The full review for Panasonic’s new generation of un-SLR is up over at DPReview, and they’ve given it the usual treatment. It looks like the G1, which I was a bit skeptical of, comes through okay. Given its natural limitations, it succeeds in image quality, color reproduction, and somewhat in usability. It isn’t all fun and games, though.
The G1 is quite small, more so even than Rebels and D40s, but also lighter due to the simplification and miniaturization of the guts. This can be good or bad, depending, but the same process that made it so small made it incompatible with all the lenses out there. The few micro four thirds lenses available aren’t very impressive, and although an adapter is available for other lenses, autofocus is not available.
It also has a lot of trouble in low light. Not necessarily image quality-wise, as it performs pretty well at medium-high ISO, but due to its electronic viewfinder, you might be having a lot of trouble framing shots of candlelit dinners or friends in dark bars.
It also can’t shoot video, which is kind of inexplicable, given that the major change (no reflex mirror) should enable that capability without too much tweaking — and the camera’s processor is certainly fast enough.
Basically you’ve got an interesting but not particularly standout camera with some serious flaws. Personally I’d wait for the G2.
Hey. Thank you. In Germany we don’t have these news, yet! Greetings
I think you’re being a bit too hard on the G1 with your “somewhat in usability” statement. About the only usability issue I’ve seen anyone mention is pixel blocking of the EVF in low light situations. And I don’t see that is such a big deal since you easily flip out the 3″ LCD and compose with it in low light. Trustedreviews.com also recently posted an excellent review of this camera. Besides, it’s not like those dinky pentamirror optical view finders in entry level DSLR’s are a joy to use in low light. I upgraded to a DSLR with a pentaprism for that very reason.
Well it’s certainly been reviewed better than I thought it would… but the electronic viewfinder is still a major problem for me. The problem isn’t the size but the quality of the image… if its sensor isn’t getting enough info it’s impossible to get a decent shot (I would think).