Still Using the GX7

Great question, though perhaps the wrong forum. The GX7, while m43, is a Panasonic, it’s an old camera and the specs don’t match the latest kit. Be interesting if there's more than a handful with one in active use.

I can understand your reasoning. I went from the GX85 to the GX9 and wish I had never traded in the GX85. Something about Panasonic not leaving well enough alone.

Bassam Guy wrote:

uniball wrote:

Great question, though perhaps the wrong forum.

Which forum is more appropriate?

Don't know. Panasonic doesn’t appear to be an actively discussed marque anywhere. Yet they sell well. Maybe their users photograph rather than discuss photographing?

FadedPhotoGuy wrote:

Anyone else still using the GX7? I actually 'downgraded' from the GX85 which in many (most) ways is a superior camera because the ergonomics of the GX7 are just so much better for me. Honestly, in the unlikely event there is ever a GX10 I hope Panasonic looks backwards as to how a body and controls should be shaped.

I was recently tempted to pick up a GX7. Around the time of its release and for awhile afterwards, I was intrigued by this camera based on reading and watching YT videos and witnessing owner enthusiasm. This was definitely released as an enthusiast camera and packed with features such as the 8k mechanic shutter speed and in body image stabilization (2-axis, I believe) plus WiFi and rotating EVF.

The only Panasonic MFT camera that I have owned was the GH3 and I loved the ergonomics, the external controls, touch menu navigation, WiFi remote control and the impressive level of customization.

The GX7 does not have the latest and greatest features and it is dated in that regard. However, it can be acquired at amazing bargain prices at resale venues and has lost none of the attributes that contributed to owner satisfaction when it was a current camera model.

Although I am perfectly happy with my older Olympus cameras ( 2 x Pen E-P5s, E-M5ii and Pen-F), I have considered getting an updated Panasonic camera with the features that I liked most in my GH3. The G95 had these features but spoiled them with low battery life and excessive crop in 4k video and slow motion video. I attribute the trend in hobbling lower tier cameras as an attempt to differentiate them from the flagship cameras. In my case, this just eliminates the G95 from my consideration. The G9 is larger but has the features I want but it also has the artificial video recording limit that the lower tier G95 does not! The GH5ii then becomes the obvious choice even if it is overkill for my needs!

So, unless the prospective GX9 (or G95) customer is willing to accept the model differentiation compromises to get some of the latest and greatest camera features, I think that a bargain priced GX7 camera can be a good alternative while waiting for future cameras with less compromises.

Jim

FadedPhotoGuy wrote:

Anyone else still using the GX7?

Since 2015, it's been a general purpose carry-around camera. With Panasonic 12-32mm mostly, sometimes with Lumix 12-60mm.

Small, light, unobtrusive, handles nicely. I added a thumb grip to carry easily w/o needing a strap. Tilting LCD and EVF are very handy. Built in flash is useful.

Earlier this year when walking downtown, I had the opportunity to photograph these stained glass windows in a local church.

I'm still using my GX7, but I had it converted to full-spectrum infrared just last year.  I've always enjoyed using the camera, and while it's somewhat outdated in terms of features, it has a nice evf (I love that it tilts) and really good image quality.  The infrared results below are from using different combinations of filters and white balance and the 12-32mm lens. But my main point is that the camera, which I bought new in December 2013, still operates flawlessly.

By the way, I have a hot mirror filter that enables me to use the camera as a normal (non-IR) camera if I wish, although I'm currently using more modern cameras for my regular (i.e. non-IR) photography.

FadedPhotoGuy wrote:

Anyone else still using the GX7? I actually 'downgraded' from the GX85 which in many (most) ways is a superior camera because the ergonomics of the GX7 are just so much better for me. Honestly, in the unlikely event there is ever a GX10 I hope Panasonic looks backwards as to how a body and controls should be shaped.

I absolutely agree.  While I have sold my GX7 and replaced it with a GX9, I do feel that Panasonic nailed the ergonomics with the GX7 and neither of the subsequent models can match it.  They should also skip the retro look and get rid of the exp comp dial or at the very least, move it so that the rear command dial falls naturally under the thumb, just like it does on the GX7.

I have had the GX7 since early 2014 it been from Salekhard to Tibet and Burkina Faso to Bhutan , the Faroe Islands and my backyard and is still used by me to this day.

Preferred it to the GM5 which found a new home in a very fast hand on a Italian Vespa. I never really saw a great reason to trade it for the GX9

Sometimes it might be easy to consider the M4/3 forum an ‘Olympus’ forum but Panasonic is a M4/3 brand and alive and well.  There are simply more Olympus users.

The GX7 was my second M4/3 camera body after the GM1 and we bonded well.  It was the camera that Panasonic seems to have thrown everything it knew at when it was made.

Correspondingly it was a hard act to follow.  Despite technical improvements that made the GX85 and GX9 more interesting from that point of view the human interface went backwards with the later updates.

Consequently although I did buy both the GX85 and GX9 the GX7 is far from forgotten.  There is nothing really that makes the GX85 a better camera but the GX9 is arguably so.  It just a pity that Panasonic engineers did not leave the user interface alone.  Fiddling with it has hardly improved it.

I use all three camera bodies interchangeably to this day. It is only when I need compact cutting edge that I would prefer the GX9.