Having used different 35mm film camera from Leicaflex and R4, to Contax G2, to Canon EOS DSLR, this is a nice comfortable small camera with almost all the features of the aforementioned cameras. I can use almost ALL my Leica lenses, as there are practically adapters for all the popular mounts (in manual modes only, of course). I don't miss my SLR anymore (okay, i still like my Leica!). In fact, with a full-size SLR lens, it actually feels comfortable with a hefty lens and the light camera body.The 12MP imager is much sharper than the 8MP in the EOS I was used to; and i always like the warm and vibrant color balance/tone of the Lumix processor. The pop-up flash is neat, and you can tug it to point it upward with you finger for bounce-flash (actually I learned this from an Olympus tech at a demonstration of the EPL2!) The 3-inch LCD is big and bright but if you have vision issue, manual focusing can still be a problem (same with any camera without a diopter-corrected viewfinder); but the Lumix electronic viewfinder may be helpful. The touch-screen is sensitive and menu selections are fairly intuitive (but i think the Sony NEX is even better in that department). The mechanical button to the right of the screen is well laid out and back up almost all the touch screen functions. There is, however, a tendency (especially when holding the camera with a heavier lens) to unintentionally press some of the buttons with your palm and pull up menus which then you have to get rid off before shooting maybe a "lock-out" option to disable the mechanical buttons would be helpful (there is one to disable the touch screen, I think but the manual is pretty skimpy on the options (i haven't checked the CDs that came with the kit to see if there is a more detailed digital version yet).
The camera is solidly built and the battery life is good (so far). The kit zoom is decent and versatile. All-in-all, the camera kit is a solid buy, especially @$499!
Let me start off by saying that the touchscreen is very responsive if you think of it as being like a Nintendo DS screen rather than an iPhone screen. In other words, a stylus works better than your fingertip. Or, you can be like me, slap an LCD screen protector on there and use your thumb nail. In fact, a little stylus in the shape of a soda can tab is included with this camera in the box. But I think it will be a little weird to have to start carrying around a stylus with your camera, though I admit, I keep a black Nintendo DS stylus in my camera bag.
If you have no interest in using a touchscreen, you can still navigate through the menus and do everything through the physical buttons. However, I highly suggest using the touchscreen. The physical buttons only have one function(fn) button, and it is tied together with the Quick menu button. You can decide whether to use this button as a fn or Q.menu button in the settings menu. If you use this button as a fn button, you can customize it to be a variety of things, I have my GF2 set to act as an Auto Focus/Auto Exposure lock button.
You can configure the touchscreen to have the Quick Menu button as a digital button instead. By doing this, you essentially allow your camera to have more buttons, which you will learn is one of many differences between a beginner camera and a more advanced camera. The Quick menu is a customizable, in that you can put whatever you want into it, from metering, auto focus settings, exposure, raw vs jpg, histogram, flash settings, etc etc. By using this feature, you allow your most common and favorite setting changes to be available to you at a push of a button, in comparison to trying to navigate through all of the screens in the normal menu.
The ability to configure this camera to act as either a more advanced camera or a beginner camera is really quite nifty. You can argue from a pro standing point though, that by having to press the Q.menu button to get to your favorite setting changes is an unnecessary step when compared to true pro cameras where a lot of these options are readily available as physical buttons on the body.
Another feature concerning buttons, though later proven to be sort of a fault to a lot of enthusiasts, is that the mode dial is digital. On the top-left of the LCD touchscreen, a small icon/letter is present when you want to take pictures. This is the new mode dial, what you would normally see as a wheel on the top of a camera with the letters P, A, S, M and other symbols depending on the camera you're looking at. You simply tap this digital button, then tap your desired mode (P, A, S, M, iA, My Color, Scene, Custom). I actually think it's pretty cool if you can familiarize yourself with using the touchscreen.
The touch screen also acts as a focusing tool. You can literally have two objects that are different distances from the camera and simply touch on them on your touchscreen and your camera will automatically focus on that subject. This works on video as well.
The last thing I want to touch base on concerning buttons is that the GF2 is still pretty pro-friendly. Don't believe people who review this camera that simply tried it out in the store. For instance, as far as a "lack of physical controls" there is still a thumb-wheel (more popular on advanced cameras), that acts as 2 wheels in one. You simply push the wheel, as if it were a button, in order to switch its function that you want to change. For example, in Aperture priority mode you can turn the thumb-wheel to adjust your aperture to your liking then push the wheel like a button and now you can adjust your exposure to your liking. This wheel has a very distinct clicking sensation while turning, each click being a displayed increase or decrease in incremental changes on your screen. It's actually pretty nice!
Another great thing about this camera is that the body is made of metal, it feels very sturdy and well built, "STRONG LIKE BULL!" However, I cannot say the same about the kit lens, which is made of plastic, even the mount is plastic, which when put onto the metal mount of the camera body, you are sliding/screwing plastic against metal... yuck! I plan on getting rid of this lens as soon as I can get an arsenal of primes that cover the range of the kit lens. --A 14mm 2.5 lens is dirt cheap on ebay, followed by a Leica branded 25mm and a Leica branded 45mm... though expensive, these are practically the cheapest way to afford Leica branded lenses. I just sort of wish they WEREN'T branded as Leica so as to lessen the cost even more, they're really nice glass!
The GF2 has a compact size, pocket-able with certain available lenses, I can actually fit this setup in my jacket pockets albeit someone always asks if I'm just happy to see them. Images come close enough to DSLR quality, considering its size. It has customizable menus, 1080 video, touchscreen, hot-shoe (for external flash or electronic viewfinder, both sold separately), and also a HUGE assortment of adapters that are available to use with lens other than the Panasonic Lumix lenses. You lose auto-focus when using an adapter for 3rd party lenses though, but there is a zoom feature for manual focus that helps a lot with this. In fact, this has become one of my favorite features. My fiance has an old Minolta camera (Minolta was right up there with Nikon and Canon back in its heyday), I purchased an adapter for about $20 on Amazon and now I can use MD mount lens on my camera. Even though it's manual focus, I am able to buy really fast lenses for dirt cheap. Tie that in with the fact the Micro Four Third cameras has a 2x crop factor, and this really pushes the limits of what this camera is capable of. For example, I just purchased a 50m/f1.7 Minolta lens for $23, this translates into 100mm/f1.7 (though DoF is also x2, it's still cool) on the GF2. There is no such thing as a 50mm/f1.7 @ $23, or any lens for this matter, for these cameras, the closest being the Olympus 45mm/f1.8 at $385! The Minolta 50mm/f1.4 is also availab on ebay for less than $100. On this note, this isn't just limited to Minolta lens, you can get a Canon or Nikon adapter and borrow lens from your DSLR when you don't feel like trekking around your 10lb camera. Another note here, when using a four-thirds lens (via adapter) the GF2 (and other MFT cameras) supports AF for the LATER Panasonic/Leica and Olympus four-thirds lens that have 'Contrast Detection Auto Focus' or CDAF.
Now, as far as third party lenses go, I also need to mention that you lose the image stabilization in Panasonic lenses. Panasonic implemented image stabilization into their lenses rather than their camera bodies for reasons unbeknownst to me. I cannot say for certain if the image stabilization in the Panasonic four-thirds lenses is compatible with GF2 (or any other Panasonic MFT camera). Theoretically, one would assume that it is, but I haven't actually tried it out yet nor have I heard or read anything about it either. Also, know that when using 3rd party lens, you aren't able to control the aperture of the lens through the camera, you'll be better off using a lens with an aperture ring. Another way around this is to lock the lens wide open on another camera before mounting it onto the GF2.
So what's NOT good about this camera? I've talked this camera up a lot in this post/review, but by no means do I think it's perfect, I just think that it hasn't had the recognition it deserves and that a lot of bad reviews (not necessarily Amazon) from people who don't even own the camera have made this camera seem pretty bad, when in actuality, it's pretty awesome. That, and people who don't get along with change, you know the ones I'm talking about... "Oh, I don't want to use a touch screen, I'm used to having 20 buttons on my camera and not have to look at it, now I have to go through the screen." Blah blah blah, these peoples parents and grand parents were complaining about cameras and TVs going to color from black and white, "but I already see in color, why would I want a color picture or watch color TV?" C'mon people, it's the FUTURE, embrace technology will ya? haha...
Anyways, the major drawback on the GF2 is low light. Seriously, it's like friggin' kryptonite to this thing. Especially with the super slow 14-42 standard zoom kit lens! Mixed in with the fact that with the shorter focal lengths of this lens, the flash doesn't even clear the lens's size! Seriously, take a normal picture at 14mm with this lens (preferably of a wall to really see what I'm talking about), and there's a quarter-circle of shadow in the lower right hand corner of the picture! Someone didn't really think this one through! The pop-up flash does have a pretty unique advantage above other cameras though (excluding the Panasonic's new GX1, which has a very similar flash) in that it can be held up with your finger and used as a bounce flash. But then again, the standard zoom lens is too slow/dark to be able to really benefit from it. And back to the whole "dim light" thing, this camera's high ISO capability is like taking a picture and printing it out on sand-paper. I use ISO 800 maybe once in a while for casual stuff with the kids and family, but if I'm trying to do some type of project or another, I won't go above ISO 400. And if I have a project at nightfall or in dim light, if it's not going to be a a sepia, BnW, or vintage project, FORGET IT! Get some flashlights and light up the place because this camera won't be capturing a salvageable image in the dark.
Now, as far as remedies go, don't forget that the camera has a hot-shoe. I'm planning on getting an external flash, Metz 58 AF-2, after I get some better glass. Also, did I mention that the standard zoom kit lens sucked, the first lens I have on order is the 25mm/f1.4, this lens should suck in MUCH more light for low light settings (the 20mm/f1.7 would probably suffice, but I don't want to end up buying 2 primes of similar/close focal lengths, in case it isn't enough). After trying out the new lens/flash, I'll see how this camera performs. The bad part about the flash though is that I lose some of the advantage of portability (I'll have to put the flash in another pocket, lol).
So, in conclusion. This camera isn't perfect. But for the price, you get a lot of bang for your buck. It's literally one of the cheapest interchangeable-lens cameras available. If money isn't a factor for you but you want this camera's benefits and the lens availability, I highly recommend getting Panasonic's new GX1. It performs much better than the GF2 in low light situations, and it has a PHYSICAL dial, YAY! Not to mention all of the on screen options listed here and then some. In all honesty, if the 25mm/f1.4 lens and flash doesn't help remedy the noise issue in the GF2, I'll be looking at the GX1 as an upgrade. But as far as this camera goes, it has a lot of pro features left from its predecessor, the GF1 and a lot of user-friendliness of its successor, the GF3; creating for a perfect hybrid between pro manual features and ease-of-use digital technology.Pros:
LCD has great color and viewing angles
Light
Stereo video
Hotshoe
Responsive touchscreen
Snappy startup
Dedicated movie button
Automatic image rotate
Flash is mechanically released; you can tilt it up for ceiling flash shots, which is nice
Surprisingly easy to grip (not great, but better than expected for the slim body)
Cons:
Menus a bit confusing
Lens is huge (this is excusable)
Thumbwheel is a bit stiff
Flash does not extend high enough to avoid 14-42mm lens; ergo, some shadow appears from the lens
Flash power is okay
Camera strap is generic and uncomfortable; plan on getting a better one
Some special color effects inhibit speed (only the really fancy ones, though)This camera is exactly what I have been looking for. The size of the camera is pocket-able (without the lens, but the lens can go in another pocket) and the image quality of the shots is certainly on par with mid level DSLR cameras in my opinion. I am not a very savvy photographer and am still learning about the many features and modes that professional digital cameras offer. I like this camera because out of the box it takes great shots and its lens is super fast. It is smaller than my old Olympus and around the same price of what I paid for it but the image quality, low light ability and HD recording is leaps and bounds above it. Plus it has a "one-button" recording button so you can quickly create a video.
Overall the 14-42 Leica lens set does its job and its a great starter lens kit. The only downside is that is is very big and the camera is not pocket-able with it on but as I stated you can separately take them in your jacket or pants/cargo pocket. I look forward to continue capturing the great moments with the quick lens and knowing the photos are much better than my old Kodak P&S and my Olympus EPL-1 which is still a great camera.This camera was a replacement for my already excellent Lumix DMC-FZ30K. I was so impressed with the photos that my FZ30 took, that I wanted to stick with Panasonic and give the DMC-GF2 a try. I knew that it was not a direct replacement, and wanted something more portable than a Canon T2i or Nikon D5100. The GF2 is amazingly portable, takes excellent sharp photos, it is fast, expandable, takes great 1080p videos, and just has that great Panasonic feel that fell in Love with on the FZ30. Yes, it does not have an APS-C sized sensor, but I cannot tell. Not a fan of the Sony NEX-3 after playing with it a few times, so I was worried that buying the GF2 might not fit my tastes. In my opinion, it is a much better camera. This camera feels like you are holding a miniature version of a classic 35mm camera, which I like very much. I would definitely say that choosing the GF2 over getting another super-zoom camera was a great choice. With the lens choices, and its compact format, it seems to be the better alternative. The GF2 is a very good enthusiast camera that takes great pictures and does not come with the bulk that you get with other DSLR camera choices.
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