When I was framing this shot in the GH2’s EVF, I looked at the shadows in the lower right and left and saw nothing but black. I thought there was nothing there, but I snapped anyway. Imagine my surprise then when I viewed the file in LR and saw all sorts of nice shadow detail! You’ll have to take my word for it, as Flickr has managed to sink the shadows into oblivion. On my Apple Cinema Display, you can clearly see the manhole cover and other street markings.
The lesson? The EVF doesn’t have the dynamic range of the sensor.
Another thing to note is the depth of field on this. Nearly everything is in focus. This was the GH2 with the 20 F1.7. Settings were ISO160, F4.0, 1/2000. Now here’s the thing. The Panny’s fastest shutter speed is 1/4000. That’s just one stop away from this shot. And ISO160 is base ISO. So if I wanted to increase DOF, the only lattitude I have is one stop – F2.8 @ 1/4000. That’s it.
What kind of DOF will I have at F2.8 in a shot like this? Much less than 4.0? Probably not. I might be able to create some if I placed a subject in the near foreground and focused on it/them, but other than that, F2.8 on an M43 sensor in a shot like this is likely to result in a shot with plenty DOF. Like a point and shoot. Hmmmm…will I have to carry around ND filters with this camera?