43 Rumors

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/panasonicdmcgf2/

no anti-shake? oh no!

no price? available only from Jan 2011?
i guess they missed the boat here for xmas…

Wow! All I can say is wow, Panasonic. Good luck with that.

14mm instead of the 20mm kit. as someone who as not invested in a mirror less camera yet this is not a welcome change. (I relay need to make up my mind….)

Not that impressive, basically a GH1 function wiht G2 touch screen, panasonic need to step up, Sony NEX would still over power this camera, simply is more stylus and better iso.

Fta, Not all whiners at all, just a few people raising legitimate concerns about apparent ergonomics, direction of the series and usability. A lot of people are hoping that Pany or Oly produce a pro series micro 4/3rds or something along those lines, what we are seeing at the moment in the mirrorless market is entry level towards enthusiast especially in the Pen and GF series and the latest 2 offering from the companies going down the more entry level/consumer type route. It’s early days yet for the genre so we will see what the future holds but the GF2 does not excite me. Yes the camera is a tool and no amount of features will make bad photographers good, but we are not talking about that are we? Mind there is always someone who knows best!

Paul

Wrote this on DPR, but it’s worth reposting here:

What dials and buttons have the haters lost?
Exposure Mode: P,A,S,M,Scene, C1-2
Drive Mode: Single, Continuous, Bracket, Timed
AE/AF Lock

Quick note about these. While shooting the GF1 with the LCD, you have to either tilt your camera to look at the top of it, adjust the setting, and then look back at the screen. In the GF2, you tap a soft button and tap the setting you want, all while keeping your eye on the screen. Providing the tapping is responsive, I can’t see any reason why it would take any longer, and in fact, probably be less awkward.

Users of an EVF are a bit different, you’ll want to keep it up to your face. If you wanted to use the dials on top, you still have to bring the camera away. Or more likely you’d adjust the setting using the Q Menu and rotating dial selector, and that’s all still there. In fact, there’s a new drive mode button which gets you to that setting quicker. AE/AF Lock can be assigned to the Fn Button. There’s not much in terms of shooting workflow that’s missing.

But what about the gains?
Changing ISO and WB is going to be much quicker, and I do plenty of the former. Hit button, tap ISO. Instead of hit button, press, press, press, press, set. There’s a whole host of settings that can be set without having to scroll, scroll, press, press, set. It’s kind of neat really.

MF assist, just tap the area you want to zoom into, rather than zoom and recompose, or frustratingly use the up, down, left, right to get it where you want.

Customisation. You can put the settings that are important to you at the press of a button. I switch aspect ratio lots, that would be my first, plus metering and focus modes.

There’s a plethora of new great things the touch interface brings to the table, and for the life of me, I can’t see why we’re all so hung up about the PASM and drive dial.

Panasonic have thought this through very well. Have you?

720p mode is 60 frames per second but it is from 30 frames per second capture. Therefore, it is identical to what the GF1 does.

The 1080i mode is excellent though. It records 1080p @ 30 FPS and just encapsulates it in 1080i. That is even better than what the GH2 does. However, the GH2 sensor, bit rate, and processing will still produce better 1080p results. That will be at 24 frames per second though.

Remember that in the near future, all camera will have touchscreen control. Is like the Phones… a few years ago, nobody would have accept f.e.g. the iPhone… meanwhile is the most normal thing and nobody is complaining about the touchscreen interface….

Ultimately Panasonic’s decision is driven by what their target market wants and not by whatever the advanced users want. For example, Nikon’s highest selling (and probably the highest revenue earners are the D3100 and the D90 and not the D3s and D3x.

The maximum no. of buyers that would jump the divide and go into the EVIL cameras are those who would graduate from a p&s camera. Just how many DSLR users are buying an EVIL camera for $600+?

I tried to vote and I keep getting the message: “Please choose a valid poll answer.”. What’s wrong?

The touchscreen area-focus/shutter release is pointless to me in a non IS camera body. I was just out shooting with my GF1, and in real world, outdoor shooting conditions (colder temps and wind) it is hard enough to stabilize the camera body even when cradling it like an slr and using the EVF. Now try getting a good shot while pinching the camera by it’s corners and jabbing your finger at the touchscreen.