My First Street Camera

The first camera I used for Street Photography was the very neat, light and portable Panasonic LUMIX G5. At 16MP and with the 14 42 kit Lens I set out in to the city and the unknown, with a piece of equipment I was to come to love. It was the first part of my 100 days in the city gig, and I wasn’t sure how a Panasonic would perform. But I was happily surprised. To be honest I was delighted.

A lot of people had written about the plastic feel, the lack of ruggedness, the fact Leica had helped them with the lens (this is a plus I would have thought) and the fact Panasonic were not really known for their DSRL’s (Although the GH series is great for video, not comparing it to a black magic), this is all you would want from a small compact street camera.

Irene from Korea in Malahide train Station

The Camera

For a start the built in stabilisation in the lens is a great help for a beginner. You have very good low light results, surprisingly good in fact, (ISO 12,800) and the camera itself could fit in to my large overcoat pocket with the Lens on! Not bad. You have a swivel screen at the back, and it is touch screen which is great. Attached are two photos taken with the LUMIX G5. Nothing done to them. I actually shot in monochrome a lot.

The last piece of advice an experienced photographer should really give an inexperienced one, is let the camera work for you. Put it on autofocus and learn from how the camera sets itself up.

• 16.05MP Live MOS MFT sensor

• 3in, 920k-dot free-angle touchscreen

• 1080p HD video capture

• 6fps burst mode

• ISO 160-12,800

Irish Dancers in Trinity College to Celebrate Boston V Georgia