Mighty performance, small camera
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7
A Skilful Balancing Act
With its latest mirrorless camera, Panasonic has packed in performance and features that any photography enthusiast will relish but somehow kept the 16-megapixel GX7 small and light. The snappy and handsome camera produces excellent images. A tiltable electronic viewfinder (EVF) gives unique flexibility in framing shots. The magnesium alloy body is rock solid. Its action-freezing shutter speed of 1/8000 sec matches that of top DSLR cameras. Focus peaking – a precise visual focusing aid – complements the zippy autofocus. Front and back control dials make settings adjustment easy. Wi-Fi and NFC are built-in for easy connection to your phone and tablet.
The GX7 is one of the lightest, full-featured system cameras – models with lenses that can be swopped – on the market. With the 20mm f/1.7 lens that comes in the $1,649 kit, the camera weighs less than 490g with battery and memory card loaded. That’s lighter than a bare iPad.
It weighs less than the body alone of a DSLR camera without its battery. With the viewfinder flipped up, the GX7 with lens is only 65mm thick.
The standard DSR kit lens alone is longer than that.
Lighter gear just makes practical sense. Every extra gramme seems to weigh progressively heavier on your neck or shoulder when you tote about a camera bag.
A Sweet Spot
The Micro Four Thirds standard that the GX7 is built on is a sweet spot in the performance and size ratio. Take the wide variety of lenses already available on the market, ranging from an ultra-wide 14mm to a super-telephoto 600mm, taking their full-frame equivalent focal lengths. There are fast zoom lenses and prime lenses, including Leica primes. With an optional adapter, your choice extends even to lovely vintage lenses.
In a first for Panasonic in its Lumix G series, the GX7 has optical image stabilisation (OIS) built in. Before the GX7, OIS is found only in Panasonic’s premium lenses. In-body stabilisation is cool as it works for all lenses – even legacy lenses from pre-digital days. The clever GX7 recognises if a lens has its own stabilisation and automatically cuts out the in-body one in favour of the mechanism designed specifically for that lens.
Sleek and light cameras have a common failing – they can be a pain to hold firmly especially on a hot day when your hand become sweaty. Not the GX7. It handles very well. I like its meaty, rubberised grip.I also like the convenience of having front and rear dials. These and the mode dial are nicely weighted and knurled for precise use. The touchscreen LCD is useful for tapping to focus to swiping and pinching and spreading with your fingers when you view your photos.
Any camera with an EVF immediately gets bonus marks in my book. Framing with an EVF allows for a steadier shooting stance than with an LCD. The GX7 has one of the sharpest EVFs in the business. In a neat trick, this one can also be flipped up for easier low-angle shots.
Panasonic is a giant in the video recording industry. So it’s no surprise that the GX7 is also a very competent full-HD camcorder that records stereo sound.
Super-Fast Autofocus
The autofocus is seriously swift. The GX7 is the fastest mirrorless model that I have tested. In fact, it’s faster than some DSLR cameras. To test autofocus speed, I time how long it takes to shoot five shots in a row, refocusing after every shot. This also measures how fast the camera takes to get ready for the next shot.
I clocked an average of 1.63 sec for my five-shot test for the GX7. Most mirrorless and DSLR models took 2 sec and more in this test.
Even when the subject is dimly lit, the autofocus remains confident. In my bedroom with all the lights off and only the TV on, I was surprised that the GX7’s autofocus could still lock on.
In situations where you choose to focus manually, the GX7’s focus peaking comes in handy. The view of the object that you are focusing on is magnified. When the focus is achieved, the edges of the object changes to a luminous blue. Neat.
The GX7’s image quality is great from colour fidelity to sharpness to picture noise control. Of the shots of people of many races and from different countries strolling the pedestrian mall along Orchard Road, I like how accurately and pleasingly the skin tones and the bright colours of garments were captured by this camera.
I have a niggle about the LCD. Yes, I enjoy the rich colours and sharp images. Yes, it can be tilted for high and low angle shots. But it cannot be swung out.
This is perhaps the only compromise Panasonic made as the extra hinge would have added bulk to the design. So how can someone shoot a selfie or self-portrait?
Then, I discovered the Panasonic Image App which is available for iOS and Android devices. After pairing with the GX7, my iPad became a remote, high-resolution screen for me to control the camera from the comfort of a chair. After getting everything just right,I set the timer release with a tap on my iPad. I had plenty of time to strike a pose. Having a large touchscreen beats squinting at a camera LCD any day.
Panasonic has also equipped the GX7 for discreet photography. Use the electronic shutter and you will not hear a sound when a photo is snapped. No more startled baby. Or, picture this: the camera is slung around your neck or placed on a table with preset manual focus and small aperture for a generous depth of field.
You can be snapping photo after photo using the app on your phone and no one will know.
Enter the ninja photographer.
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