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What should I replace my DMC G1 Camera with?

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Doug Dowden

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I have had a Panasonic DMC G1 Camera for several years and I am looking to replace it with a newer camera primarily for still photography. I like the MFT form factor and have the original f3.5-5.6 14-45 mm zoom, the f4-5.6 45-200 mm zoom, and the f1.7 20 mm prime lenses. I also have the Panasonic DMW-FL500 flash. I love that I can fit all these items in a reasonably small camera bag. I got the prime lens last year for more indoor shots without flash of our new grandson. It looks like a G6 or G7 might make sense as a replacement with higher resolution, better low light performance, and the ability to record some occasional video as well. I also like having both the EVF and the articulated screen. I assume that I would only need a new camera body and can re-use everything else. Thanks for your comments and suggestions
 
Your existing lenses will work fine on a new body such as the G6 or G7.
 
Doug Dowden said:
I have had a Panasonic DMC G1 Camera for several years and I am looking to replace it with a newer camera primarily for still photography. I like the MFT form factor and have the original f3.5-5.6 14-45 mm zoom, the f4-5.6 45-200 mm zoom, and the f1.7 20 mm prime lenses. I also have the Panasonic DMW-FL500 flash. I love that I can fit all these items in a reasonably small camera bag. I got the prime lens last year for more indoor shots without flash of our new grandson. It looks like a G6 or G7 might make sense as a replacement with higher resolution, better low light performance, and the ability to record some occasional video as well. I also like having both the EVF and the articulated screen. I assume that I would only need a new camera body and can re-use everything else. Thanks for your comments and suggestions
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I have a G1 and a GH1 and recently bought a G7. The G7 is a big step up and I love it. The focus speed and accuracy (especially on the 100-300) improved dramatically and it has an absolutely wonderful panorama mode. BUT, if you're expecting a dramatic improvement in your pictures you're likely to be disappointed. It will allow a higher ISO, so that helps, but I didn't see a huge difference in the day to day pictures with adequate light.
 
kensim said:
I have a G1 and a GH1 and recently bought a G7. The G7 is a big step up and I love it. The focus speed and accuracy (especially on the 100-300) improved dramatically and it has an absolutely wonderful panorama mode. BUT, if you're expecting a dramatic improvement in your pictures you're likely to be disappointed. It will allow a higher ISO, so that helps, but I didn't see a huge difference in the day to day pictures with adequate light.
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I think that there is very little difference between the IQ/output of all m4/3s cameras given perfect conditions and not too challenging subjects.
 
Doug Dowden said:
I have had a Panasonic DMC G1 Camera for several years and I am looking to replace it with a newer camera primarily for still photography. I like the MFT form factor and have the original f3.5-5.6 14-45 mm zoom, the f4-5.6 45-200 mm zoom, and the f1.7 20 mm prime lenses. I also have the Panasonic DMW-FL500 flash. I love that I can fit all these items in a reasonably small camera bag. I got the prime lens last year for more indoor shots without flash of our new grandson. It looks like a G6 or G7 might make sense as a replacement with higher resolution, better low light performance, and the ability to record some occasional video as well. I also like having both the EVF and the articulated screen. I assume that I would only need a new camera body and can re-use everything else. Thanks for your comments and suggestions
Click to expand...
 
The G7 has MANY improvements over the G6. I would get the G7 in a heartbeat over the G6, unless the extra cost is prohibitive for you. Your lenses and flash will work fine with either.
 
Doug Dowden said:
I have had a Panasonic DMC G1 Camera for several years and I am looking to replace it with a newer camera primarily for still photography. I like the MFT form factor and have the original f3.5-5.6 14-45 mm zoom, the f4-5.6 45-200 mm zoom, and the f1.7 20 mm prime lenses. I also have the Panasonic DMW-FL500 flash. I love that I can fit all these items in a reasonably small camera bag. I got the prime lens last year for more indoor shots without flash of our new grandson. It looks like a G6 or G7 might make sense as a replacement with higher resolution, better low light performance, and the ability to record some occasional video as well. I also like having both the EVF and the articulated screen. I assume that I would only need a new camera body and can re-use everything else. Thanks for your comments and suggestions
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I can personally vouch for the GX7 and the EM5 II as being excellent choices. Any of the 16MP sensors will give you more dynamic range and better high ISO performance than your G1.

GX7 will give you a built-in flash while the Olympus will give you incredible in-body stabilization (better than what's built into your two zooms) as well as a couple of very useful long exposure modes if you're into that sort of thing.

There are lots of other m43 choices as well.
 
You mention that the GX7 has a pop up flash. The specs seem to say that the G7 also has a pop up flash as well, but I haven't seen a picture. My G1 has the pop up flash which I find handy as a fill flash on occasion rather than dealing with the add on flash. Thanks for your comments.
 
Thanks to all for your comments. The more I read about the G7 it sounds like a good option for me. The 4K photo stuff does sound like a major step forward as well in the ability to pull high quality images out of a video stream.

I was thinking that I just wanted to buy a new camera body, but I have seen some reasonable deals for the G7 with a 14-144mm lens which seems like a very compact use anywhere lens. Any comments on that lens? There seem to be at least two different 14-140 Panasonic lenses - one faster than the other, but not by that much with the faster lens only going to f3.5.

For still photos I might still just want to use my f1.7 prime 20mm lens for best indoor photos.
 
The newer, v.II Panasonic 14-140mm lens is very good, IMO, and is widely considered a big improvement over the v.I 14-140. I find it very convenient for outdoor daylight use, giving a big focal length range without having to change lenses.

However, be aware of two drawbacks. Many report that video shot with this lens can be jittery. It can also cause shutter shock in still images within a certain shutter speed range (probably around 1/60 to 1/400?). You can avoid that by using the electronic shutter, instead of the mechanical shutter for those shutter speeds. Firmware updates to the G7 include an "auto" option for setting either e-shutter or m-shutter, and in that auto mode the camera chooses e-shutter when the camera decides there is risk of shutter shock (i.e., at certain shutter speeds, and possibly varying depending on which lens is mounted, but I'm not certain about that last point).

BTW, the EVF on the G7 is terrific. You will be amazed at how much better it is than your G1's.

--
Brent
 
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You could save a bit by getting the also-excellent G6 and put that towards the higher cost of the 14-140 f3.5, which reviews rate much higher than the old f4 version.
 
I still have my G1 in pristine condition. I have kept it just because I like it. You will notice a huge difference in IQ with the new G7 body. You will be able to shoot at much higher ISO and still get clean shots. Things have changed a lot since the first M43 camera was introduced. I wish you luck with your new G7.
 
Thanks for all the great comments. I decided to go with the G7 and the VII 14-140 lens which I found paired together at a reasonable price. I should get the camera in a couple days and look forward to checking it out.
 
Doug Dowden said:
Thanks for all the great comments. I decided to go with the G7 and the VII 14-140 lens which I found paired together at a reasonable price. I should get the camera in a couple days and look forward to checking it out.
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I started with a G1 and now have the G6 which is so good for what I do that I really can't justify going to the G7. BUT if I was stepping up today, it would be no contest -- the G7.

Many posts on this forum make it clear to me that the G7 is a top performer. Add to that the familiarity you will feel after the G1 (the UI is quite similar) and the extremely reasonable price, and you have a have a winner which is head and shoulders above the G6 and any other opposition, in my view.
 
Brent,

I got my new G7 and V.II 14-140 lens and so far I love the upgrade from my G1.

The G7 feels great to hold and I am very happy not to have to worry about accidentally pressing in the front dial on the G1. I quickly got used to and really like several other improvements. The touchscreen is great to move through menus quickly. Love the range of the 14-140 lens and so far I love the added resolution and enhanced ISO sensitivity for shooting indoors without flash.

I just did the FW update for the G7 and set the electronic shutter mode to auto. From a first sample of indoor shots it seems to pick electronic shutter in lower light situations - at least with the 14-140 lens. Is there any reason why electronic shutter is a bad choice? I haven't tried my 20mm prime lens yet with electronic shutter set to auto. Does the electronic shutter affect the ability to achieve bokeh with wide aperture settings?

Thanks,
 
Doug Dowden said:
I just did the FW update for the G7 and set the electronic shutter mode to auto. From a first sample of indoor shots it seems to pick electronic shutter in lower light situations - at least with the 14-140 lens. Is there any reason why electronic shutter is a bad choice?
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There are situations where electronic shutter will cause problems. A pretty nice explanation with examples is here . Basically, watch out for fast movement and shutter speed under artificial lighting.
Doug Dowden said:
Does the electronic shutter affect the ability to achieve bokeh with wide aperture settings?
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No.
 
Thanks for the great link explaining issues with electronic shutter. I will have to be on the lookout for these effects and trade that off against the risk of shutter shock with the 14-1440 lens.

I have just been playing with the camera to get used to handling it vs my old G1. I haven't really looked at image quality closely yet.
 
Enjoy the camera. It is a stunning package for the price! Consider getting one "fast" prime lens when the 14-140 is too slow. Fast is f/1.8 or faster.

If you use a RAW editor, consider shooting RAW + JPG so you can share and show on the TV or computer, but so you can extract the most out of the shot if you come up with a good one. I use the low resolution jpeg which shows up just fine even of 50+ inch TVs.
 
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