Olympus Owner Tests GX8 For One Week

I've owned a large number of systems throughout my photography life, but eventually (after literally 24 complete system swaps) I settled down on m43 for it's combination of size, weight, and image quality.

GX8 using Olympus 60mm Macro, cropped and edited in LR CC

For most of my m43 shooting, then, I've been an Olympus user. Although using Olympus's menus can make grown men cry, one has to admit they have some very intriguing high-end options. Their foray into high-end m43 started with the E-M5 and has continued with the E-M1 and E-M5 Mark II and the cameras generally receive great accolades across the net.

GX8 using Olympus 60mm Macro, cropped and edited in LR CC

Right now, I'm shooting a gripped E-M5 and almost all Panasonic lenses. While I did own the E-M1 for a while, it was victim to one of my many system swaps. When I decided to return to m43 land (this time, for good), I chose to get a used E-M5 because they can be had for almost peanuts and are still great cameras. So throughout this review, I'm comparing the use of the GX8 in light of my current camera, the E-M5.

GX8 with Noct 42.5mm

I couldn't help but be interested in the GX8, with a multitude of upgrades over the GX7 (which I never shot, but wanted to try). Eventually I capitulated to curiosity and rented the GX8. The only other m43 Panasonic I've owned/used is a GX1.

Ergonomics

Overall, good. Dials are where they need to be and with adequate resistance, though I wish Fn buttons were placed differently -- they're a bit hard to pick out as-is.

Touch-pad AF is *awesome*. I really like (mostly) how Panasonic cameras actually handle in use, and the touch-pad AF along with easy resizing of the AF box size, etc. is just smooth as silk.

I do wish I could get just a bit more grip - my pinky finger is often homeless, or almost so.

GX8 raw DR torture test -- the foreground was very dark and the sky almost blown. Not bad. Modified in LR CC -- highlights -88, shadows +98, +0.12 EV.

Performance

Overall the camera has worked great. Of course, at first I was having some issues with my 35-100/2.8 and Noct -- then I remembered these lenses have firmware! Sure enough, I was running 1.0! on the Panasonic and 1.2 on the Noct, so I upgraded them both for much better performance and to enable dual-IS mode. Another thing to remember -- lenses with aperture rings! I was confounded for a minute or so when I couldn't change the aperture on my Noct -- then I remembered the blasted aperture ring.

GX8 with Noct 42.5

AF is very fast in low light when testing VS my E-M5 in AF-S mode, and using AF-C in medium drive speed actually results in usable (if not ultra-tack sharp) files in good light. I did a few tests with my children coming at me / passing me on scooters or bikes and the GX8 did pretty well, much better than my E-M5. Battery life is passable, but you'll probably want a spare or two.

Electronic shutter with AF-C on medium drive with 35-100 - notice the slanted garage door lines.

Image Quality

One thing's for certain -- Olympus knows JPEG. Panasonic, though, is still weak in this area.

I'm mostly a raw shooter anyway, but I did two small tests to see how Panasonic vs Olympus would fare in the JPEGs. The first, a good light test, was okay, but there's more detail in the Olympus file.

The second, shown below, was the high ISO test. I put both cameras to the lowest NR settings and sharpening settings for their respective JPEG engines and shot the same scene:

E-M5 (left) vs GX8 (right) -- the correct WB is somewhere in between, but the Olympus detail proves a winner.

When it comes to raw, though, there are no complaints -- the GX8 has great image quality. Tonality wasn't that great using Adobe's built-in defaults -- I quickly made myself an X-rite profile and improved things considerably.

GX8 with 35-100/2.8

Video

Didn't test, so I don't care.

Actually, I did slightly test it -- via the 4K shot mode. Below is a grab, cropped and edited in LR CC. Overall, it's a useful feature if you really want to use it, but you'll have to be happy with the resultant JPEG. Still, for a simple grab of a difficult subject, it could be a lifesaver.

GX8 4K grab (burst mode) cropped and edited in LR.

So would I switch to the GX8?

It's tempting - real tempting. Granted, I'm shooting a crusty E-M5 instead of the E-M1 or E-M5 II, but I really like the simplicity of Panasonic's operation. The camera, for the most part, just gets out of my way. Touch-Pad AF is incredibly useful (and I'll need to test the Olympus implementation) and the AF performance is actually quite good.

I'm not a fan of the GX8's JPEG engine nor some of its Fn button placement, but overall it's a nice camera. 4 of 5 stars.

Kurt_K wrote:

24 complete system swaps? Yowza!

Yeah, I've probably missed about 2 or 3 swaps, but it's true

I was a fickle person for a while

I think it is a nice shooters review (and I mean that as a compliments).

24 system swaps suggest to me deep pockets and an understanding spouse!

Virtual Photon wrote:

I think it is a nice shooters review (and I mean that as a compliments).

24 system swaps suggest to me deep pockets and an understanding spouse!

Thanks Well the 24 swaps happened over years , of course, and I would usually buy and sell used, so the money outlay wasn't too over the top

Thinking about it, I've done about ten or twelve system swaps just because I liked trying new systems and yes one understanding spouse.

do you have any impressions of the dual is?  You mentioned it but didn't really comment.  Also the increased gx8 size didn't bother you?

... if you started a new thread and gave your opinion on the 24 or so different systems you used with your pluses and minuses. Alright. Maybe 24 is asking too much but you could do the last few you owned.

Good review but one thing I don't get. You had the E-M1 but weren't satisfied with it so you switched to a different system. Then your came back to m4/3rds with an E-M5, a great camera but with a lot less features than the E-M1 has, yet now you're satisfied (?). This doesn't seem to jive.

Kurt_K wrote:

24 complete system swaps? Yowza!

And I thought going from Canon point and shoots, to Sony Alpha DSLR and DSLT, to Sony NEX, to m4/3 was bad...the OP makes me look like a G.A.S. rookie!

FWIW. the colors in JPEG can be adjusted in the GX8.

Pete_CSCS wrote:

... if you started a new thread and gave your opinion on the 24 or so different systems you used with your pluses and minuses. Alright. Maybe 24 is asking too much but you could do the last few you owned.

Thanks for the response Pete.  I could probably do a Pros/Cons of my various systems, it would actually be pretty easy.

Good review but one thing I don't get. You had the E-M1 but weren't satisfied with it so you switched to a different system. Then your came back to m4/3rds with an E-M5, a great camera but with a lot less features than the E-M1 has, yet now you're satisfied (?). This doesn't seem to jive.

Oh I was satisfied with the E-M1, but the allure of FF got to me eventually, so I sold it all off for an A7 setup with some MF lenses.  The A7's IQ was great (the Zeiss 100/2 MP is an amazing lens), but operation of the camera drove me absolutely mad and I eventually sold it all out of frustration for a D800.  I lost some money selling the D800 kit, so I throttled down to the EM5.

Stay Well,
Pete K.

LMNCT wrote:

FWIW. the colors in JPEG can be adjusted in the GX8.

Thanks and yes, I realize that  JPEG colors aren't bad at all actually, but I still prefer the raws with an X-rite profile applied.

My beef was with Panasonic JPEG details -- the engine's NR is just too strong, even when set as low as everything would go.

Virtual Photon wrote:

Thinking about it, I've done about ten or twelve system swaps just because I liked trying new systems and yes one understanding spouse.

do you have any impressions of the dual is? You mentioned it but didn't really comment. Also the increased gx8 size didn't bother you?

I haven't done any real scientific testing of the dual IS -- it seems to be pretty good, and much better than body-IS (for instance, using my Olympus 60mm seems shakey when in just body-IS mode) but I can't say whether it's better than my E-M5's IBIS.

The size of the GX8 doesn't bother me at all. Yes, it's not a tiny camera, but there comes a point to where TOO small interrupts operations.

I carry my gear using a Retrospective 5, so I've pretty much given up on trying to get a camera "jacket-sized" As long as it'll fit in my bag with a lens, I'm okay.  If I want pocket-sized, I'm going to move to the RX100 type camera to supplement my m43 stuff.

I typically use the E-M5 with at least the first part of the grip, so they're comparable in size and that doesn't bother me.

jl_smith wrote:

Pete_CSCS wrote:

... if you started a new thread and gave your opinion on the 24 or so different systems you used with your pluses and minuses. Alright. Maybe 24 is asking too much but you could do the last few you owned.

Thanks for the response Pete. I could probably do a Pros/Cons of my various systems, it would actually be pretty easy.

Please do!

aodi wrote:

Does it have a shutter shock problem in your opinion?

I'd have to test for that specifically.  I've been using the electronic shutter 99% of the time, so in that case no

However, that's piqued my interest, so I'll try to find time to do more scientific testing.

Robiro wrote:

jl_smith wrote:

Pete_CSCS wrote:

... if you started a new thread and gave your opinion on the 24 or so different systems you used with your pluses and minuses. Alright. Maybe 24 is asking too much but you could do the last few you owned.

Thanks for the response Pete. I could probably do a Pros/Cons of my various systems, it would actually be pretty easy.

Please do!

One a week for 6 months would be great. By the end you would have the extra two to round the project out. 😄

jl_smith wrote:

Ergonomics

I do wish I could get just a bit more grip - my pinky finger is often homeless, or almost so.

I will get a chance to try out a GM1 next week - should be interesting.  My right pinky supports my E-PL5 and Kodak S-1 now, and the GM1 seems to be the size of my Pentax Auto 110 which used to have my fingers all over the place.  I just picked it up again to see where my fingers went, and I barely had one finger on the grip.  The rest was all thumb and index finger, both sides.  And I have small fingers!