The Panasonic G1 — Is this the beginning of a new direction in compact cameras?

Back when I was rabbiting on about what camera to buy, I mentioned that “The best camera is the one you have with you…” and that “any compact digital camera with more mega pixels than [8] is nearly always going to result in a poorer quality picture”. These two assumptions were key to my choices for a powerful carry around camera, which is currently a Canon G7. Today’s announcement of the Panasonic G1, the first camera based on the Micro Four Thirds standard may be about to fundamentally alter these assumptions..

The main issue with compact cameras is that their imaging chip is tiny, and the corresponding individual pixels are nano sized. This adversely affects it’s ability to collect the light falling on it, and hence the final quality of the image. For a details discussion of pixels, and imaging chip sizes, you could do worse than read this excellent overview on www.cambridgeincolour.com, or this website devoted to advocating 6mp compact cameras. For a visual comparison, check out this diagram:

Digital Camera Imaging Sensor Sizes

As you can see, an 8mp compact camera and an 8mp full frame SLR are not created equal.

So where does the G1 come in?

• Well its chip size is approx 50% of that of a Full Frame SLR, and at 12mp, it’s not excessive.
• Pixel size should be roughly 9 times greater than an equivalent 12mp compact camera, meaning that image quality and noise should be vastly superior.
• By removing the mirror / optical viewfinder, and using a digital viewfinder, size has been kept to a minimum.

By comparison to the Canon G9, body only, it is not substantially bigger, nor substantially heavier (about 100 grams). With the standard kit lens, the relative sizes are as follows:

Size matters: Panasonic G1 versus the Canon G9

How would I have done the G1 differently? I think a fixed fast(ish) lens, somewhere in the 28mm to 50mm equivalent would have been ideal. IT is early days yet for the Micro Four Thirds standard, so we will have to wait and see what slot in the market place this fits into.

Off course, the price will still probably be a rip off here in Ireland

Some other links to Panasonic G1 coverage:

• DPreview
• Engadget

1) There are NO GOOD DEALS IN IRELAND:

Just in case I didn’t make that clear enough… YOU WILL BE RIPPED OFF IF YOU BUY A CAMERA IN IRELAND!. Never mind the bull about local support, warranties, etc. peddled by the various dealers. It cannot make up for the 50–100% markup most of them charge. Case in point, I recently bought a Canon IXUS 860IS for a friend at just over €250 within Europe, a saving of exactly €100 on the online price from a Camera Shop on Burgh Quay, Dublin. For purchasing cameras, I recommend the following:

• In the US: Adorama, B&H Photo
• In Europe: Pixmania

2) Megapixels are overrated:

I could go into detail, but an 8 megapixel picture will result in a professional quality print of 11+ inches by 8+ inches. Do you print to that size? No? Well any compact digital camera with more megapixels than that is nearly always going to result in a poorer quality picture. It is the tradeoff of the “Megapixel Myth”.

3) You simply want to take pictures:

Now that the first two fallacies are busted, on to the meat and potatoes. You want a simple camera for holiday snapshots, weddings, etc. You are not interested in custom settings, RAW files or any of that baloney. Ok… here are some things you do not need:

• Anything over 8mp (see item 2)
• An optical view finder (i.e. something you look through… you will never use it!)
• RAW file capability (if you don’t know what it is, you don’t need it)
• Internal Storage (Trust me on this one… any storage included with the camera is a con. It is insufficient for any purpose!)
• A bloody great zoom range — guaranteed to produce crap photo’s.

So what do you need?

• A decent battery. In fact, buy a spare, but absolutely make sure that they are re-chargeable batteries. AA batteries last no time!
• A large screen. You will use it to take and display 90% of your photo’s.
• A reasonably big memory card, 2GB should do the job.
• Image stabilisation would be a bonus.

My recommendation — The Canon IXUS 860 IS. I bought this for my wife, and have pointed others in its direction. Superb camera.

Canon IXUS 870 IS

4) You need something to carry around, but wouldn’t mind a bit more power:

Ah, the memories. MY first proper digital camera was in this category, an Olympus 8080, and some of the best shots I ever got were with this camera. This category is the answer to the photographers saying “The best camera is the one you have with you…” Expensive professional camera’s are heavy. They tend to be left at home a lot of the time. So what do you need in this category?

• Custom controls, Aperture, ISO, Shutter speed
• RAW file capability might be handy
• A big screen. Nope, you still don’t need the optical viewfinder.
• A reasonably big memory card.
• Image stabilisation again.

My recommendation — The Canon G9. I have the G7, which is essentially the same. The Sigma DP1 is flawed, but is a promising concept.

Canon G9

5) You want to take pictures at sporting events, concerts, dawn, night, etc…

Ok, when you using a compact digital camera for any length of time, you become aware of two major shortcomings:

• You point, you focus, you wait, you take picture, of nothing. Compact digital cameras are not fast enough for sports or action.
• The small “chip” in them makes shots taken in low light / night look terrible. Welcome, my friend, to digital noise!

Now we enter the realm of SLR’s. SLR stands for “Single Lens Reflex” is a fancy way of saying “you look through the lens you take the picture with!”. They typically have a much bigger chip, often described as being “full frame” (full size of 35mm film frame), DX (size of APS film frame), or somewhere in between. They are also much, much quicker to focus and operate. There are many worthy cameras in this segment of the market; Olympus, Nikon, Canon, Sony, Samsung, Pentax, etc. The only really solid bits of advice I can give are:

• The lenses are the most important part of this purchase — if you buy one good lens and use it well, you will be happier (such as a 50mm F1.4)
• You are buying into a system at this level, i.e. the lenses, the accessories, the batteries, etc. are expensive and long-lasting. It is expected that you will reuse most of them when you upgrade your camera. Make sure you trust that the vendor will be there, and offer a product that meets your needs!
• Research, research, research. The best web site: www.dpreview.com

My recommendation — I am a Canon user, so the Canon EOS 450D.

Canon EOS 450D

6) Beyond that… either you have more money than sense or you know what you are doing:

Just to let you know, I drive a Canon 20D, and would love at some point in the future to upgrade to either a 40D, 5D, or 1Ds MK III. Here’s dreaming. 

Canon EOS 20D