Camera Labs

Hi everyone

its my first time buying a SLR camera,

the reason why i wanna buy a SLR is because, i have stopped taking photos, with my small camera, i cant look at the pictures afterwords, the last couple of years i was almost gonna buy it but never had the balls to put down over 1k for a camera, but now my camcorder broke down so i have decided to buy a camera that will do the best video possible instead of buying a now camcorder, because whenever me and my family go out, we never take both along, loosing either video or photos,

i have made a lot of research, i came down to 3 options,

canon 500d

2lumix GH1

canon 7D

now i want 3 things out of the camera most,
good photos
best video possible in a camera
and it should be compact, its gonna be a family camera,

what i have read so far the lumix GH1, should be my best option,

i have also read that its very slow it has 3.0 fps only,it is not good for fast moving shots, and its not a real SLR so my question how of a better of photo will it it give then the small point and shoot cameras,

is this a good investment for what i need, i don't wanna wake up after a month and feel like i should of paid 400$ more and got the 7D, or pay less and got the 500d,
but the downside for me of the 500d is the videos don't come close the GH1 and downside of the 7d is, its very bulky 820g vs. 385g for the GH1, and 400$ more

but i don't wanna Sacrifice my photos, for this, i wanna have nice photos and be able to take pics of my kids in action,

Thanks for reading any help would be appreciated

Hi joel911,

May I wish you a warm welcome to the Camera Labs forum.

I think you've summed up your dilemma pretty neatly. The 7D is by far and away the most capable machine, particularly with kids rushing about all over the place when good AF tracking will mean you lose far fewer shots. But it'll be no good to you if the weight and bulk mean that it's not by your side. I note that, in his GH1 summary, Gordon says:

Contrast-based auto-focusing may have a bad reputation thanks to disappointing implementations on DSLRs with Live View, but here it’s as quick as the best compacts, snapping the subject into focus as quickly as phase-change systems do on budget DSLRs, while also boasting broad 23-area coverage and face detection that’s actually usable.

Whether that's good enough for your needs I can't say. If it is then the GH1 would seem the better option for you but before you get too far down the decision making process I'd advise getting down to a store and spending some time with your candidates. If you are lucky and take appropriate memory cards with you the store might even let you take a few trial shots which you can take home and examine in detail.

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

If I wanted video, at the moment I would of gone for the canon 7D and looking at what cameras you choosing from. think that one matchs what your looking for the best

_________________
Canon 50D, EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS, EF 50mm f1.8, SlingShot 100,
MyFlickr

Thank you guys for the replays, and for confusing me even more
I was really hoping you would guide me towards the gh1,
As I was 75% closed on this, but now I'm So confused,

one thing I will defiantly do is listening to Bob and go down to b&h tomorrow and take a look at both,

Thanks

Define "best video possible in a camera"; specifically, does that mean you require AF while shooting? e.g. will you be shooting video of your kid as s/he rides a bike down the street? If so, then yes, the GH1 is for you.

>"[GH1] has 3.0 fps only,it is not good for fast moving shots"

True. But your kid is gonna have to ride that bike pretty darned fast in order for the extra 5 fps of the 7D to make difference.

>"[GH1] not a real SLR so my question how of a better of photo will it it give then the small point and shoot cameras"

Depends on what you're taking pictures of. Pretty much any camera can take decent pics of a static subject in broad daylight. (e.g. your family posing in front of the Grand Canyon.) But once you start to add movement and/or decrease light levels--e.g. your kid ice skating (at night) in front of the Christmas lights at Rockefeller Center--a camera with a larger sensor will definitely have an advantage over a camera with a smaller sensor. So, for a comparison of sensor sizes:

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutori ... r-size.htm

While the red/navy APS-C boxes are indeed larger than the green 4/3 box, note how much larger they both are in comparison to the tiny light blue/purple/yellow boxes that represent the sensors in compact cameras. (Note: the 1/1.7 sensor of Canon's low-light leading compact G11 would be roughly halfway between the light blue 2/3 box and purple 1/2 box.)

Having said all of that, also keep in mind that the GH1's kit lens adds substantially to both the size and weight of the total package.

HTH - Mark

Maestro, thanks for breaking it down so cleverly, and clearing my mind up,



Yes that's exactly what i need it for, kids riding bike, jumping dancing around,
although i will be taking sometime photos on the track, but that will be maybe 2-3 times a year, not something i wanna think now, might cost to much, just the thinking javascript:emoticon(':)')



doesn't all the SLR add have this same problem, at least here with the GH1 the total body, lens kit, will be substantially lighter then any SLR making it more family friendly.

thanks to you, and other very good reviews i have read since my first post, I'm now 99% closed on the GH1,

that's of course after comparing in store to the D7,

thanks so much.

Generally speaking, the more predictible the action location of a sport--i.e. if it follows a course/track--the easier it is to get by without a fast burst mode. Granted, a fast burst mode can still help when you want to capture, say, the spilt second that the nose of an Indy car crosses the row of bricks, but... well, they're not sports, but since they did require a bit of timing, maybe a couple of examples will help (assuming I can get the links right); I didn't have any problems capturing the following with my GH1, and this was in single-shot mode (unretouched jpegs, just resized for posting, straight from the camera):







Yes, adding a telephoto zoom lens will increase the size and weight of most DSLRs, and the GH1+kit lens will still be smaller/lighter than most DSLRs when equipped with a similar telephoto zoom. But percentage-wise, since the GH1 body is so small and light (which is one of the strong points of the m4/3 system), the 14-140mm kit lens adds a larger proportion of the total package (to the point that some folks feel that the camera is too unbalanced). So I just wanted to make sure you were aware that, with the kit lens attached (as opposed to, say, the 20mm "pancake") the GH1 is no longer comparable to a pocketable "compact" class camera (like Canon's G11, for example).

And you're quite welcome - Mark

thanks guys got today my GH1 and I'm very happy,

.
Great news - congratulations.

And I hope you'll find time to share your thoughts in the Panasonic, and other appropriate, sections. Don't forget our December On Assignment has just opened as well.

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Congrats on your new camera -- the GH1 is a nice packaging of the micro Four Thirds sensor, and implements video extremely well.

_________________
Olympus e-620 / 14-42mm / 40-150mm
Metz 48 AF-1
Kata 3-N-1 20, LowePro Orion Mini, LowePro Nova 2
My Flickr