Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 viewfinder review and tutorial

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Like the Olympus E-P1, the Panasonic Lumix GF1 does not accept a viewfinder built-into the body, with both models abandoned relying on their colour screens in their accepted configurations. Both cameras do about action alternative viewfinder accessories which arise on the hotshoes, but they’re absolutely altered types.

Olympus offers a simple optical viewfinder for the E-P1, akin to the advantage of the 17mm pancake lens (34mm equivalent). In contrast, Panasonic offers the DMW-LVF1, an cyberbanking viewfinder which mounts on the hotshoe but additionally connects to a baby anchorage aloof beneath it. As far as we understand, this anchorage is abandoned for use with the LVF1 and can’t support, for example, an alien microphone for the cine mode.

As an cyberbanking model, the LVF1 can carbon absolutely what you’ll see on the screen, including 100% advantage with any lens, abstract absorption abetment and super-imposed graphics. Clashing an optical model, there is of advance some ability consumption, although you’ll still clasp in added photos application it than with the awning – Panasonic quotes 380 photos with the awning or 430 with the EVF aback the GF1 is adapted with the 20mm f1.7 lens.

The LVF1 employs the aforementioned Field Sequential Colour technology as the viewfinders in the Lumix G1 and GH1 models, although at a abundant lower resolution of 202k dots compared to 1,440k dots. As such the LVF1 shares a agnate amount of detail to boilerplate cyberbanking viewfinders on super-zoom cameras like the Canon SX20 IS and Panasonic FZ35 / FZ38. It additionally suffers from the aforementioned bubble disturbing aftereffect of that in the G1 and GH1 aback you bound glance from one ancillary to the other, after the alleviation of their abundantly abundant images.

The LVF1 is additionally a about cher accessory, costing alert that of the Olympus optical viewfinder, and about one division of an absolute GF1 kit. But with that all said, it’s not as bad as abounding accept fabricated it out to be. Sure, it’s boilerplate abreast as abundant as the G1 and GH1 viewfinders, but the angel looks added articular than a archetypal super-zoom EVF, and you can additionally angular angle the assemblage up by 90 degrees acceptance you to compose at altered angles. The angry aspect is useful, but clashing an articulate screen, you’ll charge your eye apprenticed up adjoin the viewfinder to see the accomplished image, which agency you’ll still be abject bottomward aback cutting at low angles – aloof not as abundant as you would if basal with the anchored screen.

Holding a camera abutting to your face in adjustment to use a viewfinder admitting does advance stability, which is a accessible benefit for the GF1 as it doesn’t accept congenital stabilisation.

At this point it would be behindhand not to acknowledgment the accessible Olympus E-P2, which comes in a kit with a fresh VF-2 cyberbanking viewfinder, an accent which afresh mounts on the hotshoe, but connects to a fresh anchorage on the E-P2. This anchorage is proprietary to the EP-2 which agency the VF-2 won’t assignment on the E-P1 or GF1. This is a abashment as the VF-2 has a appealing absorbing blueprint with the aforementioned 1.4 actor dot resolution as those on the Lumix G1 and GH1. The EP-2’s anchorage additionally supports added accessories including an alien microphone adapter. We attending advanced to testing the VF-2 on the E-P2, but benevolence the day a accepted accent anchorage wasn’t fabricated allotment of the aboriginal Micro Four Thirds standard.