Upgrade from G7+GF1 to GX8 / GX85 / GX9 / G85 / G95 or G9

Hi,

I have been using Panasonic series for a decade, and I think it is time to shift.

Here is a list of my gears:

Body

GF1: No issue for a decade. Its size feels perfect when I use prime lenses.

G7: I believe this is a good camera from 2015, and even in 2022. But It has few dust on its sensor. I went to two different camera shops to clean it, however, it did not work. So whenever I shoot with G7, I have to remove dust on post production, which is slightly annoying.

Lens

Pany 20mm F1.7 (used, good condition)

Pany 14mm F2.5 (used, good contidion)

Pany 14-140mm 1st gen with tiny mold inside. I barely use it.

7artisans 25mm F1.8

Most (about 80%) time using camera, I do street and landscape photography. Video shooting will be around 20%. I do not seriously care about 4K video(I have read some issues about 4K cropping on some models; G95 for example)

I do some printings at school and some facilities no more than 20 inches at the largest side(but I do have a plan about larger printings).

The budget might be a range of USD 400 to 600. I do not have any plan for extra lens for now, but 12-35mm will be great, for future.

So my questions will be, which body will be affordable for the upgrade? Unless I do not see significant IQ difference among them(on the studio scene comparison tool), other factors such as shutter shock issue, firmware update, and so on.. I really appreciate your opinion.

Thanks!

koesni wrote:

Hi,

I have been using Panasonic series for a decade, and I think it is time to shift.

Here is a list of my gears:

Body

GF1: No issue for a decade. Its size feels perfect when I use prime lenses.

G7: I believe this is a good camera from 2015, and even in 2022. But It has few dust on its sensor. I went to two different camera shops to clean it, however, it did not work. So whenever I shoot with G7, I have to remove dust on post production, which is slightly annoying.

Lens

Pany 20mm F1.7 (used, good condition)

Pany 14mm F2.5 (used, good contidion)

Pany 14-140mm 1st gen with tiny mold inside. I barely use it.

7artisans 25mm F1.8

Most (about 80%) time using camera, I do street and landscape photography. Video shooting will be around 20%. I do not seriously care about 4K video(I have read some issues about 4K cropping on some models; G95 for example)

I do some printings at school and some facilities no more than 20 inches at the largest side(but I do have a plan about larger printings).

The budget might be a range of USD 400 to 600. I do not have any plan for extra lens for now, but 12-35mm will be great, for future.

So my questions will be, which body will be affordable for the upgrade? Unless I do not see significant IQ difference among them(on the studio scene comparison tool), other factors such as shutter shock issue, firmware update, and so on.. I really appreciate your opinion.

Thanks!

The GX9 looks like it might be most suited to your uses IMO.

Small(ish) body, and up to date features and sensor.

I was cheap and grabbed a GX80, which I absolutely love, wonderful camera, the GX9 is an upgrade (especially if like you said video is not important to you) lots of little extra that amount to a better total.

Get the G9 if you really need the best AF and feature set for the money IMO.

best of luck!

Would you do BIF? If yes, G9. If not, the AF of other options on your list could be good enough.

Do you care the size and weight? If no, G9 could be the best ergonomically. If not, GX85 would be the smallest on your wishing list (relatively), GX9 is larger, than GX8 which is close to G85, G95 is slightly larger than the largest G9.

Do you need a great evf, a deep hand grip at the front for larger lens, and weather sealing but on rangefinder form factor? If so, GX8 without doubt.

Please make no mistake, GX85 is called GX7 mk-II and GX9 is called GX7 mk-III in Japan, so these two are not in the same class of GX8.

G85/G95 are successors to G7.

I think GX85 and it's twin lens kit set (12~32 & 45~150) should be the cheapest among your options. On IQ, they are close in real life. G85 should also be under deep discount nowadays.

All of those options on your wishing list are significant upgrade from GF1. Regarding G7, it actually uses the same 16Mp generation of sensor of GX85 and G85. Its IQ is much closer to your options than GF1. However considering the IBIS, DUAL IS, DFD, and various interesting 4K photo modes ( high speed shooting) & Post focus (Focus Stacking), plus sharper SOOC JPG output because of no AA filter on sensor (exclude GX8), you could expect quite observable improvement.

The crop factor of video will make the AoV of the lens narrower only, no big deal.

Regarding dirty sensor, might consider wet cleaning.

You shall never go wrong on any new of them.

alcelc wrote:

Would you do BIF? If yes, G9. If not, the AF of other options on your list could be good enough.

Do you care the size and weight? If no, G9 could be the best ergonomically. If not, GX85 would be the smallest on your wishing list (relatively), GX9 is larger, than GX8 which is close to G85, G95 is slightly larger than the largest G9.

Do you need a great evf, a deep hand grip at the front for larger lens, and weather sealing but on rangefinder form factor? If so, GX8 without doubt.

Please make no mistake, GX85 is called GX7 mk-II and GX9 is called GX7 mk-III in Japan, so these two are not in the same class of GX8.

G85/G95 are successors to G7.

I think GX85 and it's twin lens kit set (12~32 & 45~150) should be the cheapest among your options. On IQ, they are close in real life. G85 should also be under deep discount nowadays.

All of those options on your wishing list are significant upgrade from GF1. Regarding G7, it actually uses the same 16Mp generation of sensor of GX85 and G85. Its IQ is much closer to your options than GF1. However considering the IBIS, DUAL IS, DFD, and various interesting 4K photo modes ( high speed shooting) & Post focus (Focus Stacking), plus sharper SOOC JPG output because of no AA filter on sensor (exclude GX8), you could expect quite observable improvement.

The crop factor of video will make the AoV of the lens narrower only, no big deal.

Regarding dirty sensor, might consider wet cleaning.

You shall never go wrong on any new of them.

G95 is smaller than the G9, not slightly larger ... I love mine, great handling, much better than the G85 or the GX80, cameras I also own, (G9 too big). .. my opinion of course ...

The GX85 and G80 both represent a big step up from the GF7. I have both and prefer the SLR style G80 for wildlife with moving targets. I bought the GX80/85 for Street, landscape and travel , being more compact than the G80. As it happens, I have an IR converted GF1, it has excellent build quality. If you are happy with the rangefinder format then the GX85 might suit you best and certainly we’ll within your budget.

The G95 is the middle ground between the G85 and G9, might not be in your budget. G9 is great for wildlife but, again, out of budget.

Get G85 or GX85 depending on your preferred format, you can’t go wrong with either.

I believe the HD video on the GX9 is significantly better than that on the GX80/GX85 (note that there is no crop on either body for HD video).

I went from G7 to G9.  The G9 is less expensive now than it used to be.  I love the G9.  It's an amazing camera.  I encourage you to at least check it out.