Panasonic G1 & Cameraquest Leica M adapter review...

[joshroot]

<p>This might be of interest to some Leica forum users. I got my hands on the Panasonic G1 and Stephen Gandy from Cameraquest was nice enough to loan me a couple of his micro four-thirds adapters. It was pretty interesting how usable manual lenses are on the G1:</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/equipment/panasonic/g1/review/</p>

[carol_christopher]

<p>This is a very comprenhensive and complete review Josh, thank you very much. I am getting rather used to shooting with the G1, so much so that I need to get out the M8 and M7 and blow the dust off them! LOL. This is the one problem, it is taking me away from shooting Leica.</p>

<p>However, I have ordered an M and an R adapter, they should be on their way here from China as I write this. I expect them in about 1 week. Once I get them, I will hopefully be able to determine if the G1 is, indeed, a poor man's M8. Can it fulfill a role as another digital body working with the M8, or (God forbid) will it replace the M8 once I get used to using the Leica glass.</p>

<p>Your review has calmed my nerves somewhat from the expense of the adapters ($85 US each) and I will be able to report more on their quality once I have used them.</p>

<p>Thank you and warmest regards.</p>

[john tonai]

<p>Josh,</p>

<p>I purchased a Cameraquest M adapter to use as a control to compare one of the cheap Chinese adapters. I bought an M adapter from jinfinance (I think that was is eBay name) and it was a little wobbly where the lens attached to the adapter. The fitting from adapter to camera was excellent. Little finishing details weren't as nice, but were just cosmetic. But the wobble bothered me so I sent it back and exchanged it for an LTM to G1 adapter. Since I was using a couple LTM lenses I figured that as long as they got the depth correct it would be fine. That adapter was great. I heard from a friend who recently purchased an M adapter that the mount was tightened up now.</p>

<p>I use the G1 with the LTM adapter with the 12mm Voigtlander for a street camera and with a Canon 50/1.2 for a portraits/low light. Love the manual focus with this camera. In the beginning I fumbled for the buttons. Now they are second nature. I've played with my 35 Summicron and 90 macro Elmar on the G1, but those focal lengths just aren't that special to me. But I now wish I didn't sell my 180/3.4 R lens.</p>

[fjords]

<p>yehh, Josh... The m4/3~c-mount adapter opens up a hole new reaLm of cine and machine vision gLass with stunning resolution and beautiful signatures...</p>

[yakim_peled1]

<p dir="ltr">If it only had AS..... :-(</p>

<p dir="ltr"> </p>

<p dir="ltr">Happy shooting,</p>

<p dir="ltr">Yakim.</p>

[Alex_Es]

<p>I have the adapter for Leica M and Canon FD but as yet I do not have the G1. Why? In Japan they are Japanese only. No way of selecting an English menu. I've talked to Panasonic representatives at a recent Tokyo expo and to various camera shops about getting an English version of the G1. The reply every time is that English language G1s are not available in Japan.</p>

<p>Could one of you G1 owners please do this. See if there is a language choice menu on your G1. I would like to determine if there is a technical problem with providing a language choice menu or if there is something wrong with Panasonic's politics in going "Japan Only" in Japan.</p>

[carol_christopher]

<p>There is a language sub-menu in the setup menu. It has 4 language choices: English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. This may be the "Canada" version.</p>

[Alex_Es]

<p>Well, that shows that Panasonic had no practical reason for shutting down the language choice menu. I would love to hear Panasonic's excuse for this. If this is what it looks like I will never buy another Panasonic product ever again.</p>

[derick_miller]

<p>Hi, Alex. I'm sorry to hear about your frustrating experience.</p>

<p>I don't work for Panasonic and don't have any direct knowledge of the G1, but there may be a simple, practical reason. For what its worth, I did work in software development, including software that had to be localized (i.e. made available supporting different languages).</p>

<p>All of the languages on the version mentioned above use the same character set and it has a limited number of characters (26 letters upper and lower case plus whatever symbols are used). Japanese requires a different and significantly larger character set. In projects I worked on, it required twice as much storage for each character as was required for your typical European based language. This is just an example. I don't know how Panasonic's underlying system works.</p>

<p>It is quite likely that there is a significant enough use of the limited firmware space to make it a simple, economic issue and not a political one.</p>

<p>Are there regulations which prevent you from ordering a G1 from another country?</p>

[Alex_Es]

<p>That sounds logical, Derick. I can order from Amazaon.com but there is no guarantee that they won't send me the Japanese version since I am in Japan. I've looked for other sources where I could actually communicate with a real human-being but have been unsuccessful. Anyway, Panasonic is now in the red and it is a pity that they don't want to make this camera available in English in Japan where there would be a ready market among resident foreigners and visitors, whose second language at least is English.</p>

[carol_christopher]

<p>Alex, I am sorry to hear about your frustrating experience with purchasing this camera in Japan. All I can offer is that I can help you purchase a camera here in Canada. I can assist in this if you would like to email me directly.</p>

[l_dasousa]

<p>I looked for a nice backup for my M8 and I tried a G1 but donot like the EVF at all, and it is a boxy little brick, not fittable nicely in my pocket even if taken away the lens. So I wait now the Olympus or some other, what is a size of a DLux2/3/4. But I think probably by the time it is here and tested, maybe I will find a secondhand M8 for <$1000. There is no better backup I think for an M8 than another M8 :D</p>

[Alex_Es]

<p>Carol, thank you very much. I intend to get one in the either the US or Canada this summer. Thank you very much for your offer.</p>

[joshroot]

<blockquote>

<p>maybe I will find a secondhand M8 for <$1000.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Wishful thinking at this point. But you would find an RD1 at close to that price I think.</p>

[carol_christopher]

<p>Alex et al, OK. The G1 is selling here in Vancouver at London Drugs for $749 CDN with kit lens. The CDN dollar is high right now to US, at about .90. It was better a month ago. That is about $675 US which is a very good price in comparisons I made before I purchased. As well, they provide 15 days no questions asked returns. I waited until I had tested it extensively before I decided to keep it, and order the adapters for my M and R lenses. So at that price, even if there are fees and air shipping, it still works out to be a pretty fair deal. I have thought of just putting them in my ebay store, and if anyone buys just drive over and pick one up. But I don't know how long they will keep that price, it could change.<br>

If you are on the west coast of BC, we would be happy to meet and do some shooting.</p>

 

[Alex_Es]

<p>Carol, we'll be in Vancouver in August visiting Tom and Tuulikki Abrahamsson! London Drugs?! Might pick it up there! Thanks for the tip!</p>

[derick_miller]

<p>Hi Josh,</p>

<p>I liked your review for the G1 and the ones you did for the M8 and the RD-1. I was wondering if you could give us an idea of how loud the shutter is when you compare these three cameras to each other. </p>

<p>Ideally, you could have somone stand with their back to you and do a blind test, but even subjective feedback from the photographer's point of view would be helpful.</p>