Kruger Park gives the Pana GX7 and 100-300mm a workout

A recent trip to Kruger National Park in South Africa gave me a chance to really test out the GX7 and to make some conclusions about which features I like and don't like.

The camera was a joy to use. It fit my hand well and I didn't feel the need for a thumb rest. All the controls were where I needed them and I could work the camera in total darkness. I used the electronic shutter almost exclusively and grew to love it. The shutter was quiet enough not to attract attention on bush walks,  and I believe I got sharper results with it. The electronic shutter only allows a maximum ISO of 3200 and there were times when I needed all the sensitivity I could get. I set the fn2 button to change between electronic and focal plane shutter.

When I could, I rested the camera on a beanbag on the car's window sill. The tilting LCD and EVF really came in handy there. My only real gripe was that the camera won't stay in EVF mode. Even if you press the EVF button, it still reverts to LCD if the camera is turned off or goes to sleep. I wound up using the LCD a lot more than I wanted to in fast-changing situations.

I bought the Panasonic 100-300mm f/4-5.6 for the trip, expecting to sell it when I came home. I had so much fun with it I've decided to keep it. The lens is reasonably compact, handles well, and is very sharp. Here it is wide open in fairly low light: (All photos are JPGs from RAW originals.)

300mm f/5.6  1/400 ISO 1600 in deep shade, beanbagged

Here it is hand-held at f/5.6:

300mm f/5.6  1/500 ISO 1250 handheld

I used it almost exclusively on center focus with the smallest focus spot and that worked well in focusing on the subject I wanted in focus. The only problem was holding the spot where I wanted when focusing hand-held at 300mm.

300mm f/6.3  1/500 ISO 320 hand held

If the subject was partly hidden behind trees or grass, I slipped it into manual focus mode and got sharp focus where I wanted it. The magnified focus area and focus peaking really helped. It is slow focusing manually at telephoto range and I missed a few shots. Still, I was the only one in the vehicle getting in-focus pictures.

300mm f/7.1  1/500 ISO 5000 supported by my hand on the window sill

We did a couple of night drives and the camera had decent results. Neither my 45-150 or 100-300mm lenses are very low-light friendly but I got better results than I feared. Focus was quick and accurate at the light levels you see here.

100mm f/4  1/20 ISO 3200  camera supported on the back of the seat in front of me, shooting through the windshield

100mm f/4  1/200 ISO 5000 beanbagged

In summary, the GX7 is a sweet piece of gear and I had a ball using it. I expect to keep it for a long time.