...of course you can hand-hold THIS !

...this is the Panasonic GM-1 with the 100~300mm (200~600mm FOV) lens...and, as previously written in other blogs, very clumsy to hand-hold with a large lens...WRONG !!! ...I actually found this combo very easy to hand-hold...just cradle the lens in the left palm and bingo...start shooting... ...the GM-1 has received rave reviews primarily because it uses the same sensor/process engine as the acclaimed GX7...and the body is super TINY...so why not couple the smallest body with a huge lens...makes perfect sense to me ! ...so off I went to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keensburg, Colorado...first the disclaimers...this is not a ZOO, the bright sun is intense with no-shade, and you are walking on a raised walkway approx 25 feet above ground level, wild animals tend to SLEEEEP endlessly... and other than that it was a beautiful day... ...the GM-1 does NOT have a built in EVF, so mix with bright sun and it was workable but not ' a walk in the park ' the GM-1 is being superceded by the GM-5 in November...the GM-5 is to be the successor to the GM-1 and the GX-7...the GM-5 still uses the same sensor/engine as the GX-7 but will pick up a built in EVF and Flash Hot Shoe for external flash/triggers...while maintaining the same style body with only a hair's increase in overall size...hmmmm, I think this may be on my shopping list... ...enjoy the pix...these are not the greatest, but will suffice for a GM-1 test at 600mm !!!