Important settings are quick to access and controls are placed conveniently. Taking long to start up, focusing slowly, slow to react to commands, long shutter lag, poor ergonomics, and often all of the above. There have been a number of small digital cameras with good image quality before the GF1, but their Achilles heel has always been the handling. Though like with the LX3 I do wish they’d skipped the cheap looking chrome accents. It’s not quite as good looking as the beautiful Olympus E-P1/2/3 but has a nice understated, almost utilitarian, charm to it. Not needing to have it glued to your face probably helps as well. I find it much easier to get natural, more relaxed, expressions with the GF1 than the 5D. It’s low weight also helps it to stay almost invisible when not in use (the body weighs 285g compared to 810g for the 5D MkII or 585g for the Leica M9).Īnother, very nice side effect of the more compact dimension is that it’s much less imposing when photographing people. Pretty much half the size of the 5D Mk II, smaller still than the famously compact Leica M cameras, the GF1 is about the ideal size – small enough to always be with you without getting in the way, but big enough to grip and control comfortably. The GF1 is the first digital camera to arrive at that sweet spot, and does so in a fantastic manner turning it into something of a modern classic. A sweet spot between the three haven’t really existed since the analog era. You’ve only had the choice of extremes – small, with dubious handling and image quality – or – good handling and image quality in a huge body. In the digital realm it’s been even more evident. You can’t really have one without compromising the other. Could it be? A digital Leica facsimile for the everyman? Image quality without compromise in a small, light and well handling package at a reasonable price? The perfect everyday camera?Ĭompactness, handling and image quality are each others enemies when it comes to camera design.

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