Phil Askey's review of the Panasonic L1

[tomcat]

dpreview has just posted a full review of the Panasonic L1.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicdmcl1/

Given the general lack of enthuiaism for the Four-Thirds system in his previous reviews of the Olympus DSLRs, this seems to be a rather favourable review I must say.

He had carried out a rather detailed test of the Leica 14-50mm kit lens as well in this review and compared this lens very favourably with the ZD 50mm and found that "the Panasonic / Leica lens shows better contrast with darker blacks and very slightly better defined detail in certain places. Combine this comparison with the our other lens test results and the fact that it has image stabilization and it's clear that this lens is in a class of its own"
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pana...cl1/page20.asp

His observations on the comparison between the 2 lenses seem to be quite similar to those of my own comparison done last Oct.
http://www.mytikas.org/portal/viewtopic.php?t=519

[cjtune]

Hmmm... noted some possible radio frequency interference image artifacts too (translated: banding) with a slightly more underexposed test shot -and it's mild- and that the high ISO reduction algorithm in the L1 is more pleasing than the E-330's.

[drakon09]

Lens marked with Leica mah....

Everyone wants one.

[microcosm]

But lately, the more I look at vibrancy versus accuracy... I start to think a lot more about which is a better investment.

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by microcosm But lately, the more I look at vibrancy versus accuracy... I start to think a lot more about which is a better investment.

So what does this mean? Who has more 'vibrancy' and who more 'accuracy' ?

[Blu-By-U]

I would want both. A camera which gives me a vibrant and yet accurate picture.

[drakon09]

Originally Posted by Blu-By-U I would want both. A camera which gives me a vibrant and yet accurate picture.

Shoot RAW.

[NMSS_2]

did anyone notice the differences between
1) pana with 14-50 vs pana with 50mm shots
2) pana with 14-50 vs oly e-330 with 50mm shots.

all i can say is thanks Phil for confirming my doubts!

[tomcat]

I think that's because of the differences in jpeg in-camera processing algorithms between the 2 camera bodies. Phil Askey had already said that the default sharpness of the L1 jpeg engine is too soft and the colours are more natural (in other words, less punchy).

Also, the E-330 was for some unknown reason set to Vivid colour mode in his test which makes the colours produced by the E-330 even more saturated compared to those of the L1. He also stated that "the E-330's image which in places looks superior from a detail point of view but in others looks slightly over-processed with some clipping and jagged artifacts visible on the paperclips crop."... in other words, the E-330 processes the jpeg more aggressively than the L1.

I actually don't particularly agree with him though that the colours from the L1 are more conservative but that could be because I practically shoot exclusively in RAW and processes using SilkyPix 3 which to me produces more vibrant (but still natural looking) colours than if I were to use ACR. And I like the colours I get from the L1 so much that unlike Phil, nowadays the L1 somehow always ended up as... (to paraphrase Phil's statement in his conclusion) "my immediate choice when I just needed to 'grab a camera' for a snapshot".... and this despite the fact that I find the Live View of the L1 next to useless compared to that of the E-330.