GX200: A SLR User's Verdict (Review 3 of 3)

The lens

The GX200’s lens has a very useful focal length of 24mm 72mm F/2.5 to 4.4. In terms of portability, and somewhat in speed, it is superior than my Minolta 24mm to 105mm F/3.5-4.5 (i.e. Sony SAL24105). It is proved in numerous online reviews that the GX200’s lens have suffered from only mild barrel distortion. Surely, for edge to edge sharpness, the proper Minolta lens is the winner. In a nutshell, GX200’s lens covers a useful range for landscape to portrait with an agreeable quality. I do not miss carrying about extra pounds of lens and the film camera for some extra image quality really.

The only lament I have for the lens is that it requires optional accessories to be able to put on filters (The GX200 has the handy colour tone function which works like colour filters though). I used the filters a lot with the Minolta lens. Unless I am ready to invest in a compact camera system, I do without the filters with the GX200 for the moment. But, again, in most cases, some extra time and effort in post processing can do similar tricks as if with filters.

Coveat Emptor

Compact cameras like the GX200 are versatile but is not invincible. There are some caveats about the GX200 as compared with my film SLR:

1) Unlike the G10 and LX3, the GX200 has no shutter priority mode. Although this can be worked around by using the M mode to adjust the shutter speed, this causes inconvinence in, say, syncing the flash to a desired shutter speed.

2) Depending on the aperture value, some shutter speed may not be available.

3) The auto-focusing speed is undesirably slow, obviously slower than with LX3 and G10. It is always possible to pre-focus. But when I played with the LX3 and G10, I wondered if pre-focusing was really necessary.

4) As compared with my Dynax 7, the GX200’s auto-focusing fails more easily for less contrasty subjects under brighter light (even though the subjects are surely contrasty enough for the Dynax 7).

5)This is with all good digital cameras: I have been taking more photos than I have ever imagined. It takes me more time to categorise and file them.

Closing Remarks

I like the GX200 for its great controls and the very useful focal coverage. It wins my heart over other comparable cameras primarily for its superb ergonomics. The light weight makes it a more preferable companion than a hefty SLR / DSLR. It has afforded me freer and less expensive possibilities to practise my creativity in photography, shooting photos of themes that I might not have tried with films. It has allowed me to enjoy my trips as a holiday-maker as much as a photographer.

That said, as a SLR user, I am neither content with a compact without a bright viewfinder, the possibility to use different lens without optional add-ons nor, at least for GX200, the slow auto-focusing speed. That was one of the reasons why I borrowed a 450D to play with some weeks ago just to compare, especially for some proper DSLR’s IQ at high ISOs.

Having used the GX200 for six months, I am more and more into the belief that DSLRs are to drift towards the small size of serious compacts, or, the other way round, the serious compacts should drift towards the sensor size of DSLRs. Exchangeable lens may not be necessary if I can be benefited from the portability of two compacts with a APS-sized sensor or larger, one on a 24mm to 72mm lens and another on a 75mm to 300mm. The wide angel lens should be as fast as from F2.0 up and the long focal ones from F3.5 up.

My last remark is that the next time I buy a camera, it would very likely be a lightweight DSLR unless a compact with the performance of a DSLR emerges then. For the time being, the GX200 will still be popular with me on the dance floor, being envied by the wallflower Dynax 7 I am afraid.

If you're interested to learn more about GX200, read here. The following are some of the photos taken with GX200 and posted on GX Garnerings.