I do know where I am LOL--been here for over 2 years. I'm asking for ongoing impressions as people continue to shoot with it. Some people have immediate impressions based on what they are looking for specifically, others have impressions or opinions that build as they shoot with a camera. I thihk its a pretty new camera for "writ in stone" impressions quite yet. So--I hope people will continue to discuss their experiences shooting with the camera, pro and con..
Going back to the original purpose of the thread. These are my impressions. I believe you own a GF-1, which is where I am coming from. Love the GF-1 but it does reach its limits above iso800, imho, although I have produced good results at iso1600 but only with very careful post-processing and nothing I would be happy enlarging bigger than 8x10 at the most.
Purchasing the 100-300 before Xmas really did expose the limits of the GF-1 even further, especially in low light - which you get a lot of in the UK at this time of the year
It is also interesting to note that I won a reasonably pretigious
photographic competition with a photograph from my GF-1 and PL 45/2.8. So, I'm not complaining - just outgrown the body.
OK, well I've been slow at giving my impressions because I've been really waiting for the weather to get better so I feel inspired to take pictures. The short time I have used the GH-2 I can report:
- Beautifully made (but so is the GF-1)
- Screen is fantastic (better than the GF-1)
- Viewfinder is outstanding. Bright, clear, full of information. I don't know what it is like on the GH1 but if this is the state of the art for EVF then the optical viewfind is dead, imho. It's like looking through an optical viewfinder but you can see the impact of adjusting your EV compensation. What could be better?
- Speed autofocus: very fast, much much faster than the GF-1 with my 20/1.7
- Speed capture: for this type of camera? Nothing short of amazing. Have to be careful not to put it onto burst mode or it just bangs away and you've suddenly captured half a dozen frames
- Results: not sure. Definitely better than the GF-1 but exactly how much? Does it even matter? If, like me you've reached the limits of what a GF-1 can do then I can definitely state the GH-2 does it better.
- Features: still working out how to use the touch screen. Was expecting it to be a help with street shooting but not entirely convinced - again, may find with more use it turns out to be either indispensible or a waste of time. An ariculated screen is definitely a bonus over the fixed screen of the GF-1 but then is that a fair comparison?
- Ergonomics - much easier to hand hold than the GF-1. Found myself holding it by the grip down at my side with the 100-300 on it - which I wouldn't dare do with the GF-1 for fear of dropping it. A lot more like a DSLR than a P&S in that respect.
- Noise - don't know why but I think the shutter is quieter and smoother than the GF-1.
I wish I could give you a list of negatives but until I do a proper analysis of captures, I am going to find this hard to do. I'd like to go back and test of the camera against a subject I used about 18 months ago when I was evaluation a D700 with the 24/2.8 against my M8 with the 28/2.8. In that case the M8 won only by a small margin and then on microcontrast which would be unperceptible for most purposes. If I do conduct a similar test then I can post all three samples, D700-M8-GH2.
Hope that helps
LouisB