Quick Poll - Micro Four Thirds Cameras

It's been about a year now since the first Micro Four Thirds camera (Panasonic Lumix G1)became available. After a year and the introduction of three more cameras from Olympus and Panasonic, what is your opinion of the Micro Four Thirds format?

Vote In Micro Four Thirds Quick Poll >>

Please feel free to discuss this here, too. If you don't know what the Micro Four Thirds format is, here are some links for you to take a look at:

Micro Four Thirds Announcement >>
Panasonic Lumix G1 >>
Olympus E-P1 >>
Panasonic Lumix GH1 >>
Panasonic Lumix GF1 >>

Problem here, John......

I just spent 10 minutes trying to condense my thoughts about the E-P1. After submitting it, I got a message stating I had the wrong/incorrect letters at the bottom (forgot what you call it - casch-something). I retyped it, submitted the comments and it went to a page that stated the website is under maintenance and my comments were not accepted.....try again later.

At any rate, I'll try again later.

In the meantime, let me just give a synopsis here.

I love the E-P1 after 2 months of using it. Unfortunately my photography time has been very limited so I'm still going through the learning curve.

Biggest Pro for me: IQ is always my No. 1 consideration when purchasing photo equipment. The IQ IMO is comparable to what I got with my XTi and "L" lenses in many instances.

Biggest Con: AF - although I've learned to work through this pretty much with few exceptions.

I own the 14-42 kit lens - happy with it......along with the 40-150 which I'm "pleased" with for longer zoom (which I don't use often enough to buy anything more expense in this range).

I have the Panasonic 20mm/f1.7 on order. It has great reviews and is excellent for low light and even night shots according to the reviews. This should help the AF a bit.

I doubt if I will ever go back to the dslr route. For me, small is good. :thumbsup:

Liz

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Originally Posted by Liz

Problem here, John......

I just spent 10 minutes trying to condense my thoughts about the E-P1. After submitting it, I got a message stating I had the wrong/incorrect letters at the bottom (forgot what you call it - casch-something). I retyped it, submitted the comments and it went to a page that stated the website is under maintenance and my comments were not accepted.....try again later.

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I'm sorry, Liz. You're saying this happened here on the forum or when you tried to vote in the Quick Poll? Either way, it sounds like there was some sort of database hiccup. Let me know if it happens again and I will report it to the IT guys. One thing you can do to protect yourself from losing your text is to copy it and paste it into a Notepad before you post. I confess I don't do it very often. But if I get a whiff of instability on a forum or other online form, I alwasy open Notepad and paste my text there just in case Web page crashes.

I think that 4/3s may have it's advantages in certain conditions, and it's certainly popular. But I still like traditional formats. Call me old school, I guess.

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Originally Posted by Photo-John

You're saying this happened here on the forum or when you tried to vote in the Quick Poll?

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It happened while attempting to add my comments.

Yesterday, I inadvertently clicked into the E-P1 link (on your first post) thinking the "vote" was broken down into camera categories. So I wrote some comments and tried to submit then - that's where I ran into the problem.....that was yesterday. Today it's fine.

It worked this morning - my comments were accepted.

I also voted.

Thanks John.

Liz

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Originally Posted by byjamesderuvoDHQ

I think that 4/3s may have it's advantages in certain conditions, and it's certainly popular. But I still like traditional formats. Call me old school, I guess.

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Ok, Old School :-D

I love Four Thirds because of the small size and extra reach the 2:1 crop offers. But I do a lot of backcountry outdoor stuff. Micro Four Thirds I'm still a little less sure about. But I do like the E-P1 a lot. I'd certainly rather use the E-P1 than a camera like the Canon G-Series. The larger sensor makes a huge difference for me.

I was talking with someone today with an E-610 and she was talking about severe shutter lag??? True??? - TF

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Originally Posted by OldClicker

I was talking with someone today with an E-610 and she was talking about severe shutter lag??? True??? - TF

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Do you mean the E-510? The sequence went E-510, E-520 and then E-620.

Anyway, I don't think there's a shutter-lag issue with that camera. It may be a hair slower than Canon or Nikon. But I did just fine shooting action photos with it. More likely it's a technique problem. Is she an experienced photographer?

Also, there have been two replies in this thread that referred to Four Thirds cameras and no Micro Four Thirds cameras. Although they chare the same sensor, they aren't the same thing. So it looks like some people aren't clear on the difference. If you think Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds are the same thing, I invite you to take a look at the links I included in the first post I made in this thread.

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Originally Posted by Photo-John

Do you mean the E-510? The sequence went E-510, E-520 and then E-620.

Anyway, I don't think there's a shutter-lag issue with that camera. It may be a hair slower than Canon or Nikon. But I did just fine shooting action photos with it. More likely it's a technique problem. Is she an experienced photographer?

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It was a 620. I'll talk to her again next week. - TF

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Originally Posted by OldClicker

It was a 620. I'll talk to her again next week. - TF

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If she needs help, have her post on the Sports or the Olympus forum. I've been shooting mountain biking with the E-620 all summer. I don't think the problem is the camera :)

I've even managed some motorsport with the E-P1 !
I hurt my shoulder and can't carry the two 1D bodies and 3 lenses, plus getting it all in carry-on is a bit of a hassle. So I'm using the GH-1 and E-P1 this weekend.

Give me one with weather sealing, classic styling and a sealed 80mm macro, and I'll sell ALL of my regular 4/3 bodies, and possibly my lenses too.

This is exactly the format that I have been waiting for - now they just need to make the camera I've been waiting for also.