pictor
All-Pro
When Panasonic announced the GF3 I immediately disliked that camera. I disliked the direction Panasonic is going. What was Panasonic thinking when they started with the GF1 and ended up with the GF3 for now? They have gone all the way from a compact system camera with many manual controls to something which looks like a point and shoot camera! Has Panasonic gone crazy?
However, when I saw the camera for the first time with the 14mm on it, I liked its looks much more than I did by looking at the photographs of this camera. At home I realized that the 14mm lens does not cost much less than the GF3 with the 14mm together, which is astonishing, but fine. Then someone posted some pictures of this camera showing the GF3 side by side with the Olympus XZ-1 and the Canon S95. The GF3 has about the same size as those nice compact cameras. I had not realized until then, how small the GF3 is! Finally, the GF3 has found my interest.
The gear lust, I have become addicted to, targets the best possible image quality. There is nothing wrong with that, but I am very fond of photographing with small and light cameras. My µ4/3 gear is small and light, but not really light and small like compact cameras. I have tried a Leica D-LUX 5 in March, but returned it because the sensor was defect. Two months later I contemplated, if I should buy a Canon S95, but scrapped this idea soon, because that would not make any sense at all. That showed, however, what I miss: the lightness of my Canon S90 and going really light. I don't take more than two lenses and a body with me, but even the small size of my lenses and my camera require a bag, which is big enough to hold a small DSLR with two small primes. I really enjoy photographing with that gear, but having a camera which is as small as a compact camera and as good as my Olympus gear would change the game for me!
The GF3 with the 14mm or 20mm is as small as a compact camera with the image quality of a DSLR. This combination weights about as much as my Canon G12. The GF3 with one of these lenses fits in the same case as my G12 and is light enough to be with me all the time. Today I took the GF3 with the 14mm and tested it in my favorite shop. The camera is really great and I just could not stop holding it and playing with it! It is small, but I can handle it very well with a light lens on it. The GF3 is fast, really fast, much faster than my Olympus E-PL1. The 12mm might be better than the 14mm and the 25mm better than the 20mm, but the difference does not change the game as much as the compactness does. Unfortunately, they had only the set with the 14mm and the 14-42mm, which I do not need. Thus I have ordered the GF3 with the 14mm and the 20mm today.
However, when I saw the camera for the first time with the 14mm on it, I liked its looks much more than I did by looking at the photographs of this camera. At home I realized that the 14mm lens does not cost much less than the GF3 with the 14mm together, which is astonishing, but fine. Then someone posted some pictures of this camera showing the GF3 side by side with the Olympus XZ-1 and the Canon S95. The GF3 has about the same size as those nice compact cameras. I had not realized until then, how small the GF3 is! Finally, the GF3 has found my interest.
The gear lust, I have become addicted to, targets the best possible image quality. There is nothing wrong with that, but I am very fond of photographing with small and light cameras. My µ4/3 gear is small and light, but not really light and small like compact cameras. I have tried a Leica D-LUX 5 in March, but returned it because the sensor was defect. Two months later I contemplated, if I should buy a Canon S95, but scrapped this idea soon, because that would not make any sense at all. That showed, however, what I miss: the lightness of my Canon S90 and going really light. I don't take more than two lenses and a body with me, but even the small size of my lenses and my camera require a bag, which is big enough to hold a small DSLR with two small primes. I really enjoy photographing with that gear, but having a camera which is as small as a compact camera and as good as my Olympus gear would change the game for me!
The GF3 with the 14mm or 20mm is as small as a compact camera with the image quality of a DSLR. This combination weights about as much as my Canon G12. The GF3 with one of these lenses fits in the same case as my G12 and is light enough to be with me all the time. Today I took the GF3 with the 14mm and tested it in my favorite shop. The camera is really great and I just could not stop holding it and playing with it! It is small, but I can handle it very well with a light lens on it. The GF3 is fast, really fast, much faster than my Olympus E-PL1. The 12mm might be better than the 14mm and the 25mm better than the 20mm, but the difference does not change the game as much as the compactness does. Unfortunately, they had only the set with the 14mm and the 14-42mm, which I do not need. Thus I have ordered the GF3 with the 14mm and the 20mm today.