Anybody switched from E-P1 to GF-1? And why?

I have been using the E-P1 for a while now as I work in the photographic industry. I am really impressed with the E-P1 and would recommend it to anyone.

What I don't like is the 17mm lens, the focus is very slow and the edges a little soft.

So today I have been using the E-P1 with the Pana 20mm 1.7. This lens is the difference. The Autofocus with this lens is snappy and really really sharp edge to edge.

I do not have a studio or a way of testing technically, just was able to test in store shooting a variety of subjects.

The thing that amazes me with Olympus is the Image Stabilisation and the dust reduction. No one, SLR or Micro 4/3rd(so far) can match the dust reduction of Olympus.

What I like about the Panasonic, the pop up flash, however I like the IS and use it more than the pop up flash. So the Olympus wins for me, however I would buy body only and then get the Pana 20mm 1.7.

I have tried the 50mm and 50-200mm Olympus lenses on the Pen with an adaptor and am very surprised at how well they performed. This might be a good way to go too.

On talking to someone from Olympus I was advised that the raodmap for the micro 4/3rds lenses is extensive and I know they have been showing the next Pen to key customers under NDA's so it shouldn't be too far off now.

Perhaps it will have built in flash as a bonus? Sometimes you are out somewhere and you just need a happy snap.

Regards

While the AF was annoying to me on the E-P1 the interface is what sealed the deal. Really not fond of the Oly user interface.

Both are great cameras and the decision process is personal.
--
terry
http://tbanet.zenfolio.com/

I didn't but I replaced the 17mm pancake with the 20mm. The lens changes the camera a lot. I wish the AF speed was better, but for me the IBIS and the second dial made the EP1 worth keeping. My general feeling is that the differences between the GF1 and EP1 are real, but not dramatic enough to warrant switching. My current thinking is that I would be better off waiting for the next generation of cameras. I hope that camera has the built-in or add-on high-quality EVF and a less flimsy second dial (a-la Leica M8 or Canon G11). But most of all we need fast sharp primes for m43.

...and also i found the menu' interface of panny less complicated (but this maybe couse i already own G1 and GH1) but i found a little complicated oly menu
--
angel

TEBnewyork said:

While the AF was annoying to me on the E-P1 the interface is what sealed the deal. Really not fond of the Oly user interface.

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i thought i was the only one to see so much complicated the interface of E-P1 compared to panasonic ones.... many people say that olympus menu' are great...sincerly i cant undertand in wich sense

--
angel

I have both.

I purchased the GF-1, after having owned the E-P1 digital PEN, due to the speed of the autofocus. Otherwise, I would have waited to buy the 20/1,7 when it becomes available individually.

I am hesitant to sell the E-P1 due to its IBIS, I have a collection of manual focus lenses. I have not yet done enough of a comparison side-by-side to determine which JPG I would prefer. These, and a sentimental one, I just love the styling... are why I have not yet sold it.

It pains me to write this, I was so excited about the E-P1 when it was released.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1041&message=32167320

I never understood why people shoot "at arms length"... I brace my uppers arms against my torso, pivoting at the elbow, so the camera is a foot away from me.

--
'Photos are what remain when the memories are forgotten' - Angular Mo.

I switched.

I'm not normally a switcher (I used oly film SLRs for years, and I use Canon DSLRs and haven't switched at the various times when one might have been tempted)

I guess I felt I could in m43 because of lens interchangeability.

So why? Well the focus is a key thing. I don't know if I really lost any good pictures on the PEN, but the focus just annoyed me. Which made it not fun.

The second thing was the second dial; that dial around the D-pad was also annoying. They Oly had lots of nice customization that the Panasonic doesn't have; but I kept after a month or so finding random changes to my settings because of the ring or the d-pad. I actually prefer Panasonic's dial with push to change the mode. I know though that many don't.

Lastly the kit lens on the PEN really wasn't good. I didn't think I'd have much chance selling it by itslef, so it made sense to sell the whole thing and get a GF-1

The gf-1 kit zoom is terrific, and the 20mm lens is a lot of fun. I think the files from the gf-1 seem a little sharper for the same level of sharpening from RAW. Not much in it.

I don't shoot JPEG so the wars about who has the best JPEG engine (Oly by consensus, but I haven't shot a JPEG frame since my Nikon 8400 and boy do I regret that I used to shoot JPEG; lots of memories from the early nineties with baked in JPEG badness that I could have re-processed with good results.

Am I happy? Yes, the gf-1 doesn't seem to get in the way the PEN did. I do miss IBIS with the 20mm lens, though. On the other hand the stabilization on the zoom is great.

jjholmes said:

I found the I enjoyed shooting with the gf1 more.

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I would like to read that kind of reason more often in those forum!

I wouldn't care too much about the specs, it's the pleasure you have to shoot with a camera that counts!

--
Cheers,

Frederic
http://azurphoto.com/blog/

Trevor,

There is an e-book which is very inexpensive that really makes silkypix easy. You must get it. Unfortunately, my wife has made my computer room "neat" and I cannot find it right now. However, if you google for an e-book on Silkypix you will probably find it.

It makes sense to me when I decide to buy next body. I love the E-620, however it does not use the same battery as the one used on my E-1, E-3 and C-7070. As a result, I decided not to buy it.

I have not tried the GF1 yet, though it looks great to me. A few days ago I tried a Leica M9 with Leica Telephoto 75mm f/2.0 APO Summicron M Aspherical. I was unable to produce the sharp indoor image as I expected due to camera shake (1/30 sec is too slow for 75mm lens), realized that the IBIS is too important to me for low light condition. With IS on my LX3 or E-3, I can produce sharp image down to 1/8 sec.

So between GF1 and E-P1, I would prefer E-P1 over GF1 for its IBIS.

Godfrey said:

Brian Dewey said:

I'm in the process of switching; E-P1 sold and moving to a GF-1. My reason is really pedestrian. I have a GH-1 so I know the still images that are capable from m4/3. I want a smaller body. I'm picking the GF-1 because it uses the same battery as the GH-1. As I said, pedestrian.

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Nothing pedestrian about that reasoning. It's one of the factors for why I prefer the GF1 too ... one charger, same batteries as my G1 so I can carry both bodies, one charger and one spare battery rather than two bodies, two chargers and four batteries when I'm traveling, and have up to three batteries available for shooting with an extended session.

--
Godfrey
http://godfreydigiorgi.posterous.com

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--
Best Regards,
Edward

I switched from EP1 --> GF1. My reasons:

• GF1's faster AF
• Important --> GF1's selectable size for the one-area AF. I like it small so that I can pinpoint exactly what I want to be in focus. Unfortunately, the EP1 doesn't allow you to do that.
• In-built flash. Handy because it offers a all-in-one solution. One less item to carry. The GF1's flash output is enough for me as I mostly use it as a fill-in flash anyway.
• the 20mm f1.7 as part of a kit, and the fact that it 'sits' better on the GF1. I wanted the 20mm f1.7. It's faster and sharper than the 17mm f2.8 from Oly. To buy the 20mm f1.7 separately for the EP1 was more expensive than switching over to GF1 with 20mm f1.7 as part of the kit.
• Availability of optional viewfinder on the GF1.
• Better screen. If I'm going to be looking at it for quite a long time, might as well enjoy the view. I like the GF1 screen sharpness. It's also easier, in my opinion, to manual-focus with the GF1's sharper screen when using legacy lenses. And finally...
• GF1's AF assist lamp. Useful when trying to auto-focus in dim conditions - actually, very important.

I had the E-P1/17mm but sold it and bought the GF1/20mm.

My main reasons were the E-P1´s slow autofocus, shutter lag in some non-auto modes and the Olympus pancake.

The E-P1 gives better JPGs, but since I mainly shoot RAW that is not an issue. The LR3 beta is very promising on GF1 RAW pics - much sharper than 2.5

The 20mm lens is very sharp. but I miss the OIS.......

--
Kjell
........................................................
Panasonic Lumix G1, Lumix GF1, Fuji F31fd and others. Sold my DSLRs
because the best camera is the one you have with you.
Mac user editing in Lightroom

will post a thread eventually with samples, etc.

currently fairly big difference in price (sold my GF1 and 20mm) for $1K on ebay, bought a like new EP1 with 14-42 for $550. I don't have kids, etc, so the focus is fine on the EP1. I do miss the built in flash, but have a sunpak flash for my DSRL that works fine with the EP1. Just wanted to add the current price difference in the market.

I've been sorely tempted. The AF is what niggles me but I'm not really sure if I need the faster AF or if some of my missed shots are from being too ambitious - i.e. shots in poor light which suffer hand shake or other motion blur because they're less than 1/60s or very shallow DoF.

I do love the output of JPEGs from the E-P1 and I still find most GF1 images to be lacking. But I know this can be compensated for in a couple of ways.

Ultimately I probably cannot justify the cost of selling and buying again.

Antoine Palade said:

I switched from EP1 --> GF1. My reasons:

• GF1's faster AF
• Important --> GF1's selectable size for the one-area AF. I like it small so that I can pinpoint exactly what I want to be in focus. Unfortunately, the EP1 doesn't allow you to do that.
• In-built flash. Handy because it offers a all-in-one solution. One less item to carry. The GF1's flash output is enough for me as I mostly use it as a fill-in flash anyway.
• the 20mm f1.7 as part of a kit, and the fact that it 'sits' better on the GF1. I wanted the 20mm f1.7. It's faster and sharper than the 17mm f2.8 from Oly. To buy the 20mm f1.7 separately for the EP1 was more expensive than switching over to GF1 with 20mm f1.7 as part of the kit.
• Availability of optional viewfinder on the GF1.
• Better screen. If I'm going to be looking at it for quite a long time, might as well enjoy the view. I like the GF1 screen sharpness. It's also easier, in my opinion, to manual-focus with the GF1's sharper screen when using legacy lenses. And finally...
• GF1's AF assist lamp. Useful when trying to auto-focus in dim conditions - actually, very important.

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I'd like to add to what I wrote by saying that switching from one to another does not mean one is "better" than the other, i.e. that GF1 is better than EP1. I've read too many fanboy threads so that I wanted to clarify this. I got really great shots out of the EP1. It's only that there are some aspects of the GF1 that are important to me that I prefer, but again, one is not better than the other. Horses for courses, that's all...

I agree that the difference in image quality is relatively small, but the autofocus seeking on the EP-1 (granted, I never updated the firmware) was horrible and has not been a problem for me on the GF-1 at all. The build quality on the EP-1 seemed too lightweight too and the GF-1, well, just looked better. The EP-1 zoom is nice and tidy and I sort of miss it, but the feel of the GF-1 lens is so much better. Plus the 20mm is much, much better than Olympus's 17mm. The flash is mixed. I'm glad it's there, but I haven't figured out how to use it in a satisfactory way. I've never had another camera with IBIS so that doesn't matter me. The interface on the Panasonic is a little better, although not as easy to use as on the DMC-LX3 (Panasonic… why???). The LCD seems somewhat better too.