porto street shooting

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Rua São Filipe de Nery
(The foldable floppy brim hat)

Trivia (CXXIX) - The amazon review

This 14mm f2.5 lens comes with a bonus: A FREE CAMERA (that's actually a joy to use).

First, let me put my purchase in perspective: I wasn't even looking to buy the GF2, however, this kit was the most affordable way for me to acquire the 14mm f2.5 lens (and the only way I knew of to acquire that lens in solid matte black as opposed to the usual two-tone black/gray). While I'm pleased enough with my new lens, I'm utterly blown away by the GF2.

This camera reviewed average (at best) when it was released nearly four years ago (in 2010). Most criticism stemmed from the fact that the GF2 had fewer direct control points that the model it replaced (the GF1). I fear a great disservice was done to this model, seeing how well it's withstood the test of time. It's built like a tank, captures fantastic images (provided you have reasonable expectations for low-light performance) and is sized perfectly for street photography or reportage (situations where a full-size camera may not be discreet enough). Sure, its touchscreen's interface isn't perfect -- being a resistive touchscreen, there's no support for multitouch input (e.g. pinch-to-zoom, two-finger swipes, etc.) -- but it's more than adequate and gives the intended audience quick access to all the GF2 offers.

By no means is this the best micro four thirds body on the market -- if you're considering this as your point of entry into the platform, I'd look elsewhere (my primary body is the Panasonic GH3 and shooting on it is a joy). However, if you're looking for a great value in a second body, the GF2 is a solidly built little performer. And it comes with a great lens to boot (at my time of purchase, this kit was $20 less than the cost of the 14mm f2.5 lens by itself)!

Hound, J. 2014. "This 14mm f2.5 lens comes with a bonus: A FREE CAMERA (that's actually a joy to use)". amazon.com/, [site] July, 17th Available at: http://goo.gl/SGa64x [Accessed: 28 Feb 2015].