Photo Expo - Pana and Oly booths

I went to a photo expo today hoping to get to handle a G7.  No such luck, but got to handle a few other items, and talked with a Panasonic Rep for a while.  Some tidbits:

G7:  He had hoped to have one there but it was apparently committed elsewhere.  He said he has been shooting with it for a few days and really likes it.  I asked about maximum ISO with e-shutter (a question someone else here has raised).  He didn't seem really certain but thought it is the same as the GX7 (which is 3200).  I asked about auto ISO in manual mode, and he thinks the G7 has that, but again he did not seem positive.

He did comment that he personally prefers the all black body to the black/pewter version, and that seemed to be not just because of color preference.  I think he said that the black top plate had, in his opinion, a better look/feel.  From the images I've seen, the black top looks a bit textured or mottled, while the pewter looks smoother, appearing to me to perhaps be more "plasticky."

He talked about 4k, I told him I don't shoot much video, and he described how he has used the pre-burst 4K mode on the G7 for his son's baseball games.  Instead of trying to time regular still shots to get his son hitting a pitch, he set the G7 up on a tripod aimed at the batter, and just activated the shutter when he heard bat hit ball, capturing the second before and after the shutter press.  He explained that in this mode, the camera is constantly buffering 30 frames, dropping the oldest one off as a new one is added, until the shutter is pressed.  He said it's a great feature for shooting kids or action.  Sounds pretty cool to me.

GH: He said the GH4 has been selling well and there wouldn't be a new GH anytime soon.

GM5: I handled the G5 for the second time, and I told him I'd like to buy one but I'm planning to wait for the price to drop.  He said it's been doing very well and I might have to wait quite a while.  He said this has been his main camera since it came out, but he may be switching to the GX8 when it is available.

General:  Take all of this with a grain of salt, as I'm not sure I heard it all right, or remember it all right, but he said that Panasonic is doing some interesting development work on image stabilization.  He didn't specify whether that is in-body or lens.  He also talked quite a bit about 4K, and at one point I got the impression (perhaps mistakenly) that he was talking about 4K and IBIS.  I mentioned that I have read posts online where folks say that you can't do 4K with IBIS.  He said, "With current technology, that's right."  He went on to talk about theoretical technological developments that could potentially allow 4K with IBIS.  At least, I think it was theoretical (he didn't say anything to suggest that this is imminent).

GX8:  I told him the GX7 is my favorite camera (I had it with me), and I asked him if he knew anything about the GX8.  He smiled and said, "I know everything about it but I can't tell you."  Nonetheless we continued talking, and though he was very circumspect, I could not escape the feeling that Panasonic is going to be unveiling some significant improvements with the GX8.  He said that he reads this forum and 43 Rumors, and that two things that a lot of people complain about are going to be addressed, and addressed well. I'm not sure if he was talking about two complaints specific to the GX7, or two complaints about MFT cameras in general.

I kept trying to feel him out.  Tying into our discussion of 4K and IBIS, I mentioned that I've appreciated the GX7's IBIS even if it is not close to Oly's 5-axis IBIS.  I said that as a stills-oriented shooter, I'd be disappointed if the GX8 dropped IBIS for 4K.  He just smiled and said, "I think you will be pleased with the GX8."  The one concrete thing he did say about the GX8 is that it will be a bit bigger than the GX7.  I asked if there would be a bigger EVF, and he just smiled again and said he couldn't comment on specifics.

Despite being very vague, he certainly whetted my interest in the GX8.  I guess that's his job!  He made the comment several times, "I think you'll like what you see when it is released."

42.5mm f/1.7: I had taken my Oly 45 with me, and the size of the two is pretty darn close.  The 42.5's lens hood mounts in reverse on the lens.  It seemed to me to have comparable build quality to the Oly.  I took a couple of quick snaps with each, for what they're worth.  Raw exported from LR with sharpening at 25, no other edits.

Oly booth:

I mounted the 8mm and took a few quick snaps, one below.  The lens felt very well built.  One advantage to the larger size is that I would be less likely to get my fingers in the images, which happens to me with the Rokinon.  The front element seemed very bulbous and less protected than the Rokinon's.

7-14 f/2.8  I handled this but did not mount it.  Again, jewel-like in build.

E-M5 MkII:  I liked the grip and thumb rest.  And that EVF - WOW!