10 Months with the GX8

Pesca wrote:

Thanks for the detailed info I've seen a few people mentioning YongNuo speedlights. I just had a look online a few minutes ago. I didn't realise how affordable they are . I'll definitely keep those in mind once I get a better idea of what kind of setup I want. Thanks again, much appreciated : )

Hi Pesca, you're very welcome

Yes, they are affordable, and where I live, they are very easy to get in almost any camera store. I tried a more advanced flash like the Olympus FL600R, which has every feature like TTL and HSS, but it wasn't as durable as I thought it will be. My YongNuos are definitely more sturdy and will be my main choice for travel and serious photo opportunities.

Cheers!

tomhongkong wrote:

Thank you for your comments about the GX8. As others have said, it is always good to get real users' points of view, and I agree with all you have written. I am mostly happy with GX8, but no camera is perfect.

Hi Tomhongkong! Thank you for your kind comments on my review!

G7 was lacking too many features, including water resistance which is really important for me. The toss up was OMD-1 or GX8. The lens choice with IS is better with OMD-1, but the focusing better (to me) with GX8, and coming from Nikon V2, I am used to very fast focus which I would be loth to give up. I don't find focus on GX8 is quite as fast or reliable as V2, but that camera benefits from smaller sensor which may cover up some focus errors.

The weather sealing could make the G7 a very attractive camera, I agree with you. I heard great stuffs about the Nikon V2's focusing capabilities, but MFT is definitely catching up as you say with Panasonic's newer bodies. Hopefully they will bring more improvements on the newer Oly and Pan bodies (GH5 and E-M2).

So my main camera is now GX8, with 14-140 as travel lens, 35-100 and 12-35 f2.8 as WR zoom, and 20mm for low light. I use Fuji x30 as carry round camera and V2 is in reserve. The X30 is a real photographers' camera in miniature, and for many purposes not far of the quality of GX8.

That is a nice setup there Tom! I pretty much have a similar setup on a travel scenario, but my setup changes a lot depending on what I need to do, and depending on my purpose of travel too. The 12-35mm f/2.8 is the lens that is bolted on the GX8 all the time. I usually carry a secondary body, a GX7, and attach a "utility" lens on it, like the 75mm f/1.8, 45mm f/1.8, 20mm f/1.7 II, 7-14mm f/4.0, 9-18mm f/4-5.6, 35-100 f/4-5.6, or the 45-150mm f/4-5.6. The only other lenses that I "allow" on the GX8 is the 14-140 and the 100-300mm. Other lenses aren't "allowed" to be attached on my GX8. Good to hear about the X30 being employed in your setup.

What would be useful is if we all shared our set ups. The GX8 has so many options it is hard to get to grips with them!

Great suggestion Tom, here's how I set my Fn buttons:

Fn1: AE lock, Fn2: Q menu, Fn3: Metering mode(I change this A LOT), Fn4: Touch enable/disable, Fn5: Snap Movie for video, Fn6: Electronic Shutter, Fn7: DOF Preview, Fn8: Wifi, Fn9: Movie Frame Rate, Fn10: Digital Zoom(for shooting ultra tele), Fn11: unused, I left it to snap movie again, Fn12: Color Profile.

I shoot RAW with electronic shutter all the time, except when I'm shooting something that requires digital zoom with tele lens. And I use Cine-D too for my movie color profile. I rarely shoot 4K movie, simply because I have limited storage, and the 1080p is more than enough to create the content that I'm required to make.

As for the custom dial, my C1 is set to shoot a 1080p movie in Cine D, with 1/50s shutter speed and 25fps at 200 ISO and f/5.6. My C2 is set to shoot another 1080p movie like C1, but set at 1/100s and 50fps for slow motion. C3 is my off camera flash mode, being set at f/5.6 1/320s and ISO 200 with mechanical shutter enabled only on this mode.

So that is my personal setup, once again thanks Tom!

Cheers!

Good review. Just a few words about your FAS 'problem'. If you have the screen folded out, simply place your left hand behind it while you hold the camera. The screen won't then be visible. Let's be honest, if you are pointing any camera in the direction of your intended subject, they already have a good idea that you are going to take a picture of them. The advantages of the FAS  easily outweigh the (perceived) disadvantages.