Panasonic G2 or Olympus E-PL8 for tropical landscapes?

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!

The EPL8 has a substantially better sensor in it than the G2. Go for that.

Cheers,
Paul

why not skip the 'new gen' sensor and go for a newer sensor in a 5-axis stabilised body...  The E-P5?

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..

E-PL8, Laowa, a mini tripod and couple of filters.

Sipping on cocktail and watching Live Composite building up. Perfect for vacation!

As an interim solution, you could buy a factory refurb E-PL7 for $300 and then sell it lightly used for very little money lost. But since you don't already have an accessory Olympus EVF and you're mostly shooting with two OIS lenses anyway, then the tiny, micro-SD card only GX800/850 is certainly an option but it's destined to loose a lot of value when sold used (unless, of course, you plan to keep it for a long time). For about the same money new, the GX80/85 is popular for it's built-in EVF and 5-axis IBIS and standard-size SD card slot. The GX80/85 has been out longer too so after finding a lightly used example, you could resell it for about what you paid. Then again, at only 269-grams, the GX800/850 is certainly a lot smaller and lighter than the GX80/85 (426g) or even the E-PL7/8 (357g).

Personally, I love having the excellent VF-4 to add-on when desired and that limits me to E-P, E-PL, and E-PM bodies only. I'm one of those people who vastly prefer a tilting display over a fully-articulating one so not even the PEN-F provides much temptation to abandon my tilting VF-4. And while I like the appearance of the EVF in the GX80/85, it is drastically smaller than the newer Olympus EVF's (and the VF-4).

The output from the 2010 G2 (older 12mp sensor, 428g) wouldn't be a very appealing way to capture images from a trip that I'd like to capture and remember.

Well, to say ‘the output from the G2 would not be very appealing ‘ is a strange comment. Older equipment can produce excellent output. I had a G2 for many years and it is still one of the nicest camera’s to hold and use that I have owned. The EVF may not have the resolution of the newer models but it is there when needed. The images produced from it are excellent, though perhaps not if you pixel peep and crop heavily. I recorded many memorable trips with mine. The 16 mpx sensor on the e-pl5 and 6 is very good undoubtedly however the industry seems to be moving to 20mpx now . Where will it end?

Miss TIlly.. to a certain degree I agree with you here... I have a sneaking suspicion that in certain circumstances that my G3 produces a far nicer 'look' in both raw and jpg than my G85.  I think it is to do with the AA vs non-AA filter.... A statement that is not backed up with hard 'facts' or an actual test, just some observations with the two cameras (admittedly two different lenses installed), aiming in the same direction but with different colour and 'look' results.

The G3 was, and still is a super little camera, in some ways ahead of it’s time with that 16mpx sensor. I never really took to mine, nothing to do with the output, just did not enjoy the ergonomics. Your little experiment between camera’s is interesting, I do comparisons like this all the time and am nearly always surprised at the results.