Quesabesde about the GF2 “will we soon have to reduce the size of our fingers?”
The user reaction after the Panasonic GF2 anouncement is quite mixed. Some peope likes the new even slimmer Micro Four Thirds camera and some others do miss the manual controls of the Panasonic GF1.
Now let’s bring some fire into that discussion! We want to report the negative GF2 critics written by Quesabesde. Not because we do agree or don’t agree with Quesabesde but because our readers want to read your opinion about the three main critics “against” the GF2:
1) The timing of the announcement is somewhat disconcerting: Few weeks before the holiday shopping season Panasonic reveals a GF1 successor that will be ready after the holiday season! And therefore it virtually buries the GF1 and GF2 sales.
2) Japancentrism: It looks like Panasonic main concern was to release a Sony NEX (Click here to see these cameras) competitor. Nex cameras have been prooven to be really popular in Japan. Panasonic (but in general all japanese companies) seem to lose perspective and believe that global tastes match those of its market.
3) Miniaturims trend: The GF2 sacrifcies usability to go against the NEX. It’s as if none of the current or future players in this market was aware that the most “popular” camera at Photokina has been the Fuji X100 (Click here to see the camera)
Now, what do you think? Keep in mind that:
1) You have touch the camera for yourself to see if the touchscreen really works fine for you
2) There is still a chance that we will see a pro-GF model sooner or later
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oluv
2 years ago |there are ixus cameras or even mobile phones that you can take pictures with and nobody complains.
i would like the GF2 even smaller, but panasonic shouldn’t have compromised controls like AE-lock button etc. there is enough space for extra dials, have a look at the X1, which has a dial for exposure compensation, one for iso, aperture etc… it is just that panasonic wanted to push touch-control, not something i really want. i want it small of course as small as possible, but there is always place for the right controls. just have a look at some old minox-cameras…
Techfreak
2 years ago |1) Not very smart move, but I don’t care as long as I buy items when I want to buy them (and have money, of course
2) Bad idea. They try to be competitive with a totally different type of camera. Nex is like entry-level “camera with interchangeable lens for ordinary users” and GF1 (along with PEN) has always been a bit more advanced with more control and better overall result (except noise and sensor size). If the wanted to compete Sony, they could release a new camera like GS1, for example.
GF2 should have been like GH2, but in GF1-sized body. Similar to what we saw with GF1 / GH1 release. GF1 is almost the same as GH1 (except video and EVF).
3) The lack of controls is dissapointing. At the same time it does not necessarily mean, that handling is awkward. Touchscreen phones were also not very popular, when they arrived and soon the are not going to be any “old ones with buttons”. Despite preferring knobs, I agree with dp-reviewer that you cannot judge it without trying. Probably, it is not that bad.
Techfreak
2 years ago |In addition, the decision not to sell it with 20mm is a catastrophe
20mm alone costs too much and I do not see the point of having m43 camera without it 
DonTom
2 years ago |How else are they gonna sell the 14mm???
We’ll all buy the 20mm as well eventually!
Techfreak
2 years ago |I do not care, how else they gonna sell
It is their business to do it so appealing, that we buy it in any version (kit or alone).
I am just a user and for me this is ridiculous. If I was going to buy GF2, I would end up with buyng GF2 body and GF1 + 20mm to sell GF1 later. A bit complicated and not very customer-friendly sceme, isn’t it?
(Hope, they are smart enough to sell at least GF2 body alone).
DonTom
2 years ago |1. No, because those that like the idea of the GF1 over the GF2 will buy the remaining GF1s for the holidays.
2. It’s fine for a Japanese company to be Japancentric. Don’t we all love to be eccentric?!!
3. This is the small version of what I believe will be a 3 body line-up. A Leica M size/style (GR?) will fit nicely in the middle, with no confusion.
El Cabong
2 years ago |1. Yes, because those who may have been on the verge of buying the GF1 for the holidays will now wait for the GF2 (provided they think it’s better than the GF1), which will stunt GF1 sales over the holiday season. GF2 sales will obviously be nonexistent due to the late announcement.
2. It’s not fine for any company that tries to sell its products internationally to be overly focused on a single country.
3. That would be great, if it happens, but then there would be a 4-body line-up of GHx, Gx, GRx/GPx, and GFx. (And even that leaves out the G10.) Unless you meant a 3-body “miniature” m4/3 line-up, which seems pretty improbable.
DonTom
2 years ago |I guess I mean 3 body shapes……GF, G”R”, G/GH
Mind you, perhaps the AF100 is the 4th
central squared
2 years ago |So is the GF1 discontinued?
admin
2 years ago |No!
Karli
2 years ago |So there will be a new camera series above GFx ?
DonTom
2 years ago |Sorry to break this to you Admin, but GF1 is no longer on the Global Panasonic website, it’s history as far as they are concerned!
admin
2 years ago |Really? Didn’t notice that!!!
toto22
2 years ago |Incorrect, try this http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/systemcamera/gms/gf1/index.html
bilgy_no1
2 years ago |1. Why would this hurt GF1 sales over the holidays? The camera is now heavily discounted and makes for a good present too… btw the holiday season argument is rather American centric…
2. I think it’s correct to say it’s a response to the NEX 5, but that doesn’t mean per se that it’s japancentric. And would that actually be bad?
3. Miniaturisation is Goood!!! I’m a little disappointed that the GF2 isn’t smaller and lighter still. I want it in my coat pocket…
Most of the complaints are about a supposed lack of controls because of no Mode dial. But the people making this complain are also the ones asking for a more advanced level camera. My guess is that they use their cameras in A-mode 90% of the time anyway. Bybye mode dial! Good riddance! Hello touch screen! Much more easy and natural for many operations…
Niva
2 years ago |No really, the holiday season is massive in Europe as well, in fact from now to the 5th of January all is sales, sales and sales…
Eric
2 years ago |I have to agree with them. The GF1 was more than small enough for me. These things are never going to be true pocket cameras. I’m sure the GF2 will fit in some pockets, but it will still be bulky. Not that it matters to me, camera phones are good enough to fill the role of pocket snapshot camera. I just want a camera I can throw in my messenger pack when I walk around and forget it’s back there. The EP2, GF1, and Sony NEX are all fine for that. In fact my ideal would be a camera the size of a Leica M9; something small enough to carry without a bother, yet comfortable to hold and use with adult size hands.
mat
2 years ago |+1 Eric
gf1_llama
2 years ago |The GF1 is a nice camera, but I would be far more interested in something that delivered increased image quality, or better more innovative lens options, or better noise performance.
The m4/3 system is a good vacation/travel system for folks who love SLRs… I don’t see consumer markets going after interchangeable lenses, and removing controls makes this a very weird thing. Best of no worlds, almost.
It’s kind of like why would I want to put a f/0.95 lens on a GF1 when the lens is 5x larger than the body. Imagine that on a GF2.
A better GF1 this is not.
davide
2 years ago |Agreed. In addition, the lack of the 20mm as a kit lens and the ridiculous price makes this camera a no-no. I’d rather buy the GF1 (or the LX3!)
Now, if Sony releases a fast pancake prime at about 40-45mm, I’d go with them: much better IQ, smaller, lighter, cheaper (the NEX3 + 16mm – a more interesting wide! – goes for $499, not the $700+ they’ll sell the GF2)
Eric
2 years ago |I broke down and bought a NEX3 myself, but not because I love that camera, it’s far far from what I want, but simply for the fact that 1.5x sensor opens up a world of adaptable old lenses. There are tons of great 28mm and 35mm lens to choose from that all work great on the NEX as standard primes. I was really hoping the GF2 would be like that patten filing we saw a while back with built in EVF. That + the 14mm/2.5 and the 20mm/1.7 would have been enough to bring me back to m4/3′s. However, if the NEX7 makes it to the market before an enthusiasts m4/3′s body then I don’t know if m4/3′s will ever get my business again. It’s just going to be really tough for m4/3′s to match a NEX7 + a Leica 28mm Elmarit as a street shooter. So who knows, maybe Panny should be going after the P&S crowd, because I don’t think they can match that combo.
pdc
2 years ago |I would have this camera so that my wife could pack it in her purse along with
either the 20mm/1.7 or 14-42mm zoom. That way we would be able to make decent snapshots whenever the opportunity arises. The smaller and lighter the better.
For myself, should I want to go back-packing somewhere exotic, I would prefer a
more functional design (like the Fuji FX100, BUT WITH INTERCHANGEABLE LENSES), and I would pack a few more of my MFT lenses. Currently I pack a G1 and several lenses, plus flash, plus small tripod but it doesn’t leave much room in my pack for a change of clothes and a toothbrush – and I am going to get a GH2 to replace the G1 as soon as I can. Good photos require good gear, at least gear that is good enough, and MFT gives us lots of scope – the GF2 definitely has its place. As for Christmas sales, well I guess my wife won’t be getting hers until her birthday in May!
Mike
2 years ago |I think Panny is making a very smart move with the GF2. They reclaim the smallest/lightest SILC camera banner and have another camera that might actually get into the Best Buys of the world if the price is reasonable. Panny needs to get on the shelves of the mass market consumer stores with this so that they can upsell other models.
TheVoiceoverman
2 years ago |Well now. As usual whenever it’s a new idea, before anyone has even tried it, it’s rubbish and obviously not as good as the old idea. This camera does NOT have a lack of controls. It has a lack of PHYSICAL controls. Now of course, we like our buttons and switches as controls because generally EACH BUTTON does ONE job. Which is fast and simple.
But…I have no problem at all working my iPhone, which has almost no physical controls at all. Does anyone else? The whole point of a touchscreen is that it’s a way of ADDING buttons. The iPhone was (because of it’s touchscreen) effectively the first phone to have buttons ALL OVER the front, and EACH button does ONE job. That simplicity is the basis of its success. It doesn’t matter that the buttons are virtual, so long as they only do one job each.
The touchscreen on the GF2, if set up nicely, could be extremely useful. I could see the GF2 being extremely fast and simple to use, and giving MORE control than the GF1. It certainly looks like that in the promo film. Personally I’d have made it even smaller but kept the screen the same size.
Where are all these GIANT blokes with fingers like cricket stumps who can’t operate their phones, compact cameras, teaspoons and shoelaces?
I just don’t see ‘em.
RW
2 years ago |Well, in actual fact, the iPhone does have physical controls for all of the things that you need to do with any frequency: changing volume, shutting off the screen, silencing the ringer. A serious camera should likewise have physical controls for important functions. The size reduction of the GF-2 is not significant enough to be a reasonable trade-off for controls IMO.
More to the point though – the Achilles heel of the GF-1 has always been LCD visibility in bright light. As it is, I often feel that I am shooting blind – so moving controls to the screen doesn’t make sense to me functionally. It only really makes sense if my main goal is to compete head to head with NEX – and that is Panasonic’s problem – not mine.
TheVoiceoverman
2 years ago |Well plainly you’re wrong. The most used functions on an iPhone are all touch controlled. Like the UNLOCK SWIPE, which is used almost every time you pick up the phone. Why didn’t they make that physical I wonder? MAIL button? Used all the time. Calendar? All the time. Safari? All the time. All touch.
By comparison I never turn on the ringer. I can’t remember the last time I adjusted the volume. I do turn off the screen, though it’s quite capable of doing that itself. And I do press the home button. That’s 4 physical controls, 2 of which get used with any frequency.
Compare that with the TWENTY virtual buttons on the home screen alone. Many of which are pressed over and over and over and never fail to respond. Lord knows how many times the MAIL button is pressed a day. Certainly MANY times more than all the physical controls put together.
I browse. I type unfeasibly quickly given that thumbs are involved. And yes, I even take some pretty decent pictures. All without a button, switch, dial, or lever.
You’re right. Touch screens are rubbish. Never gonna catch on. Write to Steve Jobs before he bankrupts the company.
RW
2 years ago |So what? Are you seriously saying that the iPhone is the model that we should be looking at for camera controls. Maybe if you are a amateur who likes toys – and you don’t give a toss about working with it in bright sunlight. But hey – you are entitled to your opinion.
TheVoiceoverman
2 years ago |Ah. We’re at the “so what?” stage of the discussion now, are we?
I have an E-PL1 with a superb viewfinder that hardly ever gets used. Unless I’m focusing my old manual lenses and there is no time for zoom assist. Granted the screen is different on the Pen, so perhaps the GF1 is not so good in bright conditions, in which case you have a valid point.
But the screen on the GF2 will be new and very probably better. And really the point I was making is that it’s ridiculous to write the thing off before anyone has tried it, just because they took a dial and a couple of buttons off.
Why shouldn’t the iPhone be a model for camera controls? It’s one of the most ergonomically successful devices of all time, and come to think of it, I use mine in the sunlight just fine. The only issue is that if you crank the brightness up, the battery life suffers.
If everyone thought the way you do, NOTHING would ever change or progress. We’d all still be shooting on plates by taking the lens cap off and counting to 30.
Perhaps, the GF2 will be rubbish in bright light, I don’t know. But at least they are trying to innovate instead of slavishly following convention. So why don’t we wait and see eh?
But hey – you are entitled to your opinion.
R
ZeroTDwon
2 years ago |It is funny that individual thinks that they know marketing better then Panasonic which spends millions of dollars every year for market research. Of course every can have ideas but having an idea and acting like you know better then panny are 2 different things? Most funny ones are sentences beginning like “bad move for Panasonic” You guys are a huge joke.
Dummy00001
2 years ago |I’m not in the target customer group of GF2 or GF1. But nevertheless, I think that as long as they would keep both GF1 and GF2 in the line-up they should be find.
WT21
2 years ago |I think the video shows the crux of the matter. The GF2 is designed for a different kind of shooting. See it held in the left hand, and all the controls (except focus, oddly enough) are done on the touch screen. Even the shutter.
I would have to see it and touch it and, because Panny doesn’t sell in actual stores near me, means I have to want to order it, open it test it, and ship it back if I don’t like it.
There’s not enough there for me to care. I’m trying the NEX3 right now, and the ergos are great. Sorry, Panny. My decision now is NEX3 or EP1 (and wait/hope for EP3). GF2 doesn’t have enough there. Good luck, though. I could be wrong, and maybe you’ve invented a great new way to take shots (reminds me of people taking picks with their iPhone), but not for me at this point.
Tobias W.
2 years ago |“Steve Jobs recently said that 7-inch tablets were ridiculous. He asked, ironically, if those tablets will come with an included sandpaper so that users could reduce the size of their fingers.”
Then why is Apple selling the iPhone and iPod Touch wich both are much much smaller?
It’s simple. Because people buy it like crazy. The GF2 will sell like crazy too. It’s going to hurt the LX5 the most.
And small cameras CAN be easy to use. Take a look at Canon’s S90/S95. That mode dial ring around the lens is simply terrific. The S90 I own is much much faster to use than the E-PL1. Changing ISO, Aperture and so on is faster with a S90 than with a PEN. A set of settings can easily be saved to a position on the mode dial on top of the camera and so on.
Building small cameras with great handling CAN be done. The problem is that Panasonic messed it up by using a touchscreen display. Using a viewfinder (as many more serious users will choose to do) won’t work with the GF2 since you’ll have to take your eye off the viewfinder to make changes. With the E-PL1 I can still keep my eye on the viewfinder AND access the menu with the buttons at the same time. It’s still awkward, but it works.
I really think that Fuji will have the edge in this regard, when their new FX100 is ready. It has a lot of dials for specific exposure settings which will speed up handling a lot. Menus suck.
RW
2 years ago |Well said.
Arkersaint
2 years ago |@ Iphone like camara supporters :
- Iphone ergonomy is truely great : i have one and feel quite happy with it.
- Regarding ergonomy, it’s difficult to anticipate and experience of real life with new tool is the right way to go
However this is a rumors site and that’s why we feel entiltled to chat before having a chance to get a legitim knowledge about this crazy fast evoluating technology !
Now one of the Pany’s strenghts is / was ? the good old standard interactive egonomy for “serious photographers” : years and years using same buttons and implied free focus on subject…
Please Pany, don’t forget that a camera has to be the intermediate tool between photographer and subject : That makes 3 (photographer, subject and camera)… unlike with an iphone where the dialogue is limited to user and it’s iphone !!!
Really hope that Pany has planned another camera in // with GF2.
Boris
2 years ago |The more i read harsh critics of GF2 the more I like to have it.
This camera has a new and better processor (same as in GH2) to boot, and that’s enough to mare the previous models obsolete, at least for some people.
Duarte Bruno
2 years ago |Japanese people are small, so they’ll value smaller cameras.
mario_lem73
2 years ago |ha, ha, I really like this!
Zaph
2 years ago |The Quesabesde “review” is basically saying “No fair, how come we didn’t get one?”.
Per
2 years ago |Panasonic may have something here that with the Sony Nex form factor at the same time has a lot better usability. -Certainly worth a closer look! The major downside is an old sensor: New sensors are always better than old one’s, that is what we can learn from the short history of digital camera. (On the other hand, Olympus did even worse by putting the sensor from their cheapest version into the new “high end” (at least wallet-wise) camers!
Philip
2 years ago |Looks good! Really good!
It’s everything I like about my Gf1 and more. The mode-dial is good riddance, I shoot A-mode 95% of the time and it’s as fast to change this on the touch screen. Shooting mode-dial I use sometimes, but I would think easy touchbuttons would replace this. It still has got that intelligent wheel for aperture/exposure compensation. The only thing a would miss is the AF/AE-lock. Stereo mic is a good thing. Lighter is a good thing. Smaller is not really needed, but it seems to be more or less the same size. Better engine is fine. Built-in flash with bounce!
And, for me touch controll for choosing focus point by FAR compensates for removing AF/AE.
But, in the end. Why upgrade from Gf1 to Gf2? The sensor is the same – so raw should look the same. I just wished they would have used an upgraded sensor – back-illumination, on chip DA and deeper wells for better DR and deeper color. Maybe Olympus PEN-3 will deliver that.
Any words on the EVF? Is it a new one or same as before?
hd72
2 years ago |Agreed about the mode and drive dials… I only ever change them about once a month LOL.
Unfortunately, some of those missing buttons (display, af/ae lock, etc) won’t do us much good on the touchscreen when we’re using that electronic viewfinder.
Dr.G
2 years ago |Well at least now people who bought the GF1 should not feel bad since the GF2 is essentially the same camera.
Oh, and Panasonic, if you’re going to try to compete against the NEX, why not just use the NEX sensor?
My ideal M4/3 camera would have an NEX sensor + EP2 body + Panasonic 20mm pancake.
Larry
2 years ago |Kind of hard to put an APS-C sensor in a 4/3 camera. The logical sensor upgrade for the GF line (when it comes) is the GH2 sensor.
Ganec
2 years ago |GH senzor is multiaspect => it is bigger in size
(there was speculation that this was the reason why it is not used in E-5 – need shutter redesign & stabilization)
hd72
2 years ago |Yeah, the m4/3 lenses weren’t designed to cover a larger sensor – that’s what makes them smaller than SLR lenses. It’s also why the NEX lenses are so big compared to its tiny body.
Robbie
2 years ago |you might as well say a FF sensor+E-P2 body+20mm pancake LOL
dCap
2 years ago |so … is the GF1 discontinued? not that we know of
so … people who still want a GF1 between now and Jan (at least) can still get one, and perhaps beyond
yup, like the E-PL1 was a dummed down E-P1 to make a bigger gap between E-PL1 & E-P2. So, Pan did the same, move the GF2 ‘down’ in some people’s view, to make a bigger gap to their to-be-announced GF-Pro1
(odd timing though not wanting to reep the christmas buying season)
Neicila
2 years ago |No swivel screen,
no electronic shutter,
useless product…
Jonathan
2 years ago |probably not a bad camera by itself, but a major disappointment for two obvious reasons that happen to coincide with one another.
panasonic and olympus alike are ignoring the early m43 adopters, most of them enthusiasts, and other such enthusiasts that may be using other systems. instead they focusing their attention and resources on novices and people upgrading from p+s cameras.
panasonic has not come up with a new sensor in almost 3 years! this is really hard to understand when you consider how low light sensitivity and dynamic range have improved on sony and canon sensors.
in a sense what panasonic and olympus (the latter has become negligible) that they DO NOT BELIEVE m43 can compete with other vendors prosumer cameras, so research and marketing efforts are diverted to where they could generate revenues. Nothing wrong with that, except this is not what I and many others have investead in m43.
hd72
2 years ago |Some of the vids and reviews mention an upgraded sensor, offering possibly a one stop improvement in noise. But other places say it’s the exact same sensor as the GF1. Are people assuming it’s the same sensor simply because it’s still 12 megapixels?
Everyone complains about the megapixel race (smaller pixels = more noise – we’ve heard it all before), but the general reaction to the GF2 makes it obvious why camera makers do it… consumers want something they can quantify.
Does anyone know for sure whether the GF2 sensor is updated and improved?
Ranger 9
2 years ago |I don’t think the GF2 is such a dumb idea, on two counts:
1) It fills a gap in their line for people who want a smaller, simpler camera, letting Pana compete not only with the NEX but with the EP-L1.
2) As for killing GF1 sales, I don’t think so. After seeing the specs of the GF2, those who like having a mode dial and a slightly larger camera body will realize that the GF1 was just what they wanted all along. So they’ll all have to go out and buy one NOW, while they can still get one!
RW
2 years ago |As an interesting side comment, I count 10 m43 bodies to date(EP1, EP2, EPL1, GF1, GF2, G1, G2, G10,GH1, GH2) but only 18 m43 lenses (with a ton of overlap).
Seems disproportionate to me if you are really going after the enthusiast market – even Leica has more lenses than that.
Robbie
2 years ago |this is a ridiculous comparison. comparing Leica with the less than how-many-year-old m43 system?
Robbie
2 years ago |Yeah right, when the NEX series is introduced, people were saying the m43′s compactness is a joke. Now we finally have something truly small, people start whining again.
Jonathan
2 years ago |yeah right, fact is the gf2 sheds a few mm off at the price of dropping hardware controls (the main reason the nex was criticized for) and is *still larger* than the nex, while having a smaller sensor. other than sensor size, there is a lot to be said about the differences in performance, chiefly high iso and DR.
yes, the gf2 is truly a revolutionary camera and amazing acomplishment.
Tobi
2 years ago |/begin_rant
The GF2 is clearly a different animal than the GF1.
Judging from the ad (and what I know of the controls – so far) it is really a GirlFriend camera. This is, of course, bad news for those of us who loved the GF1 for being an enthusiast’s camera.
I for one am not happy with this repositioning of the GF.
But I may be wrong. Maybe, just maybe, this is what the GF1 was supposed to be all along: a simple P&S style M43 camera. And what really happened is not a repositioning but just a course correction.
Maybe (yes, I’m a heretic) the enthusiast friendly layout of the GF1 was never intended and perceived as faulty by Panasonic.
I don’t know the numbers, but I guess that the sales were not justifying a lineup of mini DSLRs and a smaller enthusiast camera.
As much as I would love to see a rangefinder style build-in-EVF small body manual controlled camera, I can not see it happen.
Such a model would eat into the sales of the G2 and, depending on video capability, the GH2 – those are the cameras I now belive Panasonic aims at the enthusiast / ‘prosumer’ while the GF is meant to be simple and ‘non-threatening’ to those consumer groups usually not perceived as technophile: wives, parents and in general anyone not a camera-geek.
For us there are the ‘professional’ mini DSLRs (even though I may not like them).
How well a P&S camera with interchangeable lenses fares against the normal P&S cameras remains to be seen, I believe that wives and parents will rather have a snapshot taking P&S at a fraction of the cost of even one lens, but then I did not conduct any extensive market research beyond my feeling in the gut.
/end_rant
Voldenuit
2 years ago |Agreed: re course correction.
If anything, this is a tacit admission by Panasonic that MicroFourThirds cannot compete in the enthusiast space and they have retreated to provide ‘better than P&S’ quality to the mass market.
Which sucks for early adopters like myself who have sunk lots of money into a GF1+20/1.7+ME45/2.8+7-14/4, but I guess you can’t always tell which horse will finish last before the race begins.
I’ll be looking into a FF system in the future and relegating my GF1 to second body duties. But this means that in a few years’ time when its already outmatched sensor is no longer acceptable, my whole u43 kit will probably be consigned to the dust heap. -_-
There’s no future in u43 for enthusiasts. More’s the pity.
PS Now I know how 4/3 users feel.
MP Burke
2 years ago |As a user of a Panasonic G2, I wouldn’t be interested in such a camera becuase of the lack on an integrated EVF. I also happen to think that the G2 or GH2 are about the right size and shape. Having used old style 35mm slrs I would like to have good old fashioned control dials for both shutter speed and aperture, but have now beoome used to having a single control wheel.
However, it is evident that many people do not agree with me. We are getting a new generation of photographers who have never used film cameras and have never used viewfinders. It is this type of person, perhaps upgrading from a cheap mini camera or mobile ‘phone, or somebody dithering between buying a Canon G12 and a system camera, that the GF2 is aimed at.
Greg
2 years ago |Hmmm… Admin has hinted at a rangefinder like pro body circa Q1 2011… And who knows, salvation could come from Olympus. I only bought my GF1 last Summer so it’s ok for me if I have to wait… say 6-7 months or so…
Pity they went for a plastic body with the GH2. I think it’s one of the main point holding me off :/
Besides I believe that, with such a user base and given the relative openness of the m43 format, new interesting things can pop up unexpectedly from anywhere… Voigtlander? They’re in the m43 consortium and have been making rangefinders all the way… A digital Bessa? I might be in…
Greg
2 years ago |Misplaced comment (bloody reply button on top of comment). This was an answer to the Voldenuit message above.
Voldenuit
2 years ago |Good points, but it almost seems that if u43 is to succeed, it has to do so /in spite of Panasonic/, not because of them.
With the dumbening (cf L.Simpson) of their cameras, it’s obvious they are targeting the mainstream rather than the enthusiast, and this is reflected in their lens portfolio. Which means more slow zooms for everyone! Something we’ve already seen in the Olympus camp, and which we are seeing on the Panasonic side, with a total of only 3 lenses f/2.8 or faster.
Voigtlaender might make some interesting lenses for the mount, but without continued development and advancement in the bodies and sensors, their appeal is limited. I’d rather get a voigtlaender lens in M mount and adapt it to micro four thirds than get a native u43 CV lens that will be useless if and when the format dies.
And yes, I’ll admit that the ‘doom and gloom brigade’ has hounded u43 since the beginning, but when they release a new body with a 3 year old sensor, one has to give them (the brigade) credence.
Reita Opula
10 months ago |hi!!!