Queries about the G1

[ipaqowner]

Can any owners tell me?

What's the EVF like for people who wear glasses...useable? I know it has a dioptre adjustment but I would like to hear from users who wear glasses if you can get a good view of the whole EVF screen?...I read a review somewhere which found it poor for spectacle wearers just need to know if it's that bad as I prefer to use a viewfinder rather than the LCD display.

While looking in the EVF can you make an adjustment to say the exposure compensation or other parameter and see the difference immediately on the screen as you adjust it?

Do you get an audible focus confirmation beep?

Thanks.

[dnas]

I find it no problem seeing the whole EVF with glasses on. I guess it depends how far off your face your glasses are.

Yes you can see the difference immediately on the EVF/LCD as you adjust exposure compensation.

You get an audible beep when AF is confirmed, along with a green box on the EVF/LCD around the areas that are in focus.

[DonalDuc]

I use dioptre adjustment and look "over" my glasses. Works 1a.
Not necessary to remove glasses - it's fine if you change to display.

[ipaqowner]

Thanks for the info guys.
Do you find the std kit lens sharp?

[dnas]

The lenses themselves are quite sharp. But there is another aspect of the lens/camera performance that is interesting. I posted this in another thread:

Panasonic is using "consumer grade glass" themselves in the G1 & GH1, as indicated by the lack of Leica branding on the lenses. And in fact, if you look at the basic kit lens (14-45mm ), it is not a great lens itself. Actually, it has a lot of barrel distortion and some CA, but it's quite sharp center to corner. However, most of the reviews show that the "lens performance" is very good. Why? Because the camera does it's own "in camera" correction of distortion, vignetting & CA, without the user even being aware of it.
For example, from the G1 kit lens, this looks fine, doesn't it? No distortion on the left at 14mm?


However, this is the RAW output, processed not in the bundled RAW software (Silkypix), but a third party program. This shows the ACTUAL lens performance at 14mm:


It's quite different, isn't it??!!!!!
The first image is the output direct from the camera, and also from the SilkyPix program. In both cases the lens data is taken from the RAW file, and automatically "corrected" before the photographer ever sees it. So the very good result is due to the combination of lens AND camera.

This opens up a whole new question about lens vs processing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So the RESULT from the kit lens used with the G1 is actually very good, with the distortion and CA corrected automatically before you ever see the shot!!!!!!
I don't have a problem with this method in the G1, and I'm sure most people wouldn't either. Don't let this aspect put you off the G1. I've just come back from a trip where I took about 1000 shots on the G1, and the results are great!!!!!

There on other thing I haven't tried. Since the normal resulting shot at 14mm is corrected (distortion straightened for example), it mean that the RESULT is cropped, but at 14mm. BUT the ORIGINAL shot is actually wider, probably around 12mm, so that is you want to take shots where the distortion is not an issue, the kit lens will be more like 12mm!!!!!

[ipaqowner]

Many thanks for that info and the comparison photos dnas.
WOW...what a difference, I didn't realise the electronics could actually compensate for and correct lens distortion in-camera...that's a real eye opener.
I was a wee bit disappointed when I found out the lenses in the G1/GH1 weren't Leica branded but if the Panasonic processing electronics is that good does it really matter as long as the final images are good?.
Still mulling over buying a G1...or a GH1...most of the web retailers here in the UK are out of stock of the G1 Twin lens outfit...I have in the past bought an FZ30 (sold on eBay last week) and an FX01 compact (donated to my wife as I bought a DMC-TZ7 a couple of weeks ago) while I was on holiday in Florida (usually bought at Ritz Camera shop in the Florida mall) but the prices seem to have equalised at the moment and they are the same or slightly cheaper here in the UK when sales tax and a foreign transaction credit card fees are added if bought in the US...and then there's another decision to be made...my normal black or the snazzy red colour?

[DonalDuc]

Interesting ... but it counts what comes out :-)

[dnas]

Originally Posted by DonalDuc

Interesting ... but it counts what comes out :-)

That was my point. The kit len(es) is optimized for center to corner sharpness, while the camera handles the distortion and the CA. The result is very good.