First Impressions: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1

A lot of people have been curious about the GF1 as a tool to replace, or supplement their DSLR.

In the last 2 weeks I've had the camera out and about in London, taking in a variety of macro subjects in Hyde Park, out for a few night shoots along with a Gorillapod. This was followed by shoots in Cannes for Istockalypse alongside some great photographers armed with an embarrassing array of very large cameras.

2500 images later, I thought it was time to share my first impressions and images.

The blog photo is from a shoot we organised in Cannes after Istockalypse. GF1+ Olympus 12-60mm SWD lens.

I should preface these comments by noting that I'm using the camera with 4/3rds system lenses, not the Panasonic lenses that take advantage of the focus system. The lenses I'm currently using are:

• 12-60mm f2.8-4 SWD
• 9-18mm f4-5.6
• 35mm macro
• 40-150mm f4-5.6

Focus accuracy

In discussions about the relative merits of the gf1 as opposed to other micro 4/3 cameras or DSLRs focus speed always seems to come up.

Of course speed is important for fast moving subjects, but it doesn't count for much if it isn't accurate and reliable. While auto-focus seems to work for 2 of the above lenses, it isn't fast by any means and the sense I get is that it isn't that accurate. As a result, I'm using MF for most shots - which is what I was intending to do in any case once I'd seen the zoom-in function in action.

Live-view vs. "Live" view on DSLR

The implementation of live view on the GF1 is in a different league to that on a DSLR. To me the keys to this are the refresh rate, and the way manual focus works by zooming in to 7* magnification as soon as you start turning the focus ring. The other factor that makes the whole operation work is the fact that you're generally using light lenses, so holding the camera at full stretch over a wall while focusing isn't that much of a problem.

Importantly I'm not finding it hard to gauge focus in most lighting conditions. On the E30 the live view was a help, but in comparison to the GF1, the flip-flop of the mirror and having to switch between zooming in by pressing extra buttons makes the process unreliable.

Sharpness

One of the first things that jump out when reviewing the images is how sharp they are. Clearly this is due to a very light anti-alias filter. The other factor that helps is that with manually focusing everything, there is little scope for even minor focus errors.

The other point about using manual focus is that focus accuracy on lenses that are less than pro-grade is less of an issue. A problem that I was having with the 9-18mm lens and (less often) with the 40-150mm was that the focus system just wasn't as good as with SWD lenses.

Small Camera Syndrome

Its nice to use a capable camera that doesn't scream "look at me!"

In this respect the gf1 fits the bill perfectly. Particularly so when used with a pancake lens, which will be added to the kit just as soon as I can find a 20mm f1.7 in stock somewhere along my travels.

With my SWD 12-60mm attached the camera is a little less inconspicuous, however this wasn't such a bad thing when shooting side-by-side with a scrum-full of Canon 5DmkII users in Cannes. If you have inferiority complexes, I'd suggest that this camera doesn't meet your needs at all!

LCD display

One thing I'm finding difficult is gauging focus or sharpness when reviewing an image once a shot has been taken. When shooting in raw and zoomed in, everything in the preview looks soft. This is particularly true of night shots.

Oddly there appears to be a big difference in what you get when actually focusing which tends to be very sharp.

On checking the output in lightroom, I was pleasantly surprised. Everything was razor sharp. The result is you basically have to trust your sense of getting shutter-speeds right, and whether you've got the focus right. If in doubt take another shot.

The bad bits:

• Menu system/controls: In some ways the GF1 is a very well thought out camera. For me the controls were more natural and logical than the Olympus models. Most buttons are in the right places and the essentials can be changed quickly.

  Digging into the menus is a different story. I hope (but doubt) Panasonic come up with a firmware update to fix up the mess.

• Cropped raw images:

  The decision to crop raw files instead of just recording the preferred crop is annoying. Rather than being able to use the function as a framing tool, safe in the knowledge that you can adjust an image later, or even use a second orientation, the files are chopped off in the raw versions. For me this makes the feature basically useless.

  The whole point of shooting raw is the ability to adjust images later if original choices need some fine tuning. Recording a smaller cropped image is just unnecessary.

• Orientation sensor:

  Possibly the most annoying design decision on the gf1 was the decision to put the orientation sensor in the IS system of the lenses, and then forgetting that this won't work for the best lenses available for the camera. This might sound like a minor issue, but going through and having to manually rotating images from a days shoot of around 800 images is something I'd rather not have to include in my workflow.

• Colors & white balance

  At the risk of wading in to the debate over "Olympus colors" I think this is an area where the little Lumix lags behind it's Pen cousins. I shoot in raw, so am still looking for presets in Lightroom that will get results that just seem to come naturally in Olympus cameras.

Identity crisis

In some ways there seems to be two conflicting design philosophies going in to the camera. One is that it's aimed at p&s users wanting an upgrade, the other that it's a tool for pros to be able to shoot unencumbered by heavy equipment.

Thankfully, in most ways it can be coaxed into fitting both needs, and for me ticks more boxes for the second category than Olympus' first 3 offerings. That said in body IS seems a far better long term strategy for this system and if Olympus can come up with something aimed more squarely at professional users, I for one will be happy.

The Bottom Line:

Looking at the images from the E30 next to the GF1 side by side was enough to convince me that it was safe to drop off my old DSLR bodies at the camera store for them to sell on consignment. This isn't to say the GF1 is "better", just that it's able to do what I want, and much smaller than the alternatives.

While its a camera that is sort of aimed at the segment in between DSLRs and compacts, in a way its a more demanding camera to use than a DSLR, but at the same time more satisfying. Instead of being able to rely on super fast auto-focus and churning through massive numbers of images, the rewards will come from thinking about your shots, manually focusing, timing and getting the exposure right. The added benefit of it's size is that I'm confident it will be there on many occasions when a DSLR wouldn't.

In the coming months I'll be aiming to add the 20mm pancake and 7-14mm lenses to the kit, and use it as my only camera system.