Olympus E-600 and Panasonic GF1

[Atomic2]

Both officially announced.

Discussions?

[Nyreth]

The E-600 potentially sound really interesting. Although did Olympus really need another entry level DSLR? I would like to know what was removed from the E-620 for the $100 price drop. (I'm going to go poke around some more tonight and see if I can find out.) Also, are they discontinuing the E-520 then? I just hope the critics don't start chewing on Oly and calling the 600 a bit of a redundant model.

I think the GF1 looks really good. My biggest hold up on the E-P1 was the lack of a VF. The GF1's EVF looks pretty nice, especially with the tilt feature. The only price I have seen for it so far was $200, and that sounds fairly reasonable. But I'm kind of disappointed that camera doesn't have in body IS. I know that lens based IS seems to be the standard for Panasonic, but I was still hopeful. The improved AF speeds sound really promising. Big kudos to Panasonic for keeping it just under $900, However, my biggest concern for the camera is the fact that it's a Panasonic. Long story short, I don't trust that brand much at all. To be fair, I only have experience with their tv's, home and car stereos. Anyone have any input on the quality, reliability, etc of their cameras?

I was pretty set on waiting for the E-P1 and E-620 to come down in price a bit, or waiting to see if the E-P2 has a VF. But the E-600 has given me something else to consider. If I knew a bit more about Panasonic's reuptation/performance in the camera world and if it had in body IS (or if I was sure I would only need/want it on certain lenses), then I would seriously consider the GF1. I'm definitely going to be watching for the initial hands on review for each.

Hey Photo John, any idea when you will get to play with either of these cameras?

Edit: Also a little sidenote, I didn't see anything about a digital leveling tool (like what the E-P1 has) on the GF1, E-600 or E-620. For me at least, that is a big selling point. I hope they have something like that and maybe I am just misssing it in the descriptions, because it seems like a great feature for a beginner trying to move up to doing more serious photography.

[Atomic2]

The E-600 potentially sound really interesting. Although did Olympus really need another entry level DSLR? I would like to know what was removed from the E-620 for the $100 price drop. (I'm going to go poke around some more tonight and see if I can find out.) Also, are they discontinuing the E-520 then? I just hope the critics don't start chewing on Oly and calling the 600 a bit of a redundant model.
.

The E-600 only PHYSICAL lack is the lighted buttons, but also does not have bracketing function and has a few less filters.

In my opinion this is an odd move on their part because the cost to produce this camera has to be almost equal. The bracketing and art filters are just firmware features. And theyre selling this for 100 dollars less? Maybe this is a wise business choice and they expect to sell mostly E-620s anyway and with the price drop manage to attract a few extra buyers? Still, there had to be SOME cost associated with producing a separate camera right?

And yes, both the 400 and 500 series get the axe, which is curious because the E-450 was released just recently. Honestly I think because the 400 series was actually smaller and cheaper than the 600, they should have just kept that to attract real entry level consumers... however it may have been just more expensive to produce the two different body styles [600 and 620 seemingly exactly the same]

[SmartWombat]

Hey P-J since I own the GH-1 and E-P1 can I help and review the GF-1 in comparison?

[Liz]

I couldn't find the actual press release for the GF1 on the Panasonic website, but found an announcement on the cnet news website. Actually the article includes a comparison of all the Micro 4/3 camera specs - worth reading for anyone interested in this system.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10322978-1.html

Liz

[Photo-John]

Thee GF1 announcement seems to have been a little uncoordinated. I have the press relase and I'm finishing up an article on it. Should be posted later tonight.

[Greg McCary]

I am slowly getting interested in the micro four thirds technology. The GF-1 seems to be one I would be interested in. With the 28mm 1.7 lens I am not sure if I would even need IS. The E3 is a great camera but is a monster to do street photography with. I also like to take a camera with me when I ride my bike and usally take my M6. The E3 is just to heavy for a bike ride.
I am also intrigued with the idea of having a digital camera I can put my Voigtlander and Leica lenses on. I would like to have a viewfinder though.

[Nyreth]

Greg, if you don't have to have a viewfinder all the time you ought to check out the one for the GF1. (If you haven't already, of course.) To my very amateur eyes it looks pretty spiffy. Plus it can tilt up to 90 degrees away from the camera, which does offset some of the drawbacks of the fixed LCD screen. Apparently it's a lower resolution one than the one in the GH1 but I don't know enough to be able to appreciate how much or what kind of difference that could make.

Don't give up on the EP-1 yet either. I've come across a good number of pretty reliable rumor sites saying Olympus is supposed to be releasing an EVF of some sort in October. There is some concern that it would be for the next micro 4/3's but I doubt it. That doesn't make any sense at all if the EP-2 is supposesd to be released/announced in December.

Also, why do you say that with the 28mm 1.7 lens you aren't sure if you would need IS? Is it because the lens is faster than the EP-1's pancake? I've been looking at pics that were taken with pankcakes and it seem like a pretty versatile little lens? Sorry for such basic questions, I'm still trying to figure all of this stuff out.


Atomic: That's really a shame that Oly is d/cing the 400's as well. With the D40 finally retiring, it left a nice little spot open in the sub $500 range market. Somewhere during the last couple months I think I turned into an Olympus fan, and I would really like to see them take a bigger nibble out of the Nikon/Canon empire.

[Greg McCary]

Yes with a lens as fast as 1.7 I could shoot in most situations without the IS. I have a Nokton 40mm 1.4 I use and it is fast enough for low light situations. Just curious Paul, how is the shutter lag on your cameras? That is another issue. Do the cameras have that P&S shutter lag or are they fast as a DSLR?

[Photo-John]

Greg-
My experience with the Micro Four Thirds cameras (G1 and E-P1) has been pretty good. But they do have shutter lag. Not as much as a point-and-shoot. But more than a digital SLR. I think the E-P1 is great for a walkaround camera. For you photography I think it would work fine. But when I've tried to shoot action with the E-P1, then the shutter lag shows up. I have taken it on some rides and it's good if I set up and time the shots right. But if I'm doing some serious bike shooting, the E-620 is currently my weapon of choice.

[Greg McCary]

Thanks John. I look forward to your reviews and pictures.

[Photo-John]

Thanks John. I look forward to your reviews and pictures.

I'm way behind on reviews. But there are plenty of photos taken with the E-P1 and E-620 in the gallery. If you ever want to look for something specific, look for the Search near the top of the gallery pages. That advanced search page will allow you to search by all kinds of criteria, including username, camera, lens, etc. I made these two galleries for you with the search:

Photo-John's Olympus E-620 Photos >>
Photo-John's Olympus E-P1 Photos >>
Photo-John's Panasonic Lumix G1 Photos >>

[SmartWombat]

My E-P1 photos: http://gallery.photographyreview.com...nd&crproducts=

My search is different because the automatic camera name setting from the EXIF information is not the same as in the camera select menu !

[SmartWombat]

Or maybe the EXIF information is not searchable?

[gotorightway123]

oo similar spec-wise, but i do like the higher-res screen. Olympus really jipped us on that one. But the fact there is no EVF will not make me go out and sell my E-p1 for it. Wait and see what the E-p2 offers first. Will buy the lenses though.