Toronto Photography Meetup Group

So basically my dad has a few Leica M lenses that he's been itching to use for a while now. We obviously can't afford to buy an M8 or M8.2, so we were looking at the G1 and the E-P1 and adapters to use the M lenses.

Right now, there are two decisions that need to be made... Whether to get the G1 or the E-P1 and what adapter to get.

In terms of the body, my father is leaning toward the G1 because it seems the overall more complete camera. The lack of a VF in the E-P1 will make it harder for my father to compose shots as he's not used to composing on the LCD. Really, though, the form factor of the E-P1 is really attractive, regardless of people saying that after mounting a lens it is not much smaller than the G1. Does anyone have any experience with these two cameras and which they would recommend?

In addition, my father is really thinking of making this purchase so he can use some of his M lenses on a digital body without having to purchase the M8(.2). We've looked at some adapter and it seems the Novoflex adapters seem to be quite popular. Are there other adapters that you guys would recommend?

Thanks!

Well, you should decide a camera not only on specs (whether or not a camera has a viewfinder), but actually trying the camera out for YOURSELF (or fatherself) and how it FEELS.

It's like comparing a motorcycle with a sportscar, and trying to decide between the two just because one of them is missing two wheels!

Right, I understand that. At the same time though, there may be certain things you can't really tell from holding/trying out the camera. I guess I'm really just looking for comments on others' experiences with the cameras and hopefully also with the adapter and how the overall camera performs...

Does he know about the 2x crop with the M lenses on the M43 bodies?

Another way to go is to get a used Epson RD-1 which is a rangefinder exactly in the style of the Leica M film bodies he's probably used to. It's got a 1.5 crop which is less of a compromise.

Used M8s are almost in reasonable price territory. I'd just get a M8.

I personally use G1 with M mount and Canon FD mount lenses, all manual focus. When I compose/focus scenes or stationary objects, the LCD is more than enough. But the LCD is always on the swivel mode for me when I do this, much like a waist level finder style. When I compose/focus moving objects the EVF is easier for me since I can follow things more easily with the camera stuck on my face.

Having said that, he should just go to a shop and try out both. The kit lenses can be used manually as well so he can test out what manual focusing is like on both.

As for adapter, I use an eBay chinese one which was the cheapest and it works perfectly fine for me.

But really, the used RD-1 does seem to be the most sensible approach if he's trying to use his lenses with a digital body and he'll be accustomed to the usage as well. Price of used RD-1 shouldn't be too far off the sticker price of G1 or E-P1.

IMHO the G1 is the better shooting camera for manual focus lenses. You get a viewfinder AND an LCD which is flip-out, and both are higher resolution than the E-P1's 230k LCD. It's much easier to focus with the higher-resolution displays on the G1 without relying on the zoom MF assist.

I regularly shoot with rangefinder lenses on the G1, they handle quite well. Note that some wide angles (28mm and wider) get 'corner smearing' on m43 cameras because the rear element is too close to the sensor. This is design-dependent so not all RF wides have this problem.

The G1 also wins on price. The G1 with kit lens is around $100 cheaper than the E-P1 body-only.

Thanks for the advice!

Just one more question, mawz. What adapter are you using to use the rangefinder lenses on the G1? Wha would you recommend? My father and I have looked at the novoflex adapter

I have the Novoflex. Avoid it, it's both the most expensive and the most poorly designed of the widely available adapters. While it works, the finish is poor and the release tab is uncomfortably small. I'd order the Voigtlander adapter from Cameraquest.com if I was buying again.

I haven't seen anyone mention the fact that the E-P1 has in-body IS, whereas the G-1 does not. This is the primary reason I bought an E-P1 after having returned one for a GH-1 - I wanted the IS for playing with various alt lenses. I prefer the overall shooting experience of the GH-1, though.

Body IS is quite a nice feature. My experience having owned several body-IS cameras (K100D, K10D, E-30) is that the easier focusing due to the higher-resolution displays and better ergonomics of the G1 outweigh the advantage of the E-P1 even in low light. This is because you can get a much more solid shooting position with the G1 than with the E-P1 due to the EVF (for a standard 2 hand plus face brace) or using the flip-twist LCD as awaistlevel and gut/lap/beerpodding the G1. The freehand position necessary to use the E-P1 properly is much less stable and pretty much makes the body IS necessary to get similar results to the G1 in low light. A G1-style body with body-IS would be better than either current option for low-light shooting.

Thanks for the advice, guys.

My dad ordered the G1 and the panasonic adapter and we're just waiting for it to get to the store