After a much needed “upgrade” to a low light sensitive camera along side with a few public taunts and teases I finally obtained a Lumix GF1. I’ve been waiting for months to acquire any sort of low-light friendly camera; last few weeks for the GF1 choice. Now I won’t have to struggle with night time or indoor shots as much under the picture and video mode, I hope ^^.
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(Figures, Ferrari models and Andrew Haydon Park in Ottawa within this article.)
My old trusty Sony W170 Digital Camera:
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I obtained the Lumix GF1 from Black’s Photography for about $1200 (CAD). They didn’t seem all that willing to sell that camera while being slightly disorderly with their service.
This camera was advertised to be aimed at SLR beginners or those seeking to find something easier to carry, to behave like a high grade DSLR, to have HD pictures and video mode in one, and to be easy (or complex) to use. Sounds about right for me. I shall be taking a lot pictures anyways and I have always been seeking a camera that would take proper video mode. With the spare 2 gigs card from before and the newly bought 8 gigs card, my camera has 10 gigs to play around with.
Videos? Yes, I don’t want to lug around two separate devices wherever I go. What better way to record then having a high quality picture and video mode in the same device? 720p? I don’t really need 1080p video as 720p is enough for HD viewing. 1080p would be helpful but I can live without it, for now.
And before I move on, what do I mean I was taunted and teased?
– Taunted: People flashed their DSLR’s like some kind of public trophy while having that evil smirk on their face. Meh. You may have a DSLR but can you take pictures? I’m still struggling with mine ^^.
– Teased: I tried to use my W170 to record video and pictures for the the Winterlude 2010 -Â Rideau Canal article. People simply pointed and laughed at my cheap tripod and camera set up. One person even ran into the damn thing on purpose, blah….Either that or they’re ungrateful Canadians :P.
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Video Sample:
– Allow the sound of water to calm your mind (ignore the cheap tripod noise – When possible view it full screen and in 720p)
From the looks of it the camera (or the pancake lens) was trying to focus on the first and second layer of the foreground while ignoring the 3rd and fourth layer of the background. The twig and the rock are the first two layers while the water and the vegetation behind are the third and the fourth. Meh, ever since I got this camera I’ve been thinking in layers from the way it keeps focusing.
Vegas 8 wouldn’t allow me to edit the .mts video file. I only get the audio channel.
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Image tests: –
Indoor use – Figures and models:
(All images re-sized to 1068×600 for easier viewing.)
Manual Focus with semi auto-focus assist off (full manual focus)Â – Astray Blue Frame. I got this Astray model kit at my local T&T Supermarket’s gift store. Should I attempt a review?
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I’m assuming this is auto-focus with Saber (took quite a few images of her).
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Pan-American Ferrari 599 model kit with full manual focus. It’ll be awhile before I get this manual focus down?
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Full manual focus of the interior.
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Up for some Italian styled Ferrari Sushi – Hot Wheel’s flavor? :P. (Full manual focus)
Since I hastily reviewed Signum in the past I thought I’d give her a nicer image -Â Full manual focus. Expect to see nicer Figma re-reviews in better detail in the order of purchase.
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Meh, I felt bad for her in her previous article.
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Auto-focus with Di: Saber.
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And then a few images from Andrew Haydon Park using AF (automated focus) and just snapping away. Sadly, Britannia Beach wasn’t flooded so I went to A.H.P instead. I think I screwed up with the exposure causing half of my images to appear bright. Its either that, or I’m used to darker looking images. They just don’t seem right….looks like a giant camera flash went off or something.
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As for the night shots, they surprisingly do come out in a nice high resolution images with little to no noise. I don’t have any generic ones for the blog article. Little to no light and the images came out slightly brighter then what my eyes would see.
-> Place holder for a possible night shot edit.
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Final Thoughts:
Ever since I got the Lumix GF1 I’m having a hard time wanting to operate my Sony W170 Camera which assisted me in populating my blog since 2008. The GF1 takes great HD quality media while my W170 wins under zoom. Though, The GF1’s pancake lens lacks in zoom, which I miss, it does make up for it for a great depth in both pictures and videos. I think I can live without the zoom-in feature for awhile and try for a new approach to how I take pictures and videos. Should be interesting to see if I can actually adapt or forced to invest into a lens which could allow me to focus and zoom into things.
-Side-note:
Many so called “professionals” are complaining that everybody wants to call themselves “photographers” just because they can point and shoot a digital camera. They also go around saying that non-digital cameras are true testaments of who’s a true photographer and who’s a false one. I say they should relax as we should simply record the things around us and enjoy life and the things we stupidly take for granted.
Pros:
– High quality images and videos.
– A camera that seems to want to push for a practical hybrid mode. “Experts” claim that such things shouldn’t be possible as they should be kept separate. Me and everybody else would probably rather prefer a single high quality device that would make things easier.
– Easy to use – Ability to switch from pictures to video with a simple push of a button. See a Ferrari? Press the video record in a second; not a highly valuable five.
– Ability to play around with manual and auto focus, exposure, focus, and anything for the more advanced camera user.
– Great trainer camera.
– Shutter noise sounds melodic
– Takes great quality night time photos (granted that the area has enough light to see things).
– Tiny enough to be portable in the biggest pockets of your pants or jacket (depends on the clothing type).
– Have the ability to switch to any other lens.
Cons:
– Instruction manual is highly paranoid of damages and etc that people may damage it with ease. Who in their right mind would damage an expensive camera? At least it gives you a nicely detailed trouble shooting section for all it’s paranoia – very thick manual. All 4 manuals combined weighed more then the camera and lens itself.
– Pancake lens lacks zoom.
– You have to fully disable A/F (Auto focus) twice to actually use M/F (Manual focus). Once in the “A/F + M/F” and then in the main menu. Just a minor inconvenience.
– Kind of bulky for every day use/travel without a pouch or those who have no pockets (Just imagine +40*C weather).
For more image and reviews check out Dannychoo.com or cameralabs.com.
– http://www.dannychoo.com
– Cameralabs.com – Youtube.
-> Here is to hoping nobody in my area gets all uppity as I want to use my camera in peace. Thanks for viewing this article and hope people are having fun on this March/spring break :). Do pardon any grammar errors as I was simply thinking about the GF1 for a few days.