Moose in Hand wrote:
> You guys do know that this is all about form factor, style and ergonomics,
> right? The camera is the innards of an E-M5 II with only two changes I can
> see.
You are absolutely correct in that I have to hold one first before
getting too excited about it. And my pragmatic site is telling me that
I can let this one slide on by too. Yet, it enters the short list of
cameras that I might keep an eye on. Why?
I actually quite like the feel of the E-Pen cameras. They are
"left-hand" cameras for me. I hold them by the left hand and guide and
control with the right. A standard gripped camera is meant to be held
by the right hand with the left hand for auxiliary stability and lens
control. A left-hand camera is typically held cradled in the upturned
palm of the left hand with the fingers extended out to adjust the lens
from below. A grip camera is held in such a way that the left hand has
the thumb under the lens and the fingers going over the top. The
weight of the camera is held by the right hand and the left thumb.
Because of this, the camera height is not an issue. The E-M5 bodies
are a neither fish or fowl camera. I don't find them comfortable to be
held in the left hand or carried by the right hand. The body height
(without battery dohickies) is too short to leverage into the right
palm enough for right-hand hold. The shape and control placement
(specifically, the shutter release is just slightly off in position),
makes left hand use slightly odd. Granted, it's not bad, but I don't
find them to fall to hand quite as easily as the PEN cameras.
Where the new PEN-F nails it is in the built-in viewfinder and keeping
the body shape and control correct for left-hand use.
Just a few minutes ago, we had an awesome sunset sky and I wanted to
take a quick digital picture of it. What was the camera I grabbed? The
Panasonic DMC-L1. While I could have grabbed any of the three DSLRs
and had great results and comfort with any of them, the L1 was the one
I WANTED to hold this particular time. The PEN-F is closest in design
to the old DMC-L1. Just smaller. And with better viewfinder. And so on
and so forth.
Weather sealing is somewhat important to me, but that's not the entire
story. Traditionally, weather sealing means better built and rugged
construction. If I was to spend two weeks on Isle Royale with only one
DSLR, I'd probably want a fully weather sealed camera, but for doing
my event photography? I can live without it, as long as the rest of
the camera isn't going to fall apart. The DMC-L1 is not what I would
consider to be the toughest camera around, but it has not been losing
knobs and falling apart like some of the Canon double-digits from the
same era have been doing.
I have said that I'd never buy a E-Pen camera because of the lack of
built-in viewfinder. The PEN-F version finally addresses that concern
and I find that the only reason why I wouldn't get one is that I'm
more interested in full-frame than I am in another crop-format camera
system. I'm liking the 4/3 cameras I have now (L1, E1, E3), and see
little reason to chase m43 with another set of lenses lacking backward
compatibility.
AG
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