DPReview TV host Jordan Drake tells us about the one piece of photography gear that changed his life. Find out why it may be the reason he's on the DPReview team today.
It'd have to be a lens for me rather than a camera, specifically that 20/1.7 and Pana's pancake zoom (was looking at the 14-42 PZ but ended up with the 12-32 when that came out soon after)... I never cared to carry a DSLR but the notion that I could carry an ILC and a couple lenses in a waist pack is what got me into ILCs and off P&S, well that and the high price of the RX100, heh.
The Pentium 4 CPU was a real game changer. I could edit DV in "real time" without any additional expensive acceleration hardware on computer that cost about $1500 after upgrading RAM and adding several 120GB IDE drives. Renders still ran about 20 hours per 1 hour project, and a dedicated rendering computer eventually handled those duties when working on multiple jobs.
GF1 had mesmerizing EVF back in those days and awesome technology packed in small footprint with Leica slapped on its lens.
From then on never looked another brand except for review. That is brand loyalty like I do once a Nikon fanatic until DL fiasco I switched to Fuji and my life never was the same again
i did like the GF1 but that EVF was terrible and the AF for anything that moved was completely useless, but it was still an enjoyable camera to shoot with
The gear that inspired me to shoot more often was the Canon EOS 40D. The 40D was attached with the Tamron 24-135 unfortunately I didn't find this lens here on DP review.
Congratulations with the new baby! I'm sure 'that piece of gear' will change your life ;-)
Videowise... it was the SONY VX1000 because it was the first digital one I used back in 1999 (I guess) had 3CCD so colours were ok... and-with patience and a fast enough computer- you could capture it on a hard drive and use Premiere to edit without the old 2 player, one recorder setup we used at school... and then I graduated and ended up in a studio & no longer filming ever since... so maybe time to change that again ;-))
I had a Samsung little Digi compact but it was the Fuji F11 that started it for me. 1600 iso was unheard of , I think, in a compact at the time. The colours were great and the output awesome.
slowing down is key... I still try to slow down even with my Fuji & the PhaseOne indeed... But being able to be extremely slow: I used to shoot my landscapes on sheetfilm with a Sinar P2 and 90mm... with a changing bag in the car (since I only had 2 4x5 cassettes...) god I still miss that camera...
The Lumix GF1 came out into 2009, not 20 years ago. ;) I bought my G1 Lumix into 2008, the 1st Panasonic MicroFourThirds, before it was just FourThirds. (like my L10 Pana from back then)For myself, the GF1 was mediocre, because no Viewfinder, here EVF...therefore not buying.
For me it was the Panasonic GH1, my first ever camera for filming with! Even got 2x GH1 cameras now. (and many many many others cameras. Never had the GF1, but I had and loved the Panasonic GX1, until one night I was out drinking and the GX1 went missing....)
Cameras that changed my (photographic) life? Well, let's stick with the digital ones...
First DSC I owned was a Canon S50. Digital was just starting to take off, and the S50 was on offer for £400. I thought, what the hell, I'll get one just to play with and see what this digital stuff's all about. That thing blew me away. Not up to 35mm film, not by a long chalk, and nowhere near professional, but it showed the way things were going. I instantly abandoned my Nikon kit for non-professional shooting and took a keen interest in the progress of digital from that point on.
Eventually, having also used an equally game-changing Sony R-1 for personal stuff, I dived into pro digital with a D300s - still in regular use - and a couple of months ago I bought my latest photographic life-changer, the Fuji X-T3 (soon to be joined by an X100v) which will probably see me into retirement.
I'd still jack the whole lot in for a mint Rolleiflex 2.8GX, though... *sigh*
The camera that changed my life was the Minolta DiMAGE A1. I believe it was the first camera to have image stabilization. I.S. changed everything for me. And that zoom... Totally opened my world up. That camera was just so versatile for the time. It didn't take long after that for me to get rid of my backpack full of film camera and lenses. It did not take professional quality pictures, but it was still awesome for my use. The best camera is the one you have with you, and the A1 is the one I always had with me.
Phil said, "There's little doubt that the DiMAGE A1 is the most feature rich and flexible prosumer digital camera currently available. Indeed it has a range of flexibility beyond that of most digital SLR's."
I do still have my A1, and also with the seldom BatteryGrip, somewhere into Basement. It was Minoltas 1st Bridgecam with IBIS, and the 1st with IBIS ever, just right, back into 2003, but already into 2004, there was the APS-C DSLR Dynax 7D with IBIS. (6 MP) Mine suffered from the black Frame Error, Err58.
I bought the Olympus E-P1 with the 14-42mm. A friend bought the Panasonic GF-1 with the 20mm 1.7. The GF-1 convinced me to go with Panasonic all the way.
I have the GX-1, the proper successor to the GF-1 in my opinion.
@ thinking .... exactly ... people who gravitated t the gf 1 said ... what the f is Panasonic doing???? its success lay in the camera it was ... and every gf camera following was a simplified purse sized pos
finally, panny bought some think tank finds that specified its cluelessness and finally, the gx1 was born
I started out back in the film days with a Condor 110mm, Minolta Freedom 101 and a Canon Sure shot Joy.
Entering digital age, I got myself a Canon powershot A400 and an A480 years later, but somehow the Fujifilm HS10 cought my attention. I had a lot of fun with it. Later I got myself an Eos 1100d/T3, with 5lenses, and I still have it.
Is anyone else impressed by how well articulating or well-spoken Jordan and Chriss are? I thought it came to them after doing the same thing for like two hundred years but it seems from the sample video they were natural and they got it even as young cubs in like 1623 or whenever the GF1 was reviewed by them.
I like their presentations for sure. The GF-1 was 10 years ago. By the look of Chris, he is probably early 30s there, maybe late 20s so I'd hope he is quite articulate by then!
It's not that this duet knows well the subject, they can also say it loud and clear with finesse and humor. Well done once more. Jordan is it true that baby's first toy is a toy Leica..?
My first digital camera was the Fujifilm F10. No digital camera could beat the low-light performance on that thing! I had digi-SLR owners scratching their heads.
The GF1 was going to be my first mirrorless camera, but then I waited a bit for the GF2. That camera with the 20mm made me fall in love with the 40mm focal length.
My first mirrorless was a used GF1 with 20mm, 14-45mm, and the add-on viewfinder (which sucked). I got hooked on mirrorless and Micro Four Thirds, sold my Nikon D300 and lenses, and haven't looked back. I still have that 20mm lens, and it's great.
Interesting topic. My 'photographic life' (why am I typing quotes :-) has evolved over 4+ decades and about 8 or 9 cameras, but it's hard to pick a single one as 'the' standout. Camera technology just keeps getting better all the time so my latest at any point in time has always been my favourite (otherwise why 'upgrade'). I guess the two 'seminal' cameras were my first 'serious' IL film camera (Pentax K1000) that opened a new world of 'seeing', and my first 'serious' digital (Panasonic GH2) that probably spawned more growth in both my interest and skill than any other.
Very much enjoyed the GF-1 and three tiny lenses, 20, 14, and 45mm. Took me back to rangefinder film days, and since then have stayed with smallish mirrorless cameras from Fuji and Sony.
Congratulations Jordan! How I remember new baby induced insomnia.
For me, the camera that changed my photographic life was the IXUS v2...my first digital camera. All of a sudden I didn't have to ration frames because there was no addition expense in recomposing and taking another shot. I loved "that new fangled digital thing" so much, I couldn't wait for DSLRs to become relatively affordable so I could regain control of exposure settings like I could with my film slr.
YYYEEEAAAHHH! Give us mortals the damn ability to post photos here! Please, almighty... 🙏
By the way, i have a GX1 and it was a cool camera when i was using it. Now i have a GX85 in the mail and i can't wait to get reacquainted with MFT! I just hope i can find my existing MFT lenses, lol.
MFT gear is cheap on Ebay right now. Or maybe it always is, i dunno. Seems like these prices can't be typical though...
You could probably have argued for the Pen-F as a m43 successor, if it hadn't been sold at so high a price. Maybe the X-T30 with the 27mm pancake now (40mm equiv)? Any other ideas?
"In amongst all the cameras announced at Photokina 2010 - including enthusiast SLRs such as the Nikon D7000, Canon EOS 60D, Pentax K-5 and Sigma SD1 - one utterly unexpected model stole the show. Fujifilm unveiled the FinePix X100, a compact camera with an SLR-size APS-C sensor and traditional analogue control dials, that hides ground-breaking technology inside a retro-styled body with looks to die for. "
We are saying the same thing...I just am in the opinion that a camera truly isn’t released until people can buy it. My original point was that the GF1 was a bit earlier than the X100... so many of us used the GF1 for awhile until the X100 arrived. That was it.
I like stories, and this one especially. You did not start making videos because someone asked you to do them, or because everybody else was making videos, but because you had something to say! And really, it changed your life! :)
I had Olympus µ film camera, and later Kodak DC210, but my first semi-decent digital camera was Canon 710 IS. I still have it and I still ike it. If i have to choose a camera that changed my life, it would have to be GH1.
P.S. GF1 was the third Pansonic MILC, and fourth in total (G1, GH1, E-P1 were officially released before GF1). They all have very nice design.
I loved that 20mm f/1.7 lens... its AF motor made it almost unusable for anything but static subjects, especially on a contrast-detect body, but the optics... even still, with my Z6 and collection of good Nikon glass, I can’t get things to “pop” as easily as I could with that pancake lens.
Exactly my experience! I have a set of very fine Sony and Zeiss primes, so I'm quite used to the quality optics, but every time I use 20mm PanaLeica I'm blown away by the images!
Same here. Upgraded from EM5mkII to an a7iii and although I enjoy the tiny samyang lenses, that 20mm is just unmatched as far as lens power for size on a body
Nice video Jordan. I'm enjoying these look-back vids of your influential early gear. Also it's cool that after what, twenty years, you're still wearing the same shirt...
My first M4/3 was the E-PL1 with the 20 lens attached. My most recent M4/3 is the Pan GX85. That with the Pan-Leica 15 1.7 is my favorite low-light combo.
Still got my GF1 with 20mm kit lens and viewfinder, and its still quite shootable (in good light), was my first mirrorless. The gear that changed my photographic life though was the Nikon FE, closely followed by the F90X.
Just Posted: Our in-depth review of the GF1 - the third model in Panasonic's Micro Four Thirds 'G' system. The GF1 squeezes much the same functionality as the G1/GH1 into a body that's roughly the same size as the Olympus E-P1. So how does it compare to the Digital Pen, and can it compete with similarly-priced digital SLRs? Check out the review after the link to find out...
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