Panasonic GX7 Three things I wish I knew, before buying.

Bobby Rue Goldberg said:

BushmanOrig said:

When I read about the camera I thought this might be that final one package deal I can take with me....

To read this kind of feedback is really disappointing both in terms of the lack of being honest in reviews and for Panasonic to not get it right, one would really think they have learned better by now......maybe they should go back selling TV's

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Jacques Cornell said:

vakhariasb said:

So, yesterday, I got the camera from my friend. Took a few photographs there and then - and then played around during the night at home.

Initial impressions:

1. Camera is heavier than what I expected.
2. Build quality seems to be very good (I am upgrading from TZ5)
3. Missing zoom a bit, since I had 10x earlier.

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Panasonic makes a good 14-140 zoom.

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Jacques Cornell said:

Jacques Cornell said:

1. Image quality in low light is better than TZ5, but when I tried to photograph my kid who was swaying from left to right while reciting a poem, I noticed that the sharpness was less. This was indoors only with some tubelight.

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Your shutter speed is probably too slow. Try setting to shutter-priority and set a shutter speed at or above 4x the focal length. For faster action, go 8x.

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Jacques Cornell said:

Jacques Cornell said:

1. Lots of options, lots of modes. Quite overwhelming for a newbie like me.

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Yes, but worth the time to explore and configure settings to match the way you like to work. I'm a long-time pro who's used to customizing camera settings, but it still took me a few hours over several days to understand what all of the settings to and to find a config that works the way I do. I really like the final result, though.

Jacques Cornell said:

1. WiFi is a pain! Managed to transfer 15 photos somehow from the camera to my mobile (via the WiFi connection at home. Direct does not seem to work. The Image app on the Android playstore is probably buggy and cannot find the camera. Sending photos on my Panasonic Viera was easier. However, I could not figure out how to set the camera to autoplay. I need to keep swiping on the camera for the picture on the TV to change. Since WiFi inside the camera has poor range, I cannot bring it close to the living room where the TV is kept. I am running version 1.3 of the camera firmware.

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Wifi works reliably with my iPhone 5 up to at least 25'. That's "direct".

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Jacques Cornell said:

Jacques Cornell said:

1. NFC: Does not work with my Droid Maxx.
2. EVF: There is diopter slider - I moved it from left to right and the view inside improved dramatically. So, no issues on EVF for me.
3. Using a 32 GB card (Class 10, perhaps, but not sure), taking photos quickly, it runs out of buffer I think and take a while to write in case I try to switch off the camera.

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I never run into this, and I shoot fast, but I also use 600x UHS-1 cards.

Jacques Cornell said:

1. The 20 mm F1.7 lens is quite small.
2. The touch screen is very very fluid - best I have used on anything other than a mobile. 5/5
3. Trying to figure out about how to get a bokeh effect with the iA mode. Sometimes I do get the blurred background, but sometimes I don't.

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Switch to aperture-priority mode and set a wide (small number) aperture.

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Jacques Cornell said:

Jacques Cornell said:

1. The 20 mm lens keeps hunting for focus and keeps making some noises, even if I simply move it to keep it on the table. How do I prevent it from doing this automatic focus on a continuous basis. I don't mind doing a half-press when I actually want to take a photo. This lens behaviour is probably not good for the battery, I suppose.

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Sounds like you've got Quick AF (QAF) turned on. This setting is on page 2 of the Custom menu. This forces the camera to continuously adjust focus as it moves about, even if you don't touch the shutter button or even intend to make a photo. The idea is that it focuses as you point the camera at your subject and so should be ready to shoot that much quicker. The impact is that it's refocusing all the time, causing unnecessary wear on the AF motors and draining the battery. I leave this turned off. AF is so quick when I tap the shutter button that I see no point to this "feature".

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Jacques Cornell said:

Jacques Cornell said:

I will share more experiences. Now, I need to save for some zoom lens for next year and buy a small compact bag/ cover just for the camera and the 20 mm lens fitted on the body.

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--
The way to make a friend is to act like one.
www.jacquescornell.photography

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Jacques Cornell said:

Ontario Gone said:

Pedagydusz said:

You will be pleased, it is a very good camera!

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Indeed. In fact, I sold it not long ago as I wanted a DSLR for better tracking (the only real weakness of the GX7 and many other MFT offerings) but I miss the features so much that I am planning to buy another, likely in the next month. I will just keep a two system setup, my GX7 will be used for everything that isn't tracking intense, and my D7k for the times when it is.

Here is one of the many shots I have kept from my GX7.

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It seems like the GX7 is a bit of a sleeper. It got some love when it first came out, but then the E-M1 stole the spotlight, and Panasonic been marketing heavily to the video crowd with the GH4 and the casual crowd with the LX100 & GM5. The GX7 gets so little attention these days, it's a bit baffling. In my view, it's a bit like a Leica rangefinder or my old beloved Contax G2 (for years I pined for a digital G2) - small, very high quality, superbly configured for ease of use. Not outwardly impressive, but solid, no-nonsense and empowering. Panasonic really sweated the details on the UI. They only dropped the ball on the rearward placement of the shutter button (which I thought might bother me but doesn't) and the 16:9 aspect ratio of the EVF (which doesn't bother me but could be better). It's a great carry-everywhere camera, and it's got the guts to handle professional work well. Also, the left-corner placement of the EVF makes it that much easier to use TouchPad AF (brilliant!). People who are devoted to making pictures seem to love it, but gear heads are more impressed by the bigger cams. Go figure.

I sure hope Panasonic keeps a body with this form factor in their lineup. A handful of minor tweaks would make it perfect. Bigger 4:3 EVF, slightly deeper grip with a more forward shutter button, rear buttons that are more raised and easier to find by touch and harder to press accidentally, moving the playback and display buttons to the bottom where they'll be out of the way, auto ISO in manual mode, and a fully articulated rear screen would prompt me to replace my G6 with a GX8 in a heartbeat. Weather sealing and DfD AF would be icing on the cake. I wouldn't mind if the body got a tad thicker, as I'll probably wind up with a GM5 as well for ultralight carry, unless we get an LF2 with a better lens. I'll be keeping my GX7 for a long time. My G6 is a perfectly usable camera, but I always reach for the GX7 first. It's just one of those cameras that feels so right.

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vakhariasb said:

This morning, I clicked few more photos and tried to see if my Droid Maxx can connect to the phone and get the photos quickly. I had already saved the connection as a favourite yesterday.

So, I launched the Image App on my Droid Maxx and also enabled WiFi by pressing the function button on the camera. Selected the saved favourite connection and it picked up the connection quickly.

Photo transfer takes more than a few seconds - perhpas 7-8 seconds for each JPEG file (8 MB).

I can select 30 photos maximum - manually.

Now, I would like to share some photos to understand how to improve them and get some feedback. Which is the best place to upload those 8 MB files?

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