One thing that I’ve really taken a shine to is using manual focus lenses of all types with my Panasonic GH-1. As I’ve posted elsewhere, to me there’s something magical in the link between the physical act of focusing a camera, setting its aperture, and snapping the image. As of late, I’ve started drifting toward lower-light photography and although the GH-1 is a great camera, for my style there is something better.
One evening I opened my bag to pull out my Lumix GH1 and much to my horror, I found the camera strap lying at the bottom of the case! Inspecting the body more closely, I discovered that the camera strap lug had somehow fallen off the camera body. I picked up the camera, gave it a quick shake and lo and behold, there was a rattle inside. Alarmed, I did some emergency surgery.
Unlike the current crop of video-capable DSLR cameras from Canon and Nikon, the Panasonic Lumix GH1 with its micro 4/3 sensor allows, with an appropriate adapter, the use of virtually any lens — micro 4/3, 4/3, Canon EF, Nikon F, Leica R and M, 16mm film C-mount, etc. For lens junkies like me, this opens up a number of creative possibilities and now the folks at Hot Rod Cameras have come up with what could be the perfect filmmaker solution: a PL mount.
Saturday, August 15, 2009 | by Chad | tagged Camera, Film, GH1, Lumix, Micro 4/3, Photography, Technology, Television in Perspectives I've been settling in with my Lumix DMC-G1 and manual lens combination for a few months now, and have made some discoveries along the way. For the most part, I've been shooting exclusively with an f1.4 40mm Voigtlander Nokton in a Leica M-mount and the time has been wonderful. That said, owning a G1 and using manual lenses is a different kind of photographic experience and one that has, for me, become both a retro and instinctual excursion.
One of the things I’ve noticed with my Lumix G1/Leica M-mount lens combination is that the lens can “overfocus” at infinity. What that means is that I can’t simply rotate the lens focus ring on my Voigtlander 40mm Nokton to infinity and expect sharp images.
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