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Is the G1 the best street camera ever?

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eagle2a

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I ask the question, "Is the G1 the best street camera ever?," because for me it is proving to be so.

I have always been reluctant to take "Street Photographs" because I do not like to be intrusive or rude to people walking on the street. I know I would not want somebody running up in front of me or beside me and pointing a camera at me. The G1 lends itself to street photography, I feel, because of its large reticulated LCD. This little jewel gives the photographer the opportunity to stand sideways to the subject, point the camera at them, and take a decent picture.

I was in our local Rose Garden Park the other day and noticed a very attractive young female who had beautiful copper red hair. She was standing by some pretty red roses. I thought "This will make a great grab shot." So I proceeded to do what I have just referred to, namely, stand sideways at a respectable distance, used the 90 mm equivalent kit lens, and by using the LCD took the following picture. I have not adjusted anything other than some cropping.



How do you feel about using the G1 as a street camera?
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26289929@N05/

Don
 
Don,

You captured her very nice. Now my criticism :-) I would crop off a bit more than the half of greens from the image bottom and from the left image side crop off the width to remove the house (in the background). Also, crop just little of the to to ballance the image.

I see another very important G1 camera benefit - with focusing on sensor you would never have such problems like back or front focus. The AF may be slower but it always will be correct!
Leo
 
eagle2a said:
I have always been reluctant to take "Street Photographs" because I
do not like to be intrusive or rude to people walking on the street.
I know I would not want somebody running up in front of me or beside
me and pointing a camera at me. The G1 lends itself to street
photography, I feel, because of its large reticulated LCD. This
little jewel gives the photographer the opportunity to stand sideways
to the subject, point the camera at them, and take a decent picture.
Click to expand...
So, in other words, you want to sneak pictures of people. Shades of the old "girl watcher" lens accessory, a mirror encased in a tube at a 45 degree angle that screwed on the front of your telephoto lens so you could catch a picture of a pretty girl without her knowing about it. Spiratone sold a bazillion of them, and I don't think I ever saw a single photograph made with one that was worth more than two seconds looking at other than for a shy teenager to ogle a shapely behind or fulsome bosom.

That's not "street photography" in my opinion. Sorry to sound so controversial, but there's a big difference between doing street photography and sneaking photos of people. Photos of people caught in sneaks rarely provide the sense of intimacy, the sense of connection to the environment, to their actions and habitat, that good street photography is supposed to capture and express.
eagle2a said:
I was in our local Rose Garden Park the other day and noticed a very
attractive young female who had beautiful copper red hair. She was
standing by some pretty red roses. I thought "This will make a great
grab shot." So I proceeded to do what I have just referred to,
namely, stand sideways at a respectable distance, used the 90 mm
equivalent kit lens, and by using the LCD took the following picture.
I have not adjusted anything other than some cropping.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2435/3589724394_188d9aa5e5_o.jpg
Click to expand...
Look at what you said and what your photograph shows. The subject isn't a woman, it's a "female who had beautiful copper red hair". You wanted to make a "grab shot" because she was pretty and was standing by some roses. She is some distance away, almost lost in the distance, and casually unconnected to you, to the roses, to the surroundings in any meaningful or poignant way. There a house and a car in the background. The highlights are burned, the shadows inky, and there's little of substance in the emotional appeal of the photo other than a voyeuristic depiction of 'female who had beautiful copper red hair' and a couple of red roses in the foreground amidst all the other visual detritus of the image.

Sorry to be so harsh, but I hear street photography disparaged as a photographic art form because people think stuff like this is 'street photography', which is a disservice to the many photographers who actually work at street photography.

eg: photographer Juan Buhler: http://www.jbuhler.com/

Street photography doesn't have to be black and white, nor does it have to be overt, in your face, and intrusive. Catch a quiet moment, engage the subjects. without intruding upon them.. observe and portray What it has to be is insightful and perhaps profound: expressing, exploring some facet of the human condition in its social context, the odd juxtaposition of elements curious and contradictory.

WHEW, that soapbox got tall! I was running out of oxygen up there. ;-)
eagle2a said:
How do you feel about using the G1 as a street camera?
Click to expand...
Actually, it works very well for street work. I only rarely use the LCD ... I either zone focus or let the Face Detect AF try to help me.



Panasonic G1 + Olympus ZD 25/2.8



Panasonic G1 + Olympus G.Zuiko 40mm f/1.4



Panasonic G1 + Olympus ZD 25/2.8

Good street photography gives you insight into people.

--
Godfrey
http://www.gdgphoto.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdgphoto/sets
http://twitter.com/godfreydigiorgi
 
eagle2a said:
I ask the question, "Is the G1 the best street camera ever?,"
because for me it is proving to be so.
Click to expand...
This is street photography:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qjym5uliDw

Pro doing street photography usually use a 35mm to 50mm equivalent lens. I say usually but not always. Amateurs like long lens because they do not want to be seen taking pictures of strangers.

http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401156fba7109970c-popup

Street photography is about a connection: a people to people connection or a connection with their environment. It's also about what you do, how you feel and what you want to show.

---
Villebon
 
philbarton said:
eagle2a said:
I ask the question, "Is the G1 the best street camera ever?,"
Click to expand...
philbarton said:
How do you feel about using the G1 as a street camera?
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26289929@N05/

Don
Click to expand...
==========

You might find this poster's opinions of interest:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1033&message=32022473

Check his images via the link on his original post.
Click to expand...
Thanks Phil for a very informed link. Most interesting indeed!

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26289929@N05/

Don
 
Villebon,

Thank you for pointing to youtube for street photography. There are so many excellent clips!
Leo
 
Really informative topic for me!
Thanks guys!
 
I agree with Godfrey's view on street photography.

Street photography is the most difficult yet most rewarding form of photography. I have the feeling that in USA approaching people is even more difficult than here in Europe. In my country Holland I wouldn't have hesitated approaching this girl and politely asked here approval for making a photograph. Afterwards show the photo and ask if your subject would like a copy sent by e-mail. A smile and a genuine friendly approach often does the trick.

Regards

Luc

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucdeschepper/
 
Leo said:
The AF may be slower but it always will be correct!
Leo
Click to expand...
============

The reviews I'm reading are persistently complimentary as to the performance of the contrast-detect AF on this body. This one just covers the lens:

http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1251/cat/69

"Autofocus Operation -

The GH-1 uses an electrical autofocus system, enabling fast and silent focusing. The lens was able to focus between infinity, close-focus and back again in under a second, and small focus changes happened extremely quickly. This is very impressive performance, especially considering it's a contrast autofocus detection method. ... Panasonic has done well with this lens. The ability to autofocus during movie mode was an absolute must for the salability of the GH-1, which required a fast, silent autofocus mechanism; in this capacity, the 14-140mm delivers handily. Optically, the lens is no slouch, providing pleasantly sharp images in almost any situation, and when used in the mid-range (24-100mm) and stopped down slightly, images are very sharp indeed. In the extreme ends - wide-angle or full telephoto - the lens shows slight faults: some chromatic aberration, distortion and corner softness, but nothing to the extreme."

My thought is that the more expensive lens is definitely outperforming the cheaper one in terms of AF because of its for-video features and construction. This would also have a payoff for someone with the G1; assuming that the firmware of the GH1 does not also enter into it.

The only person who could really answer this is someone with both bodies; they'd have the better lens because of the GH1. Perhaps some reviewer will attempt the comparison to see how the SAME high-end lens works on BOTH bodies.
 
Sorry, that phrasing just gives me the creeps.
 
eagle2a said:
and noticed a very
attractive young female who had beautiful copper red hair. She was
standing by some pretty red roses. I thought "This will make a great
grab shot." So I proceeded to do
Click to expand...
Me too: When reading this quote, and also seeing the resulting image, i felt rather uncomfortable. I love an articulating lcd for macro, low-angle and overhead, but surely not for phrasing and taking pictures like that. Kinda embarrassing actually.
 
Likely a lack of command of the English language

--
Greg Gebhardt in
Jacksonville, Florida
 
I am having some difficulty understanding some of these posts.

Since when is it "Creepy" to refer to a young female person as a "very attractive young female"?

And then to be accused of having a lack of command of the English language. And then another person says possibly this is just the way some old folks speak.

Come on folks! Why don't we get back on the subject of what was really intended with this post. Namely "Is the G1 the best street camera you have ever seen?"

I only provided the picture for illustrative purposes. Not because it was some great picture, or about my superior photographic technique, or some surrealistic delving into all kinds of psychological photographic baloney.

There have been quite a few posts in recent days about the quality of this forum having deteriorated. I would say that some of the posts in this thread are a good example of what people are complaining about.

Why don't we get back on topic?

"Is the G1 the best camera for street photography that you have ever used?"

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Don
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26289929@N05/

Don
 
Bit of a mystery to me, as well, Don. But then I'm an old fart so perhaps I'm more accustomed to clear and concise English than the younger crowd ;)

I've only just received my G-1 thus cannot comment on its efficacy for street shooting but it certainly appears to be a very capable machine for that genre.

I'm truly looking forward to the upcoming 20mm lens which should be smashing for the typical street photography as defined by aficionados of the art.

My street work has been more along candids taken with longer focal lengths so I'm not really an experienced street shooter per say. The diminutive size of the G-1 should be much easier to wield and capture social spontaneity similar to the small film bodies of yesteryear.

Waiting for the battery to charge....
--
-Holmes
http://holmes.zenfolio.com/
 
Holmes375 said:
Bit of a mystery to me, as well, Don. But then I'm an old fart so
perhaps I'm more accustomed to clear and concise English than the
younger crowd ;)

I've only just received my G-1 thus cannot comment on its efficacy
for street shooting but it certainly appears to be a very capable
machine for that genre.

I'm truly looking forward to the upcoming 20mm lens which should be
smashing for the typical street photography as defined by aficionados
of the art.

My street work has been more along candids taken with longer focal
lengths so I'm not really an experienced street shooter per say. The
diminutive size of the G-1 should be much easier to wield and capture
social spontaneity similar to the small film bodies of yesteryear.

Waiting for the battery to charge....
--
-Holmes
http://holmes.zenfolio.com/
Click to expand...
Holmes: Thanks for the reasoned response! What a relief.

You are going to love your new G1, if you're anything like me.

The reason I started this thread was that I am not, nor have I ever been, a street photographer. However, having said that, one cannot help but feel that street photography is what the G1 was designed for. It's very lightweight for a interchangeable lens camera. It is very compact, particularly with its 14-45 mm kit lens. The lens is very sharp and the built in shake reduction and autofocus are almost silent and undetectable.

The reason I think it would make a great street camera is its articulated LCD. No less a photographic light than Michael Reichmann of "Luminous Landscape" fame, one of the most experienced and knowledgeable photographers working on the Internet today, had a lengthy piece about the old Minolta A1. It was one of the first cameras,( a bridge camera) with a articulated LCD. He loved this feature and when he was in Spain taking pictures with it for a review, he utilized the LCD in the manner described in my initial post to take some street photographs. So quite frankly I don't know where these people are coming from regarding taking photographs on the street.

Many people have expressed reluctance to take street photographs because they did not want to appear intrusive. But the old saying continues to hold true, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

I appreciate your comments. I believe you will thoroughly enjoy the G1. Once you've had an opportunity to experience the wonders of this little jewel, post back and let us know about your experience. Don't even be afraid to post a picture because some folks will find fault with it as they have with my picture in this thread.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26289929@N05/

Don
 
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