Panasonic Lumix GF1 + 20mm f1.7 ASPH circa 2009—still a Beautiful User.
I watch with amusement the rediscovery of image making with 20-something-year-old point-and-shoot cameras. Celebs, GenZers and Influencers are rooting through eBay and their grandparents' desk drawers in search of an authentic PowerShot, EasyShare, Cyber-Shot, or CoolPix experience, bolstered by social media snappers using these older tools to tell their stories today. Bravo! The best camera is the one in your hand, as the saying goes.
Lumix GF1 20mm ASPH f2.8 1/2000th ISO 100
The trend reminds me that good tools still have teeth, when cared for and used judiciously; that you don't need to forever chase pixels, sensors and software to create work that communicates your vision. So I'll probably chew through another dozen memory cards before I part with my Panasonic Lumix GF1 from 2009. It was the third member of the Four-Thirds G-line from the brand, supports a wide range of lenses and mounts (I have used both Nikon and Leica glass on the camera) and, crucially, shoots RAW files. Autofocus is always an adventure, the battery lames out early, and card read/write is unspectacular.
Lumix GF1 20mm ASPH f2.8 1/1250th ISO 125
I use the tilting Lumix DMW LVF1 electronic viewfinder for better aim—the line resolution feels like watching an old Trinitron. This compact EVF gives the rig a better feel for street shooting at odd angles.
Lumix GF1 20mm ASPH f2.8 1/1250th ISO 160
Lumix GF1 20mm ASPH f2.8 1/320th ISO 100
The GF1's chief attraction, though, is its tiny dimensions, about the size and heft of a deck of cards, and the 20mm f1.7 Lumix ASPH lens keeps the package thickness to a minimum.
Lumix GF1 20mm ASPH f2.8 1/125th ISO 100
Only a year later the Fujifilm XT line would figure out how to jam triple the power into something just as compact. These days I shoot on a number of platforms, but always with me as a wandering fellow traveler is the 14 year old GF1—a coat-pocket friendly camera with tight specs that still shoots fantastically well, even for 2023.