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Micro 4/3 camera advice

Paul Lee

Paul Lee

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Looking for some thoughts on 4/3 cameras. Not for video or pro work, but for vacation and snapshops. Any experiences, good/bad, etc.? Thanks!
 
I used a GH2 with 64GB SDXC card for over a year- it's a great general purpose camera with awesome flexibility for portability and virtually unlimited lens choices with lens adaptors. I especially liked the Extended Tele mode, which I used way more than I ever thought to save carrying bigger lenses.
It wasn't the highest IQ at photos or video compared to pro bodies, but for a general purpose all-in-one flexibility nothing matched it. I assume until the M43 or APS-C format goes to 4K video soon, it's the best general purpose camera format to date...
 
Thanks John. It looks DSLRish. Is it significantly smaller that a 7D or 5D?
 
It is certainly smaller than a 7D with lens attached. I had to really adjust to wrapping fingers around the side/bottom of the smaller grip, but I believe it was easier to grip than the NEX format with same lens range attached...
 
I have a love-hate relationship with the micro 4/3 format. Love the size, weight, features, etc... The lenses are SHIT -- some people will try to argue that with me, but you'll find they have little ground to stand on. There are capable lenses, but I have yet to find *any* m4/3 lens offering that doesn't have a serious compromise or design flaw. While the lenses are slowly getting better, Panasonic and Olympus have at least moved beyond selling some of their lenses with plastic mounts on them (yes, plastic). But you don't find too many fast lenses, almost no zooms out there with constant or non-ramping apertures. I had bought, tested and returned several m4/3 cameras and lenses over the past couple years as I felt none of them were worth it. Finally I acquired a couple GH2's and I have been mostly happy with that camera. Other than the perpetual short-supply of proper batteries for the camera it's been pretty good. Overall, not much smaller than a 7D or compact APS-C/DX DSLR as far as the camera body is concerned, but the lenses are noticeably smaller and lighter. This is one advantage over the Sony NEX series and E-Mount system, which is APS-C sized sensor, technically their E-Mount system can accommodate a 35mm FF sensor, but they have not released such a product, nor do any of the current E-Mount lenses cover an image circle that large.

Not that I'm a big fan of pimping gear in discussion threads, but I have a spare GH2 that I'm looking to sell. Great condition, very light use, let me know if you want to take it for a spin -- you're local, after all. I also have a Sony NEX-5 I'm looking to unload. I really like that camera. More than the GH2 in some ways, but it's a bit older and it has issues with overheating! My biggest complaint about it is that it only shoots 1080i video, the newer models have 1080p24 and much less jello skew. The new NEX cameras that just hit the market look great... But once again, lens choices are lacking. I have Nikon and PL adapters for the E-Mount system, but there is of course no electronics and with no OVF and very little "camera" to hold on to, it's hard to hit manual focus.

I recently got my hands on an EOS-M and I find it very comparable to the Nikon One. Both are just OK, but don't have the offerings yet that the m4/3 systems do. If I were to buy into a m4/3 system now, I think a GH3 would be a good place to start. If I wanted smaller, I would go for the GF5, most of the same features in a more compact, almost range-finder like square body. Combined with some of the thinner "pancake" lens options, it makes for a nice run-around casual camera.


Personally, I wish someone would make a kick-ass point and shoot camera, but no one does. It's a segment of the market that just goes ignored.
 
I just saw an ad for Gh2 new on sale now for $500
 
It's small compared to a 7D, tiny compared to a 5D & feels very plastic compared to the construction of both but for the money you can't beat the image quality (for video anyway). I bought it as a do it all camera when my daughter was born but almost never use it for photos. Any time I have to take a picture I break out the old Nikon D90 cause I hate the GH2 that badly for taking photos. Could just be me. I do like the articulated LCD for shooting video.

It retired all my previous video cameras though, it's that good for video & if you hack it the video is pretty darn amazing quality for the money. The biggest difference you'll notice in video compared to a 5D or 7D is the resolution, it's just sharper and more detailed even with the sharpness setting dialed all the way down which is where I prefer it.

The other annoying thing about the GH2 is the naming conventions used in their menu system. For instance, they don't call 30 frames progressive anything remotely recognizable, you have to switch into HBR (high bit rate) video mode which is 30p, but of course nothing tells you this or indicates that you're shooting at 30p. It'll take a little retraining of your brain to decipher their terminology or lack thereof.

For what it's worth, I use mine almost exclusively with Nikon lenses since that's what I had before the GH2. All work great except you lose any image stabilization the lenses might have had & all iris control has to come via the lens itself or whatever mount adapter you're using.

The GH3 was announced and is shipping in early December I think. Supposedly a little larger and better constructed.
 
Great thoughts all!

I'm looking to replace my Panasonic Lumix LX5, which actually is a great little point-and-shoot with RAW! I just miss mechanical lens!

Jeff- I may be passing your way this weekend and interested in your GH2
 
Bob- do you find the 20mm good for discrete street snapshots?
 
Stephen Mick said:
The new Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 and 35-100mm f2.8 zooms are most certainly not shit.
Click to expand...

I have to admit I have not used the new 35-100 -- is it even available yet?. As for the 12-35, it's the best m4/3 zoom I've used to date... Compared to other offerings out there for other camera systems, it's nothing to rave about. OTOH, for the size and price, I guess it's pretty darn good. A GH3 with that lens compared to a D800 with a 24-70 isn't even a fair fight as the larger Nikon (or Canon counterpart kit) win out easily. And the Nikon and Canon 24-70 zooms are some of the weakest in their current line-ups, both show more distortion and aberrations compared to the 14-24 and 70-200 offerings. Of course, it's a matter of perspective. The new Panny 12-35 can be purchased with a GH3 body for about the same price of the Nikon 24-70 lens alone. They're catering to a different tier within the market and a different consumer with different wants and needs.
 
Paul Lee said:
Bob- do you find the 20mm good for discrete street snapshots?
Click to expand...


for sure. It's a pancake lens and pretty fast too. It's also one the sharpest m4/3 lenses. A winner all around in my books. I recently shot a feature with 80 percent shot with this lens.

http://vimeo.com/34068290
 
Big fan of the Voigts, but they're manual focus/aperture only, so that may well make them not terribly suitable for quick discrete snapshots. They're pretty heavy for m4/3 lenses, too, but I love the image quality. One of the really nice things about m4/3 is that you can throw pretty much any manual lens on it with the requisite adapter, which opens up a pretty wide variety of lens options, if that matters to you.
 
I'd hold out for the GH3. A more robust build quality, proper audio tools (to an extent), good IQ, and affordable. You'll be able to throw all kinds of lenses at it. But make sure to have a quality zoom in the 10-20mm range because at 2x crop factor you'll find it tough getting the wide end. I have the Tokina 11-16. The 12-35 from Panny is good, although I need more time with it because I am used to manually focusing everything (not much of an auto guy) and what I need to play around with is the autofocusing capabilities of these cameras.

Used GH2 would be fine too and you get to experiment with the plethora of camera hacks but as a still camera it is just ok. Audio functionality is a bit compromised with no headphone jack, crappy 2.5mm input for mics, etc. Although the onboard mic does a decent job for shooting home video.

@Bob Gundu. Something tells me you would be able to make any camera look good. Nice look you achieved with the AF-100.
 
Steve Sherrick said:
@Bob Gundu. Something tells me you would be able to make any camera look good. Nice look you achieved with the AF-100.
Click to expand...

Much appreciated. Really proud of this one. We have high hopes and from the response we've been getting, it's seems to be headed to be premiering at a major film festival. Can't say which one yet!
 
Jason Murphy said:
Big fan of the Voigts, but they're manual focus/aperture only, so that may well make them not terribly suitable for quick discrete snapshots. They're pretty heavy for m4/3 lenses, too, but I love the image quality. One of the really nice things about m4/3 is that you can throw pretty much any manual lens on it with the requisite adapter, which opens up a pretty wide variety of lens options, if that matters to you.
Click to expand...

This is the biggest advantage to all the mirrorless camera formats out there. And cameras like the GH2 are so small and light, yet very capable, I hook it up to everything -- telescopes, microscopes, PL lenses, obscure Russian glass, etc.. Like I said, love-hate relationship with m4/3 for me. Most of my hatred is directed toward the 99% of all m4/3 lenses on the market. My harsh judgement above still stands. OTOH, for price and size, like I said, some of the lens options are useful or even intriguing. My 20mm pancake is probably my most-used lens. I also tend to use the 100-300 Panny zoom quite a bit. It gives me equivalent FOV to a 600mm on FF35 and pixel count on the GH2 is comparable to some of the better DSLRs of the last couple years. I'd still take my D800 with appropriately long lens any day for image quality, but for price and weight, the m4/3 kit can't be beat. Especially when trying to stuff as much gear as possible into a pack for extended hikes or whatnot.

Steve is correct about wide lenses. Panasonic has a 9-14mm zoom... It's OK, but not amazing. Short focal lengths are in short supply in the m4/3 world. It's fine unless you're trying to replicate the look of 8 to 14 mm optics on 35mm...
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
Panasonic has a 9-14mm zoom... It's OK, but not amazing. Short focal lengths are in short supply in the m4/3 world. It's fine unless you're trying to replicate the look of 8 to 14 mm optics on 35mm...
Click to expand...

As far as I know, Panasonic's wide zoom is the 7-14mm f4…
http://slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1252/cat/69

Olympus makes a 9-18mm zoom lens, but it's slower at the more tele end…
http://slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1321/cat/15
 
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