Pen F vs GX9

yanisha wrote:

yanisha wrote:

I have the PEN-F and I like it a lot. I suggest that for you the GX9 would be better though. The PEN-F has 2 bad features for street photography that annoy me and cause many missed shots for the 2 years I have owned it:

1. Relatively slow wakeup from sleep mode and power on time. I have missed many shots because of this. My 3 OM-D bodies are the same. My Panasonic G3 is faster and I rarely missed shots with it.

2. For street shooting the GX9 quick to deploy, hidden tilting rear screen is much better than the PEN-F slow to deploy, awkward, very visible side mounted FAS screen.

See my post about the PEN-F FAS:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/60910968

Yes, I really like my PEN-F, but I dislike the FAS. I much prefer the tilt one on my E-M10II, E-M10, and E-M5. I can understand that people who do a lot of video prefer the FAS, but the PEN-F is mostly aimed at still photo shooters and the tilt screen is very quick to deploy for waist level shots. It doesn't stick out the side, interfere with your hand while holding at the waist, doesn't get tangled in the neck strap, and doesn't get knocked by people around you. I almost got my PEN-F FAS damaged when I had it out to take an overhead shot in a jostling crowd. A guy next to me slammed his elbow into it. Fortunately I was able at that moment to quickly twist the camera away slightly so it didn't get the full impact. If it had it may have broken the FAS off. I really dislike an FAS on this sort of camera. Keep it for the E-M1 line. Maybe even keep it for the E-M5II and follow ons. I bought the E-M10II rather than the E-M5II mostly because it had a tilt screen rather than the E-M5II FAS.

Note that the Panasonic GX85 and GX9 which are aimed more as still photos cameras have a tilt screen. Other Panasonic bodies have the FAS. Olympus, IMO, made a mistake with the PEN-F.

As seems acknowledged in the articulating screen business the market is divided:

About 40% like FAS; about 40% like tilt and 20% don’t care.

Panasonic still tries to offer both (if possible) in each class of camera.  Olympus seems to wish to rationalise the same type of articulation (FAS) over its range of cameras which seems slightly strange seeing that they were old hands at tilt.  But maybe the noisy protests of those that like FAS overwhelmed the issue.

In any case both types have their good and bad point but as far as I am concerned:

Fixed and tilt are innocuous companions - both don’t get in the way of simple use but are limited in what they offer - for quite a few they offer just as much as is needed without getting in the way.

FAS on a hinge and its sometime sibling all-way-adjust behind the camera body are simply fiddly for those who don’t particularly like them.  More suitable for those that use the evf less and who might do more video.  For that market the normal hinged FAS is probably ideal and an additonal articulation to try and add a form of tilt to what is already more complicated than standard tilt might please just a few from each camp but not really be ideal for either. FAS like FAS and tilters like tilt well enough as they are.

I have offered the solution that the camera body have a robust plug in lcd connection recepticle and choices can be made between FAS, tilt, fixed or even a plain blanking plate for lightweight use.

In this manner users can have their choice of one or the other or even all and surely the manufacturers will soon know from sales the respective populariy of each type without needing to read the tea leaves of public noises made and having a guess before locking in production to one style or another.

Not only that but if the mount and space required were made a M4/3 standard then one mount being fairly interchangeable could suit quite a lot of cameras.  Replacing broken screens would be simply by plugging in a new one.  Those who had a FAS (say) for occasional use could carry it forward to the next camera body used.  With multiple bodies one FAS could be owned and all the rest have tilt for everyday use (or vice versa).

And yes, I do like my G9 but would have preferred a tilt lcd so I tolerate the FAS, even though I don’t really like it.  If the GX9 had been announced a little erlier I probably wuld have bought it in preference.