Meet Madge, My New Camera

I suspect I have my compulsive nature to blame for my purchase of the Panasonic GX1, but I'm okay with that. When I got to see and hold it and played with the controls and menus, I new I had found a good fit. I have a lot learn about the many settings but I'm on my way. The camera feels strong and hearty, unlike the G5 the guy at the store had me check out, and I like its somewhat retro look. It's not as retro as the Olympus OMD EM5 (which, from what I have read, is perhaps one of the best MFT cameras out there right now and several hundred dollars more), but the GX1 is still a sexy little piece of hardware.

Along with the body and the standard 14-42mm kit lens, I also purchased the 20mm pancake (really like this lens so far), a 45-200mm telephoto (which I haven't yet tried) and the electronic viewfinder. I wasn't sure how I'd like the EVF, but that has been put to rest - I dig it.

The guy who helped me at Keeble & Shuchat was good about pricing the gear for me. I had my B&H shopping cart printed out as reference. I didn't get prices quite as low, but I console myself by buying local and getting an immediate purchase gratification fix. Not to mention I got started playing with it almost immediately (well, two hours later, after the battery was charged). So, thanks K&S!

Below are some of my first pics. They are using iAuto mode, one of the scene modes or me messing with settings. I need to do more note taking when doing test shots so I can get a better sense of what's happening. Regardless, I'm happy with them.

Lucy: she was very patient as I snapped a bunch of shots using different settings. This was with the 20mm lens.

Matt in monochrome. I think this was with the 20mm.

Faraday: pretty sure this was with the 14-42mm lens.

Vidar: 20mm lens.

One of Matt's escaped bees, up close and personal with the 20mm (I cropped this pic on the iPad).

Keiko: using the 14-42mm lens with available light.

I guess it's obvious l like to get close to what I'm shooting.

On my way home from my visit with Lucy, I stopped to take some shots of the bridge. I wanted to get a sense of how wide the 20mm and 14-42mm lenses would look. It was a bit hazy and was so crowded in the headlands that I wasn't able to park in the place I wanted to be for the pictures, but at least I had a chance to get a sense of space in the shots.

20mm

14-42mm @ 14mm

Next weekend I'll be up in Sea Ranch and will do much more experimenting. I'm very excited with the new gear. Expect to see more photos as I continue learning.