List Price: $699.00
Sale Price: $409.99
Today's Bonus: 41% Off
I have a few friends with DSLR and micro-4/3 cameras and I was told to look at micro-4/3 due to it's lower cost of entry and portability. In the short term I wanted a new camera to take on my honeymoon, but my long term goal was to improve my photography skills beyond a compact point and shoot.
After much research I decided between the Olympus OM-D E-M5 and Panasonic DMC-G5KK. While I feel the Olympus is a better camera on paper, I didn't feel the cost differential was justified in my case. Micro-4/3 is still a relatively new platform, and I think the cameras will improve quite a bit in the next couple of years. Perhaps in that time I'll upgrade to a camera with a more rugged body and in body stabilization. FWIW, I purchased the DMC-G5 ($699), which included the 14-42mm zoom lens, along with the Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens ($332).
The combo is low profile and lightweight due to the pancake lens. I purchased the Crumpler "4 million dollar home" camera bag, which comfortably fits the G5, 20mm pancake, 14-42 mm kit lens, spare battery, charger, snackbar, and hand cleanser (a nice to have on vacation). I highly recommend this to anyone look at the G5 or other similarly sized micro-4/3s.
The 20mm pancake shoots amazing pictures with the G5. Landscapes and interiors look great, but portraits are amazing! I was overall quite impressed with photos I took on my vacation, the majority of which I used intelligent auto since I didn't have the time to learn about the camera. I would say I took 90% of my photos using the pancake since it was more convenient and much faster. I only used the zoom lens when I couldn't zoom with my feet.
My favorite things about the camera thus far:
1) Autofocus speed (combined w/ the 20mm)
2) Ergonomics and weight
3) HD video w/ autofocus
4) Large articulating touchscreen w/ AF tracking (touch screen and it will focus and track the subject!)
5) Depth of focus adjustment/box
6) RAW photos (works with Lightroom)
Things I dislike:
1) EVF sensor: even at the low sensitivity setting, my finger occasionally disables the LCD. I wish they put the sensor at the top of the EVF or something
2) Panasonic software: it's not well designed. You're better off buying Adobe Lightroom to handle the importing and post-processing.
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