More pictures from the G3

[WCKSer]

Taken at Oakland Estuary near Bay Farm Island Bridge.

[WCKSer]

Here is a few more!

[WCKSer]

There are still some flora in bloom even though the weather has been very cold in the last 2 weeks. A lot of sea birds there to feeding while the tide is low. The 45-200mm is not long enough and slow, I can't really catching anything flying or just moving fast.

[flyhigh]

nice images, but aren't they a bit on the softer side ?

[WCKSer]

True! The images are a little on the soft side. That is the complaint that most people have on the Panasonic 45-200mm especially on the long end. I notice the difference too comparing to the pictures taken with my Tamron 70-300mm on the Canon T3i.

[ramcewan]

Originally Posted by WCKSer

True! The images are a little on the soft side. That is the complaint that most people have on the Panasonic 45-200mm especially on the long end. I notice the difference too comparing to the pictures taken with my Tamron 70-300mm on the Canon T3i.

I own the 45-200mm and it is a good lens for the price/size. It is however often times not long enough and sometimes too soft. That is why the zoom I use the most is the Olympus Zuiko 70-300mm Four Thirds lens with the Panasonic DMW-MA1 adapter. At the same focal length it is a tad faster and sharper. It is however loud to focus and sometimes it just misses focus. This lens would be much more comparable to the Tamron 70-300mm.

I still use the 45-200mm but mostly when I am trying to minimize my kit size. I've used it at my kids sporting events and it works good, but then again I am not trying to get fine detail. When weight and size are not a consideration the Zuiko is my go to lens.

If I had to do it over again I might have chosen the Lumix 100-300mm instead of the two lenses I have but I probably would not chose the 45-200mm again, it's just not long enough for me.

[WCKSer]

Originally Posted by ramcewan

I own the 45-200mm and it is a good lens for the price/size. It is however often times not long enough and sometimes too soft. That is why the zoom I use the most is the Olympus Zuiko 70-300mm Four Thirds lens with the Panasonic DMW-MA1 adapter. At the same focal length it is a tad faster and sharper. It is however loud to focus and sometimes it just misses focus. This lens would be much more comparable to the Tamron 70-300mm.

I still use the 45-200mm but mostly when I am trying to minimize my kit size. I've used it at my kids sporting events and it works good, but then again I am not trying to get fine detail. When weight and size are not a consideration the Zuiko is my go to lens.

If I had to do it over again I might have chosen the Lumix 100-300mm instead of the two lenses I have but I probably would not chose the 45-200mm again, it's just not long enough for me.

I agree with you on this. The 45-200mm is indeed producing images on the soft side. This lens may be for portraits which I haven't done much lately. I thought about getting Olympus lenses which I believe are better optically especially for kit lenses. The only thing holding back is the lack of IS on the lens. On long zooms I prefer lenses with IS since the Panasonic G3 doesn't have IBIS. I really have to think about this before I make another move.

[WCKSer]

I am looking back to my pictures on the first day shot on the previous posting. They were a lot sharper when I shot with the Picture Style set to Standard. I had the camera's Picture Style set to Natural when I took the pictures in the current posting. So the Natural setting does in fact cause the pictures to be soft. Now I know this setting is only good for portraiture and not good for other purposes.

[Tullio]

Thanks for posting your findings. The manual actually states that Natural mode will produce softer images. This setting will not work well for me either since my preference is for sharper images.

[WCKSer]

I kind of like the pastel look the Natural setting produced. It is not all bad, it does have its place in doing portraits. I am still playing with the camera and try out different things. Next thing I want to do is to shoot some group pictures for the old folks in my neighborhood's service clubs for seniors with my G3 with an external flash (Canon 430EXII) on manual settings.