Scenes Seen/Vintage Digital: Panasonic DMC GF1. Intended Use Case, But…

Brought my GF1 kit along for its main intended use case. Behind the scenes chorus pics.

In theory. But I did not use it out of respect. We were asked to sing at the funeral for the Great Grandmother of a youth member. Where were seated and especially where I was placed, literally front row center of the choir loft, all eyes were on us. So. Nope. Camera put away. Not the time or place. And some beautiful scenes unfolded before me that I am glad I was able to witness. For example viewing the lovely people paying their respects and the beautiful church interior framed perfectly just past the back of the Pastor centered perfectly before was quite the scene to behold. If I were a painter I would record a moment where the Pastor’s arms were extended as he honored the memory of the matriarch.

But some scenes are meant to be experienced, not captured.

That said, before and after I was able to put the GF1 to good use. Onward.

One camera. Two lenses.

In previous posts I have said:

I say vintage digital in the title since it is a camera from 2009. But here is the thing. This camera does not feel… old.

But being old gear all of the gear here ticks off the low price box. Nice. I have rambled enough in prior posts. On to the pics with some thoughts afterward.

Thoughts

I had a lot of them after this day admittedly. I will try and limit myself to the most pertinent ones.

One camera for all things is a myth.

How do I know?

I tried.

I tried to make my Sony A7C the one camera for all things. But…

For me, it was too good for daily carry. As comes as no surprise to those familiar with this space I really, really like the A7C.

But what I had intended to be a daily carry that could back up my main camera actually became the spiritual successor to my gone but not forgotten… now that is being dramatic… long serving A7III.

So much so that I felt no need to upgrade when the newer A7C models were released. They are demonstrably better, but the OG A7C is more than good enough for my needs as a backup to the mother ship A7RV.

Had also intended to use the A7C as my daily camera. But it was overkill and too precious to me as a key component of my main kit to traipse around everywhere with me to get knocked about… or left behind as I have done more than I would like to admit. Have not lost a camera yet, but that is owed more to serendipity and the kindness of others rather than my diligence in keeping track of my stuff. No. I needed something even more portable and much less valuable for that. Which led me to a pair of odd ducks…

I tried to make my some odd ducks I always wanted to get my hands on (Looking at you dp2 Quattro and GXR.) into my daily camera lenses. But…

While I love the IQ of both for different reasons…

…both had the same issue. Near dismal AF performance. Easily forgiven when taking the IQ into consideration. Buty neither is well suited for a daily carry quick captures solution. More specifically, when, “I just want the pic.”, takes precedence over, “Will you look at that IQ.”. And I became so attached to both that they had the same lost, dropped, and/or stolen concerns as considerably more expensive gear. Next up…

I tried to make the Canon EOS 5D my low price daily carry camera solution. And it excelled for a bit.

But…

Looking like a “real” camera to the masses any remotely candid scene goes out of the window once it is raised and folks take notice of it. I had thought its size would be the main issue, but it was not. No, it will not fit in any pocket but I had no trouble carrying it around.

And that is what led me back to MFT.

The proper tool for the task. In the past I had also tried to make MFT all things, but in the other direction. In addition to being a daily carry solution I had used it for “real” work in the past.

It did fine, but it was better suited for candid work…

…and I found larger sensor cameras better suited to my “real” work.

So what was the change?

A change in my thinking.

I do not need a MFT body bulked up to full frame size for handling purposes. I had added an EVF to the E-P5 and it never sat well with me ergonomics wise. Made a beautiful looking and handling camera awkward in both regards. Later on I used SLR styled MFT bodies that kind of defeated the small size advantage of the system.

I also do not need to pay up for the latest and greatest tech. A simple, low cost used MFT camera does just the trick.

I also do not need to try and force my “real” kit into a small, daily camera mold.

The proper tool used for the task.

But that being said, like those “real” pics above taken with MFT, when asked to it does deliver. See portraits above. A young chorus member asked me to capture an image of him in his suit. I have to admit I would have hesitated with the dp2 Quattro and the GXR. I have better luck with scenes rather than people with both. In both cases, I had been certain I had captured a portrait as I wished only to realize that focus was missed later on. Not with the GF1. Face detect did its thing, and every pic was in focus.

Add in LR AI Denoise, used with images above ISO 800, taking care of the high ISO grain inherent with tiny sensors and it is a win all around.

This is a well rounded little kit.

I will stop myself here.

Happy capturing.

-ELW