Panasonic G3 Launched. Looking Good!

Cooooooool. Panasonic appears to finally have its noise problem fixed. I like my GF1 very much, but its got a motherhumper of a noise problem. By ISO1600, it's essentially useless. With the release of a new sensor and camera, Panasonic has finally closed the noise gap with Olympus.

Reviews at DPReview, Photography Blog, and ePhotozine all confirm that this is the best image quality of any Panasonic digital camera, and importantly, of anything Olympus is making. Granted, once Olympus gets its hands on the next generation sensors, the noise gap will likely reappear. It's also nice that the huge gap that existed between the new generation of APS-C cameras and 4/3's has lessened significantly. I look forward to the G3's DxOMark score.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem for 4/3's seems to still be in attendance: color saturation. At high ISO, saturation on these sensors just disappears. Fades and transitions into shadow still get pummeled. Regardless of that one issue, I can safely say that 4/3's is definitely the system of choice for family photography.

I have a feeling that this opinion will only strengthen when Olympus releases some new cameras later in the year. Olympus has fucked up a lot of their product mix, but the quality of their photos when comparing like-prices is beyond reproach.