Bought a Lumix GF1 with the 20mm pancake. I've been playing with it for about 3 hrs - here are my initial impressions, understanding that in no way was I expecting this little thing to compete with my a700:

PROS

- Very fast. Autofocus is FAST, like almost SLR fast. Same with shutter response. There is virtually no lag. My a700 is still faster, but this thing is no slouch at all.
- LCD is gorgeous
- Menu is very intuitive. Very easy to set up the camera with all the settings you want.
- The 20mm f1.7 lens is quite sharp wide open
- The build is rock solid

CONS

- As of now, Aperture doesn't support the RAW format. Hopefully there will be an update soon. It does come with Sillypix, but I'm just not used to it and it screws up my workflow. I haven't decided whether to learn it in the interim, or just shoot JPG till the Aperture update comes.
- Continuous AF is not available with the 20mm pancake lens when shooting stills. There's a slight workaround - by using the focus tracking system - but I was a bit disappointed when I learned this. Not a show stopper there, I'm not exactly using this camera for action
- There is a customizable Fn button, but the choices are limited. I wanted it for Flash Exposure Comp - but its not avail for use - you have to dig into the normal menu to adjust it.
- there's no option to make the AE lock button also automatically select SPOT when you try to lock exposure, regardless of what metering mode you're currently in - my a700 does this and I love it for metering.

Bottom line - this ain't your mom's point and shoot. Its a mini-SLR, minus a few luxuries that I'm used to.





Here's a straight from Camera ISO800 JPEG - I've read that anything 800 and beyond was unusable - complete rubbish

 

Very interested in hearing more impressions and seeing more samples. This format has my interest..

 

whats the price tag on it?

 

Aside from portability, why would a person want to spend $900 on a digital camera that's not an SLR? Am I missing something?

 

900! JEEBUS!

 

why would someone buy a DSLR but never buy another lens?

 

Because the one lens does everything they need, at least temporarily (for example, a 28-135mm lens is pretty functional as a walk-around lens).

And you still didn't answer my question.

 

[QUOTE=JonBoy,Oct 28 2009, 06:34 AM] Aside from portability, why would a person want to spend $900 on a digital camera that's not an SLR?

 

You still haven't told me what this camera does as good as or better than an SLR that costs less, aside from portability.

Is this purely a response to people wanting a smaller camera with near-SLR capabilities?

 

If you're looking for someone to say that it focuses faster, has lower noise levels, wider range of available lenses, etc -- it's not going to happen.

You hit the nail on the head. This is format falls in the in-between size from the standard point and shoot and a DSLR. Not everyone enjoys hiking up a mountain with the 35lb gear bag, but as an enthusiast don't want to compromise their creative control and final product when they get there. The larger sensor enjoys all the properties that a larger sensor gains over the smaller formats in a body that isn't much larger if at all then a typical Canon G-series. "The sensor's area is about 30–40% smaller than the APS-C sensors used in most other DSLRs, but still around 9 times larger than the 1/2.5" sensors typically used in compact digital cameras."

Read more about the format here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Four_Thirds_system & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Thirds_system

It may not be for you, and that's ok, but it's pretty damn neat and to deny that is likely to not appreciate it's application.