I thought that some folks might be interested in my experiences with this camera on a 2 week Alaska trip. Given that this was a vacation, with photography playing second fiddle to enjoyment with my wife, I hesitated to take my Nikon D700 kit because of the bulk and weight. I got the G2 with the 14-42mm and 45-200 mm lenses, giving me the full-frame equivalent of 28 to 400mm (appx). These 2 Panasonic lenses are designed with the same filter size and reversible, snap-on lens hoods - very convenient. There's the added advantage of optical image stabilization, which turned out to be very useful in the low light conditions of the Alaskan rain forests. The tilt/swing LCD screen was very useful for overhead and ground-level shots. The controls are well laid out and easy to use, particularly the thumb wheel that sets exposure compensation, aperture, or shutter speed depending on mode. There is a small indent on the rear where your thumb is to go, but I did sometimes press buttons accidentally (I have big hands). All in all, a pleasure to use and easy to carry anywhere you want to go.
What about image quality? As you might expect, G2 images are not quite up to the quality of those taken with the D700 and high-end Nikkor lenses (the 2 cameras have essentially identical pixel counts). Lens sharpness is very good except for the 45-200mm where it suffers a bit at the long end. Noise can be noticeable at ISO 400 and above (subtle at 400, but still there). My feeling is that with careful post-processing I will be able to make good 16x20 prints from most images.
The battery will last for about 1/2 day of active shooting (100-200 images) so next time I will take a spare.
The camera and 2 lenses run $1000-1100. All in all, this is a well designed camera that is a great choice when you don't need ultimate image quality and want to travel light.
I'll post some images when I can.
