5 Frames with a Panasonic Lumix G100

I was looking to find a couple of older generation cameras for video and vlogging and settled on a GH4 that reputedly had some fungus in the viewfinder and was, therefore, an absolute bargain and the Lumix G100 that seemed to offer quite a lot, though with very mixed reviews.

It has been my policy to buy 2nd hand camera gear, rather than new, for some years and I therefore have come to expect and accept some trade-offs when compared to new stuff. In the event, I don’t really notice much difference, although I accept that quality of image can vary, but the concept of whether a camera is good enough or not, to my mind, comes down to good enough for what, or good enough for whom. Some of the best photographs ever made defy all arguments about sharpness or dynamic range, although a good lens is always worth the investment. All of the photographs in this set were made with a 15mm Leica DG Summilux f1.7 which is a good lens, not least of all because it has an actual aperture ring; needless to say, the lens cost more than the camera.

The G100 has had mixed reviews, but it is safe to say that it is not a generally, much loved camera. There is no IBIS, although it has some basic stabilisation for video that work with the Lumix range of OIS lenses. There is no in-built stabilisation in the 15mm lens, but, no matter, I grew up long before this was any kind of standard for camera bodies or lenses and I have principally used the camera for stills photography: tests I’ve done for video suggest a tripod is a basic requirement unless using a stabilised lens.Four of the five photographs in this piece were taken on the same day and the studio shot was taken a day or two prior. The photographs are from a series I am working on called “The Home Front” and are taken in and around the city in which I live, so the studio shot is an interior and the rest are from round about town on my photo walks. All of the shots are available light and hand held. There is a certain amount of additional processing due, in the first instance, to the necessity of converting the Panasonic raw file to DNG in order to edit them in Capture One and then I have used Silver Efex Pro to end up with the image I am most happy with, which is, sort of, film-like. I am slightly loathe to use the expression, ‘film-like,’ because if you want a film image, it is best to use film and I still regularly use film cameras as the mood takes me. Digital images don’t really imitate film, in my opinion, but they are a convenient way to imagine a certain look and realise it in camera. With film, you have to pre-visualise and calculate ways to manipulate the negative, which many of us do digitally, anyway, via a scanner and editing software.

After using the camera for a little while, I have to say that I regard it as a bit of a gem. I have used it with the Leica 15mm and a Panasonic 42.5 f1.7 lens, both of which are good and I am impressed with the way the camera and lenses handle texture and contrast. A micro four thirds camera will never compete, like-for-like, with a full frame pixel beast, let alone a medium format camera, but it has its own style and image quality that stands alone. I have to say that I have become a bit of a four thirds fan, being able to use a little camera that packs a punch.

To see more of my photographs go here

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