Micro 4/3 G3: White Water Kayaking at Great Falls, Virginia (12 images)

john1027

Regular
Location
Alexandria, VA
I had an opportunity to borrow a friend's G3 kit for a few hours the earlier this week. I took it out to the Great Falls National Park in Virginia located on the Potomac River about 10 miles up from downtown Washington, DC. I have taken a great number of pictures there over the past few years with various cameras and lenses and wanted to see how the G3's images compared.

When I got to the park in late afternoon, I was lucky enough to catch some white water kayakers who were running some of the more challenging rapids. There was a decent amount of water flowing for this time of year, as we had just had some heavy thunderstorms the night before.

Overall, the G3's performance was excellent. I have had several 4/3s models in the past including the G2, GF1&2, E-P2 and E-PL1. The G3 is the fastest focusing model I have used in 4/3s to date. I usually shoot raw, but since Apple hasn't updated for the G3 yet, I stuck with jpeg. I shot in vivid after trying the other settings finding for that afternoon and light, the vivid seemed to produce the colors I liked best. As widely reported, the battery life is on the low side due to its size and a spare or two is in order for any extended photo sessions. I got use to the grip and size of the G3 quickly, and I have large hands. I do miss the auto eye sensor switch that would toggle automatically between the LCD and the viewfinder. I have read the Panasonic left it off for either cost/size purposes, but many reviewers have commented it was a mistake to leave it off. I would agree, although that feature might not be missed by everyone.

The G3 (4fps) did a good job in continuous shooting mode as you can see in images 3,4, and 5. It seems a little slower in actual operation than T3i/600D (3.7 fps), but still was not bad. There is an in-depth explanation of the G3 continuous shooting rate, buffering issues, and related settings in the DPR review at their web site.

Some of the images below were slightly cropped. All were taken handheld. Note that the green/brown tint to the water is accurate and how it usually appears at this time of the year after a storm.

G3 & 20mm


G3 & 45-200mm @61mm


G3 & 45-200mm @200mm


G3 & 45-200mm @200mm


G3 & 45-200mm @200mm


G3 & 45-200mm @200mm


G3 & 45-200mm @189mm


G3 & 45-200mm @124mm @189mm

G3 & 45-45mm @61mm


G3 & 45-45mm @200mm


G3 & 45-45mm @45mm


G3 & 45-45mm @45mm
 
Thanks for the kind words. The park is a bargain at $5.00 (USD) a day per car or $20.00 a year. Other than some summer weekends, it is never too crowded, On some weekday visits in the winter, I have been the only one there, other than the Park Rangers.
 
Back
Top