boBQuincy
<font color=green>I am not carrying three pods<br>
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2002
- Messages
- 5,086
Maybe even 2 micro 4/3s
*Long opening, skip down if you just want to see the photos.
We have all seen the requests for a camera that is small, light, inexpensive, and gets great action & low light photos. And we have notified the posters that it doesn't exist or we would not be carrying big heavy dSLRs. But what if recent developments have made such a camera possible, or at least met more of those requests than previously?
To reduce the weight of my kit I went from a Canon 30D to a Rebel Xsi three years ago, from a full size prosumer dSLR to an entry level model. Now to continue the quest for smaller & lighter I tried a micro 4/3, a Panasonic G3. The smaller sensor is going to give up something to APS-C (just as APS-C does to full frame), that is just physics, but is 4/3 large enough?
Some columnists and reviewers think so:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/panasonic_gh2_revisited.shtml
"I have an Epson 3880 printer here, and have been making 13X19" prints, with a number of them now framed and hanging on my walls in San Miguel, as well as several given and sold to friends and acquaintances here. No one has yet said Gee, I wish you'd shot these with a larger format camera. Is the GH2's image quality good enough? Yes, it is for me..."
The G3 is small alright, the whole kit is just about half the bulk and weight of a Rebel setup! After a couple weeks of trying the G3 I really liked it.
Alright then, if this is going to be "my camera", the one I carry to WDW, then it is going to have to replace the dSLR. It definitely needed some accessories or as Cogsworth said "if we are going to do it, then let's DO it". I ordered a wide angle, long lens, extra battery, and cable release. The whole kit easily fits in the bag which previously held only two lenses, and not happily at that. The full camera bag also weighs less than it used to, a lot less! The G3 seems too small for a neck strap so I fitted a Canon video camera wrist strap which worked well for the trip. Since the camera is so small those with larger hands may not like it. Many people report that the Rebels feel too small and light, they will definitely not like the G3!
Image quality is good, ISO 3200 and up should get some noise reduction and the JPGs are heavily processed but I rarely use JPGs anyway.
Even the kit lens is good but the 45-175 is *really* good and the 7-14 is L series good! While on lenses, there is a 2x magnification factor. This is not a crop factor like APS-C since the u4/3 system was designed for this geometry from the beginning unlike APS-C which shares geometry with film SLRs. Anyway the wide lens equates to 14mm, still pretty wide, but the long lens equates to 350! That is mighty impressive considering it weighs about half a pound, is only 3.5" long, and has IS.
As with cameras, the best lens is the one you carry and for the entire trip I had all three lenses with me at all times, not so with my dSLR outfit.
The electronic viewfinder is different, not as good in some ways but better in many ways than optical viewfinders. It has it's limitations and tracking a subject with a long lens in low light is one of them. Think Birdie in Festival of the Lion King. Now think that if really good photos of Birdie in flight is your goal you may want to look at a different camera. *This was with a f/5.6 lens, when Panasonic releases their 35-100 f/2.8 (or maybe faster) lens early next year that could solve this issue. The viewfinder also seems to use the JPG engine for it's display so colors may be altered by the picture settings. The castle lighting looked more blue in the viewfinder then it really was but the RAW looked fine, for true colors use RAW and trust that you are getting the right color.
While discussing the viewfinder, the long lens shows the focal length in the display! Along with the live histogram (!) the brightness also changes as the settings are adjusted so it is a real live view. Adjusting the manual focus on the lens instantly shows a greatly magnified view to help with focusing. Since the viewfinder shows SO much information there is usually no reason to use the LCD screen. Videos are easy since the camera was designed for that from the start. The shutter is normally open, going through a "close, open, close, open" cycle each time a photo is taken. It sounds a little strange to someone used to a SLR.
Overall the little G3 is fun to use, easy to carry, and gives image quality comparable to most entry level dSLRs at about half the bulk and weight. The price is not smaller though, in fact some entry dSLR kits sell for less than the G3 which may be why Canon and Nikon are only slowly losing market share to the mirrorless cameras.
Like dSLR lenses the price ranges from not bad to OMG! The little camera attracted some attention at WDW, when people saw us changing lenses they realized this was not a P&S dSLR lookalike and a few asked what it was (partly since the wrist strap read "CANON".
On to the photos:
We started at AK and Festival of the Lion King was the first time we tried these cameras in such low light.
7 mm takes in the giraffe, Pumba, and most of the warthog section!
From Camp Minnie-Mickey it was around the tree and over to Asia
Then it was time to head to MK for the castle lighting. As expected the flagpole was gone for the parade taping weekend.
and back to Boardwalk.
Day two was Epcot, where we had lunch at LeCellier
saw some holiday storytellers
and saw the Candlelight Processional (Edward James Olmos narrating)
close enough to play the music (if I could play music).
Speaking of music, these guys were really good!
Then it was time for Illuminations and to dispel two notions:
one, that micro 4/3 are not real cameras,
two, that we *must* have a tripod for good fireworks photos. These were taken at 2 seconds, f/16, with only a 3 ounce monopod!
The next day we were off to Hollywood Studios to see a beast.
I always like the last photo as the curtain comes down.
The sunset looked good
For our last night at Boardwalk I carried the tripod to get some HDR and long exposures.
2 Panasonic G3s? It was our 7th wedding anniversary trip and DW wanted her own G3 so I got her one just before we left.
*Long opening, skip down if you just want to see the photos.
We have all seen the requests for a camera that is small, light, inexpensive, and gets great action & low light photos. And we have notified the posters that it doesn't exist or we would not be carrying big heavy dSLRs. But what if recent developments have made such a camera possible, or at least met more of those requests than previously?
To reduce the weight of my kit I went from a Canon 30D to a Rebel Xsi three years ago, from a full size prosumer dSLR to an entry level model. Now to continue the quest for smaller & lighter I tried a micro 4/3, a Panasonic G3. The smaller sensor is going to give up something to APS-C (just as APS-C does to full frame), that is just physics, but is 4/3 large enough?
Some columnists and reviewers think so:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/panasonic_gh2_revisited.shtml
"I have an Epson 3880 printer here, and have been making 13X19" prints, with a number of them now framed and hanging on my walls in San Miguel, as well as several given and sold to friends and acquaintances here. No one has yet said Gee, I wish you'd shot these with a larger format camera. Is the GH2's image quality good enough? Yes, it is for me..."
The G3 is small alright, the whole kit is just about half the bulk and weight of a Rebel setup! After a couple weeks of trying the G3 I really liked it.
Alright then, if this is going to be "my camera", the one I carry to WDW, then it is going to have to replace the dSLR. It definitely needed some accessories or as Cogsworth said "if we are going to do it, then let's DO it". I ordered a wide angle, long lens, extra battery, and cable release. The whole kit easily fits in the bag which previously held only two lenses, and not happily at that. The full camera bag also weighs less than it used to, a lot less! The G3 seems too small for a neck strap so I fitted a Canon video camera wrist strap which worked well for the trip. Since the camera is so small those with larger hands may not like it. Many people report that the Rebels feel too small and light, they will definitely not like the G3!
Image quality is good, ISO 3200 and up should get some noise reduction and the JPGs are heavily processed but I rarely use JPGs anyway.
Even the kit lens is good but the 45-175 is *really* good and the 7-14 is L series good! While on lenses, there is a 2x magnification factor. This is not a crop factor like APS-C since the u4/3 system was designed for this geometry from the beginning unlike APS-C which shares geometry with film SLRs. Anyway the wide lens equates to 14mm, still pretty wide, but the long lens equates to 350! That is mighty impressive considering it weighs about half a pound, is only 3.5" long, and has IS.
As with cameras, the best lens is the one you carry and for the entire trip I had all three lenses with me at all times, not so with my dSLR outfit.
The electronic viewfinder is different, not as good in some ways but better in many ways than optical viewfinders. It has it's limitations and tracking a subject with a long lens in low light is one of them. Think Birdie in Festival of the Lion King. Now think that if really good photos of Birdie in flight is your goal you may want to look at a different camera. *This was with a f/5.6 lens, when Panasonic releases their 35-100 f/2.8 (or maybe faster) lens early next year that could solve this issue. The viewfinder also seems to use the JPG engine for it's display so colors may be altered by the picture settings. The castle lighting looked more blue in the viewfinder then it really was but the RAW looked fine, for true colors use RAW and trust that you are getting the right color.
While discussing the viewfinder, the long lens shows the focal length in the display! Along with the live histogram (!) the brightness also changes as the settings are adjusted so it is a real live view. Adjusting the manual focus on the lens instantly shows a greatly magnified view to help with focusing. Since the viewfinder shows SO much information there is usually no reason to use the LCD screen. Videos are easy since the camera was designed for that from the start. The shutter is normally open, going through a "close, open, close, open" cycle each time a photo is taken. It sounds a little strange to someone used to a SLR.
Overall the little G3 is fun to use, easy to carry, and gives image quality comparable to most entry level dSLRs at about half the bulk and weight. The price is not smaller though, in fact some entry dSLR kits sell for less than the G3 which may be why Canon and Nikon are only slowly losing market share to the mirrorless cameras.
Like dSLR lenses the price ranges from not bad to OMG! The little camera attracted some attention at WDW, when people saw us changing lenses they realized this was not a P&S dSLR lookalike and a few asked what it was (partly since the wrist strap read "CANON".
On to the photos:
We started at AK and Festival of the Lion King was the first time we tried these cameras in such low light.
7 mm takes in the giraffe, Pumba, and most of the warthog section!
From Camp Minnie-Mickey it was around the tree and over to Asia
Then it was time to head to MK for the castle lighting. As expected the flagpole was gone for the parade taping weekend.
and back to Boardwalk.
Day two was Epcot, where we had lunch at LeCellier
saw some holiday storytellers
and saw the Candlelight Processional (Edward James Olmos narrating)
close enough to play the music (if I could play music).
Speaking of music, these guys were really good!
Then it was time for Illuminations and to dispel two notions:
one, that micro 4/3 are not real cameras,
two, that we *must* have a tripod for good fireworks photos. These were taken at 2 seconds, f/16, with only a 3 ounce monopod!
The next day we were off to Hollywood Studios to see a beast.
I always like the last photo as the curtain comes down.
The sunset looked good
For our last night at Boardwalk I carried the tripod to get some HDR and long exposures.
2 Panasonic G3s? It was our 7th wedding anniversary trip and DW wanted her own G3 so I got her one just before we left.
It certainly dispels a lot of myths about small cameras not being able to do the job. I would be proud of those images.
