Sean Reid has published the first part of an extensive review of the Panasonic G1 on his subscription site. His discussion of the electronic view finder (EVF) in this camera body goes on for pages, and covers various angles:
- aesthetics of use, in comparison to both the ground glass of the SLR and the rangefinder of rangefinder cameras
- advantages of the EVF for precision focusing
- quirks of Panasonic’s implementation (zoom modes, overlays, etc.)
- effect on EVF of extreme dynamic ranges, low light levels (noisiness) and lens “speed”
- discussion of specifically why some rangefinder camera users seem to like the G1’s EVF
- use of the EVF with rangefinder lenses (one of the features of the G1 is that it can be readily adapted for use with lenses designed for rangefinder cameras, such as the Leica M8); use with zone focusing
Interesting reading for those inclined.
I will report that Reid judges the overall result with reasoned ambivalence. He details his reservations about the EVF and outlines, to an extent, who is likely to like this camera body. He goes on to speculate about the advantages of having a true rangefinder body design for the "micro four thirds" format.
My feeling is that, whether you think you like EVFs or not, there are going to be a lot more of them around in coming years, they're going to be evolving quickly, and even if they will never be “perfect for all situations”, their evolution is going to be quite interesting to follow.
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