GH2 $175 worth getting?

Chris R-UK wrote:

M_digicapt wrote:

Thanks Chris, which M43 camera you find has good enough autofocus to be an alternative to the Canon 7D?

Half of what I shoot is wildlife...

I got rid of the 7D for the Olympus E-M1 MkI. I like shooting birds in flight and the E-M1, after a firmware update and in one mode only, was the first M4/3 body to have adequate continuous focus for BIF.

I now shoot with the E-M1 MkII which is much better and probably as good for BIF as my 7D. However, it is best with fast focusing lenses and at the moment these are all expensive and heavy - Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro, the Olympus 300mm f/4 Pro and the Panasonic 100-400mm. The new Panasonic 200mm f/2.8 is also likely to be very fast focusing.

Panasonic has the new G9 which in principle should also be very good for BIF but I would advise waiting a few months until G9 owners on this forum have a chance to test out the camera.

There are several photographers on this forum shooting BIF with Panasonic bodies and lenses that support Panasonic's DfD focusing. That means most current Panasonic bodies and most Panasonic lenses but not Olympus lenses. Check out, say, the G85.

If you don't shoot birds in flight and don't require really good C-AF, then almost any current body (including the E-M1 MkI) is fine for wildlife and the cheaper lenses like the Olympus 75-300mm and Panasonic 100-300mm are pretty good as well.

I shot a lot of slower moving wildlife with my GH2 and 100-300mm lens simply because it was so much smaller and lighter than my Canon 7D and Canon 100-400mm lens.

Grey whale, Baja California, Mexico

Meerkats, Little Karoo, South Africa

European badger, my garden

The second shot is awesome!

Thanks. I'll stick to manual focusing bif for the time being... After reading your post a FZ1000 looks like a nice option.