GF1. FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
October 1, 2009

The newest addition to the gadget drawer, thanks to TK and Panasonic HK. I was pretty excited to check out this camera as it was making a lot of noise (no pun intended) amongst photography circles, and even had some of my 35mm film purist friends getting their knickers in a twist over it. I opted for the white model, 20mm/F1.7 pancake lens, and the optional EVF.

I'm sure many will have seen the comparisons between this model and the Olympus E-P1 (Digital Pen) and the ensuing M4/3 debates. I'm far from a professional, but I hope this will give a laymen's impression as a semi-prosumer camera user. Although aesthetically IMO the E-P1 trumps the GF1, there were a few things I didn't like when I had a quick play with the E-P1 - slow manual focus using alternative lenses, lack of flash, and what I thought was a pretty boring interface. On the flipside, the GF1's interface and LCD screen display on the rear is massive. I mean, it's like the Ron Jeremy of LCDs on a compact camera. It's almost too big, but in the end I found it quite useful when it comes to the 720p video mode.

Colour wise I found Canon to be a little richer, but I suppose it's nothing that you can't adjust in post/editing. Or perhaps there's a saturation/contrast setting I've yet to discover in the GF1's truckload of menu settings.

Here are a few test shots from last night's festivities. Some on the Panasonic iA (intelligent Auto) mode, some at AV (aperture priority, F1.7) mode to test the DoF.

Full iA mode.

Testing the MF focus.

"Macro mode". Perhaps not the best example.

Backlight.

MF, F1.7, just having a look at the DoF.

Low-light scenarios. ISO800.

0.66ft/20cm minimum focal length.

Quick initial thoughts -

YES:

20mm/F1.7 Pancake lens pretty damn good for a standard lens.
Looks a little more 'balanced' with other legacy 4/3 lenses than the E-P1. But only ever so slightly.
Inbuilt flash looks like something out of Robocop. Or Johnny Five. Very ingenious.
Much more portable than a similar level traditional D-SLR, but image quality remains relatively the same, if you're not concerned with printing/full frame/etc.
Love the shutter noise. Minimal vibration.

NO:

Trying to find out how to default to the LCD when pressing the 'review' button instead of having to manually revert from LVF to LCD mode on the optional EVF.
Slippery Grip. (Thanks Fed for pointing this out). Is there a Grip extension like the D-Lux 4/LX3?
Gets a bit getting used to using the singular control dial. Wish they'd placed a circular one like Canon and Olympus.
Default AF auto-tracking. Is this a pro or con?
The plastic casing, well, looks.... cheap. Sorry, can't think of a better way to describe it.

The big question - is it better than the G1? Truth be told, I'd say it's marginally better than the G1 (720p video, portability), but perhaps not quite up to the GH1.

Ultimately, this camera strikes me as something that's portable, versatile, and good for trips if you don't want to bring a crappy party-cam but can't be assed lugging your 5DMKii, 500D, D30, M8 or whatever around.

Looking forward to shooting the rest of the trip through the GF1. More soon. (/cliche)