Goodbye G1 and thanks to the Forum

[Steve L]

Well, I had a G1 until yesterday....now I have a D30. Thanks to the forumites for a lot of great info that would have been impossible to get any other way!!!!!

G1 loves:
It felt like my Leica in my hand (used only a Leica M4-P for the last 25 years)
It took pretty good pictures
It was priced reasonably
User interface was well thought out

G1 hates:
The viewfinder was useless... had to compose in the LCD, it felt more like a view camera! (LCD was great, but still need a viewfinder!)
Chromatic aberration (purple trees!)
No straphook! (had a G1 handle on order from U-no....)

The viewfinder one was the killer....the D30 LCD can't be used for preview, but I don't miss it.....

[Pekka]

Don't forget to write your first impressions on D30 to D30 forum! What lens do you have in your bag?

[Steve L]

Oh, by the way, the speed (ISO 50 on the G1 is similar to 200 or even 400 on the D30!) adn the smoothness of the pictures had a little bit to do with it.

Lenses:
I studied every Forum and newsgroup, and the resolution charts, and the customer responses, and then talked to my friend Howard, who said, "Well, there are lots of good lenses, but if you want them to *feel* like your Leica, you'll only get "L" glass....". It is true of the Leica - you can spot a Leica picture even in a bunch of 8x10's, and much more so for larger prints....it is both resolution and some semi-intangible factor that makes the picture "pop".
so, I sold my Leica and went for the 17-35L 2.8, 28-70L 2.8. and 70-200 4.0, all at once. The pocketbook will be thin for a while! I went for the 4.0 in the long one because, with the multiplier, the 28-70 is a 46-110, and will be the portrait lens. Therefore the big one didn't need a shallow DOF, and the 4.0 is half the weight and price - so I don't mind carrying it around all the time. I don't use filters (hate the flare and reflections they bring), so the odd size wasn't a problem./
And, of course, I'm loving the D30 - it makes switching from a Leica not such a hardship!