Panasonic GX series

...sorta...within its context in the timeline...

GF1...intended as an entry level camera but surprisingly became a hit as an enthusiast camera...but Panasonic still wanted an entry level camera, so came the GF2 which disappointed all enthusiasts who loved the GF1.  Note: GF line still continued and is still going on in Japan.

GX1...a new line and first real update to the original GF1. And when it came out, with the new 16mp sensor, the best MFT camera in its price range... for the next couple of weeks (or was that a month or two? I can't remember) when out of nowhere the Oly E-M5 came out and just like that the world forgot the GX1 existed, and that new line (GX) was forgotten and by default died.

Quite a bit of time later, Panasonic tried to revive the GX line and the GX7 came out. Was a sleeper hit for Panasonic.

At this time, Panasonic decided to simplify and consolidate all their lines of rangefinder styled camera bodies.

First was the GX8, their top end semi-pro stills camera.

GX85 (a bit later) came out as their mid-level camera. This was the true successor to the GX7.

GX850 (also a bit later) came out as their entry-level camera. Now, the GX850 was also called GF9 in Japan since the GF line was an actual best selling camera in Japan. They simply did not want to mess with that winning formula. But everywhere else in the world the GF line was not doing nearly as well so GX850 (or GX800) made sense to them.

Now by this time, we can all say, okay, that sounds good. The GX lines make sense. Unfortunately, the GX8 was a dud. And it's not really its fault either. First, everyone and their pet rocks were screaming from the top of their lungs that it was a monstrous behemoth that would crush anyone who would dare to hold it. Even Oly fans...even though the E-M1 line had not even remotely the same amount of angst about its size. But even worse than it's size was its shutter shock. Yes, other cameras by a multitude of other manufacturers had this too but it was the GX8 that took the problem into the limelight and made the GX8 the poster boy for shutter shock and made everyone notice. The screaming about shutter shock with the GX8 was so bad there were people who thought it simply could not take proper photos in the problematic shutter range. It just wasn't a usable tool for stills. The reality is that, on the whole, most people simply did not have problems with shutter shock in the real world except for rare specific situations but the damage was done. The GX8 was a lame duck and was avoided like the plague.

This caused a problem with Panasonic as they now have the GXx top line that was a disaster from the beginning and so, seemingly the GX8 was never to get an upgrade. The new naming system was pretty much dead.

Hence, today, the GX9 came out as the GX85 upgrade or the continuation of the GX7 line.

The GF10, the upgrade to the GX850 line, or the continuation of the original GF line.

And here we are. The GXx, GXxx, and GXxxx naming convention are now seemingly dead. And back to GXx and GFx naming convention with no updates to the GX8 line.

Convoluted sure but as tid bits, understandable.