Review Date: August 22, 2013
Category: Serious to Advanced Amateur
Photoxels Editor’s Choice – Enthusiast Interchangeable Lens Camera
HANDLING & FEEL
It’s all in the palm of your hand. It’s amazing when you hold a camera small enough to fit in the palm of your hand that incorporates (almost) all the features of what an ideal camera should have. [Above image courtesy of camerasize.com.]
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 replaces the GX1 (which itself replaced the GF1), making it only the third generation of Panasonic’s mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that is specifically targeted to enthusiast photographers. This hopscotch from GF1 to GX1 to GX7 indicates a previous reticence on Panasonic’s part to fully embrace the enthusiast category. This has now been rectified with the formidable DMC-GX7 that ticks off almost all the major features enthusiast photographers have been demanding for years.
The Lumix GX7 shoots all the way to the top of the compact mirrorless interchangeable lens camera segment. Though it is slightly bigger and heavier than the GX1, it compares favorably in size to the Olympus E-P5 and Olympus OM-D E-M5, its most direct micro Four Thirds competitors. Any smaller and it will be awkward to handle. It is a very attractive camera whether in all-black or black/silver version; the 14-42mm kit lens also comes in matching black or silver version.
The DMC-GX7 is housed in a magnesium alloy full diecast frame and feels very sturdy. There is no flex and the 14-42mm kit lens does not budge one mm on its mount. It is not weatherproof and so that’s one feature that did not get a checkmark on my ideal camera list.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 with 14-42mm lens
The GX7 comes standard with the LUMIX G VARIO 14-42mm ASPH. MEGA O.I.S. F3.5(W)-F5.6(T) kit lens. The 28-84mm [35mm equiv.] lens provides 3x optical zoom, which you can invoke manually with the manual zoom ring. It also has a manual focus ring (fly-by-wire) which works very well and will automatically enlarge the display for a closer look. Focus Peaking with color choice makes manual focusing in low light situations very easy. The 14-42mm kit lens on the GX7 makes them a nice combo for street and portrait photography.
Of course, as an Interchangeable Lens Camera, the GX7 accepts any of the 20 or so Lumix and Leica micro Four Thirds (mFT) lenses as well as mFT lenses from Olympus and lenses from other manufacturers when using the appropriate adapter.
Since the GX7 now incorporates in-body sensor-shift image stabilization, all non-stabilized lenses can now take advantage of image stabilization.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 with 14-42mm lens
The front of the camera is clean, with the Self-timer indicator/AF Assist Lamp on the left and the Lens Release Button on the right. Hidden in the slightly bulging handgrip is the NFC (Near Field Communication) antenna. The Shoulder Strap Eyelets is somewhat uncomfortably in the way, especially when the shoulder strap is attached. It will also unfortunately make some noise when filming a video.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7
There is a built-in pop-up flash that moves freely up and down, so theoretically you could bounce the light (though the flash head won’t stay pointed upward, so you would need to hold it up with a finger). It is good enough for fill-in at up to 5.7 m (19 feet) with the 14-42mm lens.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 Top View
The GX7 has a “premium flat design,” with the top of the camera in a straight line except for the Shutter Button and Front Dial around it poking out. It makes the GX7 look very compact without any of the tell -tale bulge announcing an EVF or hotshoe. In fact, at first glance and looking from the front, you may think there is no EVF. But there’s one: a high-resolution and tiltable one at that.
As is usual with Panasonic cameras, the ON/OFF Switch is a lever by itself, this time moved under the Mode Dial, and therefore controlled by your thumb. The Mode Dial rotates in any direction and features iA, PASM , Movie, 3 Custom modes, Scene and Filters. It is definitely stiff enough so that you won’t inadvertently move it off its setting. There is a dedicated Movie button, the pop-up flash, hot shoe, and tiltable LVF.
You invoke Program shift by simply rotating the Front or Rear Dial in P mode.
To dial in an Exposure Compensation, push in the Rear Dial and rotate.
TIP: You can extensively customize the various dials and function buttons/tabs. For example, you can set the Exposure Compensation to stay or reset when you turn off the camera [MENU – Setup – Exposure Comp. Reset – ON/OFF]. Ditto for the Self-timer [MENU – Setup – Self Timer Auto Off – ON/OFF]. You can also decide how much of info you want to display on screen as well as whether the info should be displayed superimposed on the picture or outside the frame. You can even disable the touchscreen feature. It pays to take some time upfront to delve into the menu, explore the various options and customize the camera to the way you like to work.
You can shoot a movie, press the shutter release button to take a single picture, and the camera will just keep recording without a break. Two files will be recorded: the movie and the still picture.
TIP: Half-press the shutter release button to get your subject in focus first before pressing the Movie button.
Startup is fast at less than 1 sec. (from Power ON to LCD ready for capture, i.e. time-to-first-shot). Shot to shot times is about 0.4 sec. (26 shots in 10 sec. in M mode, 1/125sec.) in JPEG. You can incredibly take one shot after another, as fast as your finger can click the shutter! Using RAW, it’s also that fast but the buffer seems to fill up after the 15th shot, when it starts to save and clear more space.
At Image Quality = Large Fine, a 16MP JPEG image is compressed down to anywhere between 6MB and 9MB. A RAW image occupies about 19MB.
In good lighting, there is no practical shutter lag and AF is lightning-fast. In very low lighting, AF is also fast when the AF Assist Lamp is used; without the use of the AF Assist Lamp, AF may require up to 1 sec. to lock focus, depending on the contrast of the subject. However, it all just feels very fast overall.
The LVF has an impressive 2,764,800 dots equivalent resolution. It has approx. 1.39x / 0.7x (35 mm camera equivalent) magnification (with 50 mm lens set at infinity) and the eye point is approx. 17.5 mm from the eyepiece lens. A Diopter Adjustment Lever is perfectly placed at the bottom of the tiltable LVF and is pretty easy and convenient to set between -4.0 – +3.0 (dpt). A built-in eye sensor switches the view automatically between the LVF and LCD screen. The eyepiece itself is kind of small with a hard rubber around it; an optional Eyecup DMW-EC1 is available for more comfortable viewing. Both the LVF and LCD gain up very well in low light.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 Tiltable LCD
On the back of the camera, there is a 3.0-in. LCD (1040k-dot) that is tiltable up 80 degrees and down 45 degrees. The LCD is touch screen, allowing Touch Shutter release, Touch AE, Touch AF, enlargement, Frame advance/backward, Touch Super Control Panel, etc.
I love a tiltable LCD and consider it a must on any serious camera these days. Tilt up is all I really need, allowing me to comfortably look down on the screen when shooting down low (macro photography) or when the camera is on a tripod. I also almost never shoot above a crowd, so almost never find the need to tilt the LCD down. Never saw the need to tilt the LCD in portrait mode. Now that the LVF is also tiltable, it’s added convenience.
Barely visible on the left side in the picture above is the small notch that you access to open the Terminal Cover (AV OUT/DIGITAL, HDMI, REMOTE). But to see and access this notch you must first tilt the LCD screen down a bit.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 Back View
The LCD screen takes up the whole left side on the back. On the top are the customizable Fn4 button which is defaulted to LVF, the Flash Open Lever, the AF/AE Lock button with the Focus mode lever around it, . To the right are the Rear Dial, customizable Fn1 (defaulted to Q. Menu), Playback, Disp., Cursor buttons with the Menu/Set in the center, customizable Fn2 (defaulted to Delete/Cancel) and customizable Fn3 (defaulted to Wi-Fi).
Cursor Buttons: UP = ISO. RIGHT = WB. DOWN = Drive. LEFT = AF Mode.
TIP: Do not turn the Direct Focus Area option ON or the Cursor buttons will be disabled. The Direct Focus Area option allows you to use the cursor buttons to move the AF area round the screen. With touchscreen capability, you can simply touch the screen to move the AF area. However, if you are wearing gloves, you may want that functionality. Just be aware that when turned on [MENU – Custom Setup – Direct Focus Area – ON], it will disable the other functions of the Cursor buttons.
I love the Delete button that allows you to delete one, many or all the pictures without having to delve into the Menu.
You can display a Live Histogram on the screen and/or EVF either by setting it on in the Menu [MENU – Custom Setup – Histogram – ON] or selecting it from the screen [Fn tab – Fn7 (defaulted to Histogram)].
You can also display a Grid [MENU – Custom Setup – Guide Line – select one of 3 grid types]. You can have both the grid and Live Histogram displayed at the same time. You can also choose to display blinking highlights [MENU – Custom Setup – Highlight – ON].
For those who, like me, are horizontally challenged, you can set the Level Gauge on by either repeatedly pressing the Disp. button until it displays or select it on screen [Fn tab – Fn6 (defaulted to Level Gauge)].
Of course, you can change any of those Fn defaults and decide to access the Histogram or Level Gauge from another Fn buttton/tab.
I like AF Mode [LEFT ARROW] that allows you to place the AF area anywhere on screen! Yes, anywhere! In Record mode, if you’ve set AF Touch on, touching the screen will cause the camera to immediately focus on that point. If you’ve set Touch Shutter Release on, then the camera will focus AND take a picture as soon as you touch the screen. Continuous AF in movie seems fast enough to relock focus on a new subject; Touch AF makes rack focusing easy.
The Q. Menu displays a screen divided into 3 areas: the top and bottom areas list settings you can change; the middle area list the values available for a selected setting. You can use the Selector, Front and Rear dials or touch the screen to select the desired settings.
I did not see any macro function either on the camera or the 14-42mm kit lens and that puzzled me a bit. The 14-42mm lens focuses as close as 20cm (between 14-20mm) or 30cm (betweem 21-42mm), depending on the focal length you use.
There is no fast way to enter and exit SILENT MODE except thru the Menu [MENU – Custom Setup – Silent Mode – ON]. Fortunately, you can program it into a function button/tab [MENU – Custom Setup – Fn Button Set – Setting in REC mode – Fn8 (or whichever Fn button/tab you want to use) – Silent Mode].
On the bottom, the tripod mount is metal and in-line with the center of the lens. The battery compartment is also angled so that you should be able to change battery and access the menory card with the camera on a tripod. I also like the fact that the memory card slot is in front of the battery, making it super easy to insert and remove.
Included in the box is a rechargeable Li-ion battery DMW-BLG10PP that can take about 350 shots (CIPA standard) on a fresh charge. A Battery Charger DE-A99 plugs directly into a wall outlet and recharges a depleted battery in about 190 min.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 accepts the SD, SDHC, SDXC cards. (Compatible with UHS-I standard SDHC / SDXC Memory Cards.)
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 handles very well and, once you take the time to customize it to your liking (and take some time to get used to it), you’ll find it a powerful camera with lots of practical features and ready to work the way you like to.
Next: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 User’s Experience