COMPETITORS
Olympus E-P1 / E-P2 Price: $600/$1065
Olympus PEN series are very similar with GF1. It has the same mount so you can interchange lenses. For example you can use Olympus’ m43 lenses in Panasonic GF1 body and enjoy full compatibility. Some important differences include E-P1 has in body image stabilization. Panasonic opt lens image stabilization, but it won’t be available to all Panasonic m43 lenses. GF1 has built-in flash, Olympus E-Px have not, and lastly GF1’s auto focus performance is better than Olympus cameras especially in low light condition.
Samsung NX10 Price: $700
Samsung first mirrorless camera is an ambitious and aggresive one. It has best LCD up to date (OLED 3″ 600k dots), built-in viewfinder, and CMOS sensor which is bigger than m43 system camera. However, NX10 is bigger, and does not have many lenses in their arsenal yet.
Canon T2i / 550D Price: $800
T2i is a popular and the best beginner digital SLR camera in the market right now. It has whopping 18 mp image resolution and ability to record full HD video. Auto focus and metering system is also a step better than GF1. Lens collection is a plenty. However, Canon T2i is considerably bulkier.
Sony upcoming mirrorless camera Price: possibly $500-700
This camera system will be announced soon (possibly May 2010) and it might be GF1’s strongest competitor. It will has EXMOR CMOS sensor and will be priced aggressively.
Panasonic GF1 (front) compared to Nikon D700 body only (back)
CONCLUSION
Panasonic GF1 is a solid camera for everyday use. It is a great tool for beginner and more experienced photographers. Beginners will love it because it has so smart intelligent system that take care a lot of things especially that related to exposure. It is more compact in size relative to DSLR camera but able to produce close to DSLR quality images. Although the price point is quite high, demand for GF1 remains high. I think it is because Panasonic understands what are important for photographers. GF1 emphasizes on image quality, camera performance, and built quality. This strategy pays off, and GF1 may be the one of the most memorable camera in this decade.
Subjective Rating – Relative to beginner DSLR cameras
Image Quality : 5/5 (with 20mm f/1.7)
Features : 4/5
Performance : 5/5
Body and Handling : 4/5
Value for Money : 4/5
Visit my photo gallery for more photos of Panasonic GF1
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