I finally got my hands on a Panasonic G1 today. I didn’t get to test it for long, but 20 minutes with it was long enough to confirm my belief that Micro Four Thirds style cameras are the future of the amateur photography market. This is by no means a detailed review, there are plenty of sites that do that. I’m just going to point out some of the things I liked about it and speculate on the future of the system. 

What I Liked

The first thing I noticed when framing up a photo was the size of the electronic view finder. Compared to a cropped sensor DSLR, such as a Canon Rebel, it is a HUGE view. It easily seems as large as the view in a full frame DSLR even though the camera itself is much smaller than a Nikon D60. Plus there is so much info in the view finder for you at all times. Traditional SLR’s can’t compete in this area for obvious reasons. After taking a photo you don’t even have to take your eye out of the viewfinder to see a review of it. And what an image review it is, better than any LCD I’ve seen on any SLR. It feels almost like reviewing your image on a 20″ monitor. If you’re used to seeing your images on a 2.5″ LCD or smaller then you’re in for a real treat.

The auto focus is fast and accurate. I love the way it locks onto AF points. And unlike other entry level interchangeable lens cameras (Nikon D60, Pentax K2000, Canon Rebel XS) it has plenty of AF points to choose from.

It only has one scroll wheel, but what Panasonic has done with it is pure genius. Shooting aperture priority obviously works like any other camera, but when shooting in manual mode you can click the wheel the same way you can click a scroll wheel on a mouse and toggle between shutter speed and aperture. Or you can just spin it for aperture then click down and hold and scroll for shutter. Brilliant!

I am a former Canon Powershot G2 owner, and my single biggest worry when moving up to an SLR was losing the rotating LCD screen for framing. The G1 solves that problem. You’ll hear lots of “purist” say they hate live view and never use it. Those people have either never had a camera with a rotating screen or never shoot at odd angles. I personally love shooting from ground level or waist high. Once I lost my rotating screen I had to channel The Force to frame up street level shots. Luke Skywalker I am not. I want a rotating LCD again.

One of the reasons I chose Pentax for my first DSLR was I felt as though their kit lens offered the most bang for the buck. Since I couldn’t afford/justify $400 for a lens when starting out that was very important to me. If the G1 would have been out at the time I wouldn’t have even considered Pentax. Short of the $900 Canon 24-105mm lens that comes with the $3500 Canon 5D Mark II kit the Panasonic 14-45mm lens is the best kit lens I have seen; period. It feels wonderful, it’s made extremely well, it has a metal mount, it’s very small, and it’s totally silent and fast. You would have to pay at least $300 for an equivalent lens by Nikon, Pentax, Sony or Canon.

What I Disliked

I was shocked to find out the G1’s flash sync is only 1/160th a second. To be honest, since the camera doesn’t use a mirror box I wasn’t expecting it to use a mechanical shutter either. So I expected flash sync up to 1/2000th a second, just like the Panasonic LX3; but alas, that is not the case. However, I’ve read that Panasonic (as well as Olympus) is working on this issue. So hopefully they can do away with the mechanical shutter in future versions, fixing the flash sync issue in the process.

Also, as good as the electronic view finder is it may not be for everyone. It’s kind of like watching a TV and pressing pause when you see the shot you want. It refreshes quickly, but there is still a bit of a trail when panning fast. It doesn’t bother me because I’m not an action photographer, but I bet a Formula One photographer would get tired of it pretty quickly. That said, EVF’s will keep getting better and better just like TV’s have over the years; and the EVF in the G1 is already more than good enough for me (as well as most casual users I suspect).

The design of the G1 isn’t nearly as radical as it could have been. I think it is a very good looking camera, and it feels wonderfully well made, but it has very little sex appeal (if that is even possible in a camera). The upcoming Olympus m4/3’s camera as well as this rumored Samsung rendering both have far more appeal to me. I wish Panasonic would have done something along those lines, but I understand the reasons for a conservative first approach.

My Speculation & Wrapping It All Up

This is a total shot in the dark, but I have a feeling once cameras like the G1 make it onto the shelves at Best Buy your average joe will be blown away by them. Most people hate bulky SLR’s and love the live view systems on P&S cameras. However, due to the tiny image sensors currently in every P&S camera on the market aside from the Sigma DP1, the image quality is, to put it gently, awful. Micro Four Thirds as well as Samsung’s upcoming “hybrid” system will bridge that gap flawlessly. I have no idea if Nikon, Canon, Pentax, and Sony have plans to jump into this new sector since they are so entrenched in the SLR business, but I suspect if Panasonic, Olympus and Samsung start to have success they will have no choice. I imagine SLR’s will always be around, and some pros will never want to switch from what they’ve used for decades. There will also be those that simply prefer DSLR’s, there are still people that shoot film after all even though digital offers almost countless advantages. However, soccer moms and those people that simply want to take nice photos without all the bulk of a DSLR system will take notice of m4/3’s once the cameras become visible at their local stores.

I haven’t yet decided if I will buy the current G1, wait for the HD video version coming soon, or wait for the first Olympus m4/3’s camera; but I have decided this system offers everything I need. No, the image quality is not going to be as good as a full frame DSLR, but it is good enough, and with much less bulk. The G1 is not my dream pocket camera (it won’t even fit into a pocket after all), but the Micro Four Thirds system is fully capable of producing such a camera, and a small body to go along with a “larger” body like the G1 would make a nice kit. You could use the G1 with larger zoom lenses, and the smaller, less ergonomic body for travel and small prime lenses. So now I have to decide, to sell off all my DSLR gear at a loss and jump ship, or continue using it until the Micro Four Thirds system fully develops. I am leaning towards the former. I’d like to see if Nikon or Canon announce a similar system, but I have no desire to wait around for years while they use Panasonic & Olympus as their guinea pigs. Plus, part of me would rather reward the innovators with my business instead of those that just copy the idea.