New Panasonic GF1 camera and lens

It's an exquisite day here in Southern Spain. Sun, blue skies and a gentle breeze. My visitors are having a picnic on the beach at Salobrena today. I explained I couldn't make it because of my work load, so while they're away I'm using my precious time to browse a few web sites and have a nap.

This has caught my eye!
Photo blogs are awash with news of the new Panasonic GF1 camera and lens.

I'm usually underwhelmed by small digital cameras, but this one, and in particular, the lens, look very interesting to me. The magic number on the front of the lens is "1.7 ", this refers to the aperture (opening, for light to enter), and 1.7 is a wide aperture and lets in a lot of light. More importantly, from a creative point of view, a wide aperture allows you to control blur.

Blur is very important to me, it's just as important as sharpness, let me explain. As with all things in life you must have contrast, think of food and how we combine tastes. Wouldn't it be boring (and unhealthy), to eat just meat? So we add contrasting flavours with vegetables, seasoning and sauces. Then we contrast the savoury with sweet for desert. Of course the greatest contrast awaits us all at the end of this life, I don't have to go into detail.

Contrast is also one of the elements of good design, and in photography, sharpness against blur is a powerful form of contrast and can give a photograph an edge, but blur is expensive. This combination of camera and lens is priced at $900.

The camera is not for me because I live in the sun, I need a viewfinder, but still that's a very nice lens.

Sample image courtesy of Photography Blog