THE PANASONIC GF1 REAL WORLD REVIEW

PAGE 1 - Intro and why I think M4/3 is here to stay.

PAGE 2 - The GF1 specs and features?

PAGE 3 - Compared to the Leica D-Lux 4 and Leica M9?

PAGE 4 - High ISO Sample and Crops.

PAGE 5 - My favorite shots with the GF1 & KIT Zoom.

PAGE 6 - The one lens you MUST buy with this camera. The 20 1.7.

PAGE 7 - My bottom line conclusion.

PAGE 8 - Just for fun! The GF1 and M9 side by side.

PAGE 1 - Micro 4/3 and why it is here to stay     next---->

10/28/09 - Panasonic Lumix GF1 review. Boy, oh, boy! Over the past 9 months I have been BLESSED. After starting this web site, I have been getting cameras, lenses, and all kinds of goodies sent my way. All I have to do is shoot with these cameras and then write down my experiences with them. Pretty cool gig, huh? YES IT IS!

In any case, when I saw the announcement of the Panasonic GF1 I thought, “Uh Oh, here we go, another 4/3 camera attempt.” The marketing of the Olympus E-P1 pulled me in and that camera had the retro style, the solid body, and some very cool “usability factor”. While the E-P1 offered great image quality, what bugged me about it in the long run was the lack of high-quality lenses available, and it was a little slow in regards to AF. But hey, I am a manual focus kind of guy anyway, so it did not bug me. Until now.

After shooting with the GF1 for almost 3 weeks, I am now a believer in the M4/3 format. I was 90% there with the E-P1 and when I wrote that review (see it here), I was in love with that camera. I still love the E-P1, but after shooting the GF1 I can say that it (the GF1) really is the better camera in almost every way. With the GF1 I believe Panasonic has shown that M4/3 can be a terrific format. Small camera size, small lenses, superb color, and image quality. If you think back to 10 years ago and remember what $5000 would have bought you then, today you can spend $700 and surpass the quality of that $5000 camera from 10 years ago! It is crazy, but technology has evolved and continues to do so. I can only imagine what will be available in another 10 years.

I mean, here we are with a small sensor that in some ways ALMOST performs to the level of the Full Frame sensor in my Leica M9. A $700 camera vs a $7000 camera? NO WAY I hear you say! But as I sat in my office comparing side-by-side images from the GF1, D-Lux 4, and Leica M9, sometimes I sat and scratched my head asking myself, “Is it all BULLSHIT?” What I meant was, do I really need a $7000 camera body when there is a $700 body that provides really great results for my type of shooting?

Cameras are getting so good these days that anyone can buy almost ANY digital SLR today and get amazing results (well, besides those $79 specials), and the quality differences between these cameras are, for the most part, minimal. It’s like high-end audio. You can spend $5000 on a system that sounds really amazing. Spend $25000 and you get slightly better results. It’s called “Diminishing Returns” and coming from a guy who just spent nearly $7000 on a Leica M9, I can say the GF1 gave me pretty amazing results and much better than I expected.

This review will be like most of my others. NON-technical, NO bullshit, and plenty of real world samples and opinions to show you what I was able to accomplish with the camera during my time with it. (sadly, what quite a few reviews leave out) Also, some samples from a friend of mine with the GF1 and 20 1.7 lens. I also want to thank B&H Photo for loaning me the camera! With that, on to the review!

So, why do I think that the M4/3 format is here to stay? Let me list the reasons:

1. 1.Small Size/Light Weight - With M4/3 cameras are small, mirror-less, and the lenses are the same. They are small, but pack a huge punch and with the GF1, put out superb quality.
   

2. 2.Price - These cameras are very affordable. The GF1 has given me some nicer than expected results for a $700 camera that came with a cheap-ish zoom lens.
   

3. 3.It will only get better - As this format takes off and more lenses become available, they will sell more and more. This will lead Olympus and Panasonic to improve the cameras further.
   

4. 4.Did I mention the size/weight and price?
   

My feeling is that this format will eventually really take off and as of this writing, I feel Panasonic is leading the way with the GF1 and GH1. The time of affordable, high-quality, digital capture is here!

Now, with all of that being said, the GF1 is not perfect. There are a few things that are still problematic with 4/3 sensors. Dynamic Range is not in the higher end DSLR class and high ISO noise is not up in the Nikon D3, D700, Canon 5D performance level (neither is my M9). But, again, we are talking about a $700 camera here, not a $3500 or $7000 camera.

Below is my brief video intro of the GF1 to show you what it looks like, how big it is, and how fast the AF is:

CLICK HERE TO GO TO PAGE TWO - “THE GF1 SPECS AND FEATURES”