Better Digital Camera

The reason for all this clobber is that the next-but-one  issue of Better Digital Camera magazine (#36 - January) will have a video theme and we will be looking at combocams and how they can be used for good video production. The Panasonic 41E will serve as a reference as it's in the same price range as a decent combocam like the 7D, 5D2 and GH1 but is far less of a compromise with regard to handling. It has an excellent power zoom, proper manual focusing, a good EVF, a genuine time laspe facility and, surprisingly, is incredibly light.

The GH1 is interesting, I've only just unpacked it but it looks remarkably well made, handles well for such a tiny camera and has all the controls you could possible want. The lens is the equivalent of a 28-280 (!), the AF is very snappy and the stabiliser is amazing. At full zoom the image looks rock steady and I'm looking forward to seeing how this little camera behaves out in the real world.

I'll try and update from the ship  - at least to post a pic of a Komodo Dragon - but internet accesswill be intermittent and somehat expensive, so I'll see how it pans out