@cdimes Thanks for the nice words! It comes with a neat little flash which is good enough for day to day casual use. I don't use flash much but Metz do some that work with it, as do Panasonic and Olympus themselves.
@heber810 Glad you found the video useful. The lens hood is from eBay. Several people sell them. Search for 46mm lens hood. They are listed for the Panasonic 20mm or as a Leica item, about £5/ $7.50 or so. They do look nice, don't they!
@tiberiousgracchus The movie quality is excellent. The sound is good but unlike the Panasonics the Olympus only has automatic sound levels for recording. It works without trouble and is very good but I cannot use it on the blues gigs I often video because the high sound levels mean all I get is a distorted unusable mess. That's just the music, some might say :-)
The Panasonic G3 on sound level 2 gives clean detailed sound under the same conditions. For other purposes, no problems
Thanks , that is something else I can consider. Concerts are not something I video much so the epl3 should be able to handle the general day to day things. I'm thinking baptisms and weddings etc also.
thanks for the review. I was really set on the Epl1 due to its better grip. But now you got me thinking about the swivel screen wich would be very useful for shooting from the hip...Oh dear
;) decisions decision.
Did you find the lack of a real grip much of a hinderence ?
@tiberiousgracchus Always something, isn't there? I really value the swivel screen for from the hip shooting, as you say. The lack of grip doesn't bother me at all. I have fairly small hands but not unusually so.
@spogley Thanks alot for that.Yes so true I just feel like im going in circles. All the reviews I watch start with the grip if it has one and they make a big deal of it. I just need to figure out what is more important. I have unusually big I mean small aha hands so no grip should be find ;)
Thanks for that great review. Any comments on the aspect ratio thing? I like the tilt screen, great for street photography as a waist level finder but I'm having a hard time getting past the fact they put a 16:9 screen on something used mainly for stills which are traditionally 4:3 in size.
Also, how is the balance handheld with the larger lenses?
@rumvodkaf1 I'd say that the screen size is the main downside of the camera. I use the camera mainly for stills and, like you at 4:3. Basing the screen around 16:9 means that most of the time a large part of the screen is being wasted. It's still perfectly usable but not as good as it could be.
Bigger lenses do look like they unbalance it but with the left hand cupping the lens and the right gripping the camera I find the size rather comfortable.
thanks for uploading! im very interested in the panasonic 14-140mm lens, do u have any suggestion between this and the olympus m.zuiko 14-150mm lens? I got a olympus ep3 at the moment, not sure which of the two works better with it.
@tx523 I haven't tried the Olympus lens. The Panasonic works very well with it and I wouldn't think there would be much practical difference in focus speed, for example. The Panasonic lens appears to be a little sharper overall.
The 14-140 is a lot more expensive and don't forget that a lot of that is for the in lens image stabilization which won't work with the Olympus body and which has its own stabilization built in.
The focusing of the Panasonic 17mm lens on the Panasonic GF2 and the Olympus E-PL3 strike me as being about the same, that is to say very fast. There may be a measurable difference but it certainly isn't apparent to me.
Out of interest, I;ve just done a test with the 17mm on both cameras, focussing on 1 metre and then to about 10 metres. If anything, I'd say it was a tiny bit faster on the Olympus but so small as to make no practical difference at all.
Thanks for this. Olympus made a big deal about how fast the autofocus is on these cameras- is it still fast with the Panny lenses? I wish Olympus had some nice pancakes like the 14mm and 20mm. I've seen a video of the EPM-1 with the Olympus 17mm on it and the focusing seemed really sluggish. But with the new kit lens it was really fast.
I wouldn't say it is better. Quality wise they are much of a muchness. The Olympus just feels more of a photographer's camera.
For movies, they are similar but if you want sound, the Panasonic is much better because you can control the mic input level. That's why I've kept it, in fact.
I haven't used the Olympus 14-150mm but the tests I have read seem to find the Panasonic a bit better on sharpness. I find the Panasonic more than acceptable at all focal lengths but it is a lot more expensive and some that money is probably going on the anti-shake system built in to the lens - which you don't need with the Olympus as it has body based anti-shake.
Given the price difference, I 'd probably go for the Zuiko.
excellent video. thank you. im sold! does it come with the flash and what flash are you using?
cdimes 6 days ago
@cdimes Thanks for the nice words! It comes with a neat little flash which is good enough for day to day casual use. I don't use flash much but Metz do some that work with it, as do Panasonic and Olympus themselves.
spogley 6 days ago
great video! I love that hood , where did you get it? thanks for sharing
heber810 1 week ago
@heber810 Glad you found the video useful. The lens hood is from eBay. Several people sell them. Search for 46mm lens hood. They are listed for the Panasonic 20mm or as a Leica item, about £5/ $7.50 or so. They do look nice, don't they!
spogley 1 week ago
Hand grip is from Richard Franiec's
tomislav1004 2 weeks ago
Great video, your video was the reason why I bought the E-pl3
For all who need extra stability while holding the device in one hand
Ordered and waiting to come.For all who need extra stability while holding the device in one hand.
Ordered and waiting to come.
tomislav1004 2 weeks ago
@tomislav1004 Thanks for that Tomislav.
spogley 2 weeks ago
Ah you mention movies.How is the sound and general image quality? Im thinking of sticking with the kit zoom.Did you find it any good?
Thanks again
tiberiousgracchus 1 month ago
@tiberiousgracchus The movie quality is excellent. The sound is good but unlike the Panasonics the Olympus only has automatic sound levels for recording. It works without trouble and is very good but I cannot use it on the blues gigs I often video because the high sound levels mean all I get is a distorted unusable mess. That's just the music, some might say :-)
The Panasonic G3 on sound level 2 gives clean detailed sound under the same conditions. For other purposes, no problems
spogley 1 month ago
Thanks , that is something else I can consider. Concerts are not something I video much so the epl3 should be able to handle the general day to day things. I'm thinking baptisms and weddings etc also.
tiberiousgracchus 1 month ago
@tiberiousgracchus Baptisms and weddings, stuff like that the auto sound level is probably better.
spogley 1 month ago
thanks for the review. I was really set on the Epl1 due to its better grip. But now you got me thinking about the swivel screen wich would be very useful for shooting from the hip...Oh dear
;) decisions decision.
Did you find the lack of a real grip much of a hinderence ?
tiberiousgracchus 1 month ago
@tiberiousgracchus Always something, isn't there? I really value the swivel screen for from the hip shooting, as you say. The lack of grip doesn't bother me at all. I have fairly small hands but not unusually so.
spogley 1 month ago
@spogley Thanks alot for that.Yes so true I just feel like im going in circles. All the reviews I watch start with the grip if it has one and they make a big deal of it. I just need to figure out what is more important. I have unusually big I mean small aha hands so no grip should be find ;)
tiberiousgracchus 1 month ago
Thanks for that great review. Any comments on the aspect ratio thing? I like the tilt screen, great for street photography as a waist level finder but I'm having a hard time getting past the fact they put a 16:9 screen on something used mainly for stills which are traditionally 4:3 in size.
Also, how is the balance handheld with the larger lenses?
rumvodkaf1 1 month ago
@rumvodkaf1 I'd say that the screen size is the main downside of the camera. I use the camera mainly for stills and, like you at 4:3. Basing the screen around 16:9 means that most of the time a large part of the screen is being wasted. It's still perfectly usable but not as good as it could be.
Bigger lenses do look like they unbalance it but with the left hand cupping the lens and the right gripping the camera I find the size rather comfortable.
spogley 1 month ago
finally an actual review not just a 60 second techblog ad. Thanks for this video.
c0d3m45t3r 2 months ago 2
@c0d3m45t3r Thanks for your kind comment.
spogley 2 months ago
thanks for uploading! im very interested in the panasonic 14-140mm lens, do u have any suggestion between this and the olympus m.zuiko 14-150mm lens? I got a olympus ep3 at the moment, not sure which of the two works better with it.
tx523 3 months ago
@tx523 I haven't tried the Olympus lens. The Panasonic works very well with it and I wouldn't think there would be much practical difference in focus speed, for example. The Panasonic lens appears to be a little sharper overall.
The 14-140 is a lot more expensive and don't forget that a lot of that is for the in lens image stabilization which won't work with the Olympus body and which has its own stabilization built in.
spogley 1 month ago
The focusing of the Panasonic 17mm lens on the Panasonic GF2 and the Olympus E-PL3 strike me as being about the same, that is to say very fast. There may be a measurable difference but it certainly isn't apparent to me.
Out of interest, I;ve just done a test with the 17mm on both cameras, focussing on 1 metre and then to about 10 metres. If anything, I'd say it was a tiny bit faster on the Olympus but so small as to make no practical difference at all.
spogley 3 months ago
Thanks for this. Olympus made a big deal about how fast the autofocus is on these cameras- is it still fast with the Panny lenses? I wish Olympus had some nice pancakes like the 14mm and 20mm. I've seen a video of the EPM-1 with the Olympus 17mm on it and the focusing seemed really sluggish. But with the new kit lens it was really fast.
ar4216 3 months ago
ottima recensione
jorkohama 4 months ago
@jorkohama grazie!
spogley 1 month ago
I appreciate your feeback, too - thanks.
spogley 4 months ago
I've been looking at this camera for some time. Your review has helped me make up my mind. Greatly appreciated.
taroko12345 4 months ago
I wouldn't say it is better. Quality wise they are much of a muchness. The Olympus just feels more of a photographer's camera.
For movies, they are similar but if you want sound, the Panasonic is much better because you can control the mic input level. That's why I've kept it, in fact.
spogley 4 months ago
is this better than the gf2 ? @spogley
IamWhoIam3210 4 months ago
@IamWhoIam3210
I haven't used the Olympus 14-150mm but the tests I have read seem to find the Panasonic a bit better on sharpness. I find the Panasonic more than acceptable at all focal lengths but it is a lot more expensive and some that money is probably going on the anti-shake system built in to the lens - which you don't need with the Olympus as it has body based anti-shake.
Given the price difference, I 'd probably go for the Zuiko.
spogley 3 months ago