Originally posted by eddie1960 the lack of VF is a concern for me too, one of the reasons i don't have one. the Pana has an evf option, so does the ricoh GRD but then again we are in another league price wise. (that said I'd love a GRDIV even without the EVF - I have an outboard Optical for my RF that has the 28mm FOV option i could use - Rumours of a GRDV with 28mm equivalent that is apsc or m4/3 have been floating around due to a couple of patents filed by ricoh for 28mm equivalent lenses for those sensors - that could actually be my main daily shooter)
Believe me I went through all sorts of options/gesticulations in choosing a compact for my majority use - and other than the G12 - big brick - there were just
ZERO choices with OVF - I have managed to shoot with the lcd - but just do not like it - that's why my main camera is a dSLR using the OVF - it seems almost pointless to shoot with the lcd on those.
Anyway each to their own - I seem to be getting more than acceptable results with this $80 p&s with OVF -
so unless something comes along that's substantially better, and with OVF - I am stuck with this crippled shooter.
However looking at the pics posted - I would say they are as good and in some cases better than I have managed with the K-x - other than the true low available light stuff - I definitely get better flash shots with this cheapie.
How crippled is this?
28mm wide - wide open at f/2.8
overview shot (EXIF attached)
100% crops - as-is, no processing
center'ish
top left corner
top edge mid-point
top right corner
right edge mid-point
bottom right corner
bottom edge mid-point
bottom left corner
left edge mid-point
I would say this is pretty good performance for 28mm equiv wide-open at f/2.8
at almost any price .....
much less $80 for the entire camera.....
(I had heck of a time trying to line things up with a tripod - so in the end this is entirely handheld - so any fault may well be the shooter than the camera!
)