Panasonic G2 or Olympus E-PL8 for tropical landscapes?

Jonathan Gladstone wrote:

Paulmorgan wrote:

h2k wrote:

Hello, I have a silly problem, perhaps you'd want to comment: Should I take the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 or the Olympus PEN E-PL8 onto a tropical holiday, taking mostly landscapes, flowers and coffeecups? Lenses would be Pana 12-35/2,8 Mk 1, Pana 35-100/2,8 Mk1*, Pana 20/1,7 Mk 2, perhaps Laowa 7,5/2,0, plus close-up and polarizer.

Until it broke down recently, I had used an E-PL7 half-happily (I would certainly prefer side-hinging monitor + built-in flash; I don't need evf or weather-sealing anyway; I like very small cameras + bags on my treks + cycle trips). I have an old Pana G2 in the shelf, and it fully works, but I never liked its JPGs (and don't like raw workflow either). I wanted to wait until March 20 and buy either E-PL9 or Pana GX9 (GX9 preferred because USB-chargeable and hopefully nicer menus, even if more expensive, slightly bulkier and with for me useless evf).

Now I got the surprise chance to go on a supposedly extremely photogenic tropical trip starting next Sunday, March 4. Until then, my new lightweight favourites E-PL9 and GX8 won't be available (at least not reliably in my territory) (I always use articulating touchscreen for framing, never evf). So for the trip starting as of March 4 I could either

• take my existing Pana G2 or
• quickly buy an Oly E-PL8 (while the upcoming E-PL9 does outsmart it with built-in flash and nice Bluetooth connection and the upcoming GX8 is nicer for me anyway).

I also considered Pana G9, but it's shockingly bulky even compared to G2 (I want a small bag; the camera's mostly in the bag). There's also Panasonic Lumix DC-GX850 (Lumix DC-GX800 / Lumix DC-GF9). The GX8 seems a bit on the bulky side.

If anything, I wondered if there is a super Lightroom profile for raw files from the Pana G2. Usually I shoot JPGs, but dislike the G2's abysmal JPG output. I'd have Lightroom and enough storage to shoot raw files with the G2 and batch-convert them into JPGs with a good profile (no individual hand-conversions).

Sorry for these silly musings, but thanks anyway for your considerations!

Take the G2 and use the cash saved as extra holiday spending money.

^^^^^^ Capital idea that man... take more pictures... and convert from raw... Another plus to not getting a whole new camera - getting used to the dials and like..

Yes getting the est out of what you already have, using new gear for a trip like this could also be a headache.

If he`s using software that would support a colorchecker and he`s shooting raw, Lightroom, Davinci etc then this will also be good and a whole lot cheaper than a new camera, lighting in the tropics can be problematic, auto wb is often best avoided.

The color checkers one of the most usefulful accessories you can carry in your bag, the others a pop-up 5 in 1 reflector.

I had the G2 and gave it to my son, but I still have and use a GF2 (though mostly used for video these days) but its still very capable for still and share`s much of the same hardware as the G2, sensor etc.