Group.
>>  See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>
>_______________________________________________
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>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