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Panasonic DMW-VF1 viewfinder, worth it?

post #1 of 7
6/23/09 at 6:09pm
Thread Starter 
To all Panasonic LX3/Leica DLux 4 owners, how it the viewfinder? I mean do you use it? Do you feel the need for it? And if you use it, is it good/as good as expected?
I have to choose between a Ricoh GX200 and a Panasonic LX3, generally I'd say Pana as the lens seems better but the Ricoh's digital viewfinder looks better done and more usable than the Pana's one, and with my current P&S I've felt the need for a viewfinder many times.
BTW I'm not interested in a Canon G10 as I think it's too big and the Sigma DP2 is quite expensive, sorry.
Thanks for any advice
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post #2 of 7
6/24/09 at 2:47am
It's like two piece of glass with framelines marked on it right? You can actually achieve a similar effect by holding up the camera to just underneath your eye and mentally adding framelines. I do that sometimes with my GR II. I look like a goddamn idiot but it works.

I had the EVF for my GX100 and I quite enjoyed using it, especially the fact that it could tilt. An underrated accessory for an underrated camera. The EVF provides histogram information and LCD style what-you-see-is-what-you-get. I wish that thing was implemented on the new Olympus E-P1
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post #3 of 7
6/24/09 at 2:49am
O, and if you have never used an add-on VF a la the Panasonic before, there will be parallax error i.e. even your field of view will be a bit off because you are not seeing through the sensor, you are seeing through a piece of glass above the camera.
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post #4 of 7
6/24/09 at 4:24am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the advice
Quote:
Originally Posted by yfyf View Post
... with my GR II. ... my GX100 ...
Looks like you have good experience with Ricoh cameras, how would you rate them?
Quote:
... I wish that thing was implemented on the new Olympus E-P1
I've hear that the E-P1 is a lot of plastic and not much else ...
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post #5 of 7
6/24/09 at 9:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pabloj View Post
Thanks for the advice
Looks like you have good experience with Ricoh cameras, how would you rate them? I've hear that the E-P1 is a lot of plastic and not much else ...

I am only familiar with the GX100 and the GR II not the other compacts. They are capable of good results. Good sensor size for a compact, two control dials, good lens and lengths and shoots RAW. However, they are like angry, highly-strung, high maintenance women. The auto exposure modes are not very reliable, the auto focus is not terribly fast and it is slow to write files. However if you do everything manually including focus and you will spend a bit of time with your RAWs, you can expect some excellent things. I find the hassle quite fun and enjoy using them. However, I think there are technically superior cameras out there these days, notably the G10, LX3, E-P1 and the Fuji F200EXR.

I would not write off the E-P1 by any stretch. The disassembled photos of it showing plastic is not particularly surprising or alarming. What did you expect it to be made of? Cheese? It still has the all important trump card of a large sensor in a compact body and by default anything above ISO 200 is going to be so much nicer than anything in that size class. If it is as responsive as a DSLR, it should be a great camera to use. I guess my only concern is that the type of autofocus system used could be a let down but we'll see.

O and I guess this thread is useless without photos. These are all out of the Ricoh GR II.





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post #6 of 7
7/5/09 at 9:47am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the advice.
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post #7 of 7
3/23/10 at 1:28pm
Bump, anyone have the viewfinder for the LX3 or D-Lux4 and can comment? I just got my LX3 and am thinking of getting one....
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