Gene J. Paull
Senior Member
Hi all,
A little bit of background - I do what I call candid ethnographic street photography. In simple language - backcountry travel in Central America. In the past I used Nikon gear - first, a small film FE2, followed in digital by the D80 and D700. The latter two were just too big and obvious for street photography. So for years I posted on every forum in existence - "what digital gear to replace the FE2?" without finding the mythical replacement.
My last trip to Guatemala was October 2015 and I was packing the Nikon gear. At the last moment I told myself "no way" and on a whim ordered a used GX1 and 20 mm lens from KEH. Make a long story short - went to Guatemala with a Panasonic LX7 and GX1/20 mm 1.7, carried both in inside pockets of a biker vest, and was never even noticed doing street photography. And when I was noticed, no one seemed to care:
http://www.pbase.com/lahuasteca/guatemala_october_2015
https://www.flickr.com/photos/59953344@N06/
No evidence of shutter shock with this set up - admittedly didn't use other lenses. I had the optional viewfinder which worked fine in all but the brightest sunlight about the GX1 is the loud shutter! Just what I was trying to get away from with the Nikon D700.
Is the overall IQ and AF as good as the Nikon D700 with expensive lenses? - Probably not, but then, on the other hand, I was able to capture images I never would be able to get with the Nikon.
A little bit of background - I do what I call candid ethnographic street photography. In simple language - backcountry travel in Central America. In the past I used Nikon gear - first, a small film FE2, followed in digital by the D80 and D700. The latter two were just too big and obvious for street photography. So for years I posted on every forum in existence - "what digital gear to replace the FE2?" without finding the mythical replacement.
My last trip to Guatemala was October 2015 and I was packing the Nikon gear. At the last moment I told myself "no way" and on a whim ordered a used GX1 and 20 mm lens from KEH. Make a long story short - went to Guatemala with a Panasonic LX7 and GX1/20 mm 1.7, carried both in inside pockets of a biker vest, and was never even noticed doing street photography. And when I was noticed, no one seemed to care:
http://www.pbase.com/lahuasteca/guatemala_october_2015
https://www.flickr.com/photos/59953344@N06/
No evidence of shutter shock with this set up - admittedly didn't use other lenses. I had the optional viewfinder which worked fine in all but the brightest sunlight about the GX1 is the loud shutter! Just what I was trying to get away from with the Nikon D700.
Is the overall IQ and AF as good as the Nikon D700 with expensive lenses? - Probably not, but then, on the other hand, I was able to capture images I never would be able to get with the Nikon.
