I bought a new camera this month! It’s been a long time since I got my dSLR and I have a few problems with it recently; the leather has started peeling and one time my mirror locked up mysteriously. So I went out and bought a different camera.

Well my dSLR is still serviceable so instead I bought a camera that was more compact. I got a Panasonic GF2 (“last year’s model”) pancake kit which has a 14mm (28mm effective) lens. It was relatively cheap being $400 with a free battery. The GF2 is a micro four thirds camera, which means it is almost a SLR (missing the mirror and the sensor is not as big) but in a smaller body. In fact, it’s really only as big as some of the more prosumer point & shoots – almost pocketable. Yet it retains all the advanced SLR level features, plus it does 1080p, stereo sound recording.

The drawbacks are supposedly that the focus is slower (doesn’t use phase to focus), the (minimum) depth of field is larger and the noise performance is poorer. I haven’t experimented too much yet, but I do notice all three drawbacks (as well as the fourth – its a prime lens).

But I think it works for a specific usage, as a walkaround camera. I am tired of bringing my SLR around on vacation, although I love having the flexibility of the 18-50mm range with fixed f/2.8. This camera seems like a good balance and much easier to carry around. Now I just need to put it to the test.

Posted by Kevin in Blogs Tags: photography, techlust