Review Date: December 5, 2011
Category: Point-and-Shoot to Beginner
Photoxels Gold Award – Interchangeable Lens Camera
HANDLING & FEEL
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 is compact and light, with a small molded handgrip. The body feels solid and well constructed and this is easily one of the most beautiful compact mirrorless DSLRs.
Viewing the camera from the front, the AF Assist Lamp (and Self-timer indicator) is at top right and the Lens Release button is on the right side of the lens. The Lens Mount is a new one and is of very high quality for a smooth lens mounting and unmounting. The only other thing you may see from the front is the built-in flash when it is popped up.
Viewing the top of the camera from the back, we see the Movie button, Power ON/OFF switch, the Shutter Release button and iA (Intelligent AUTO) button on the right side of the flash. On the left side of the flash, there are the monaural microphone and speaker.
Press the Motion Picture Button to start and stop recording movies. Press the iA (Intelligent Auto) button to switch directly to that mode. This is an interesting design and mean that you could set the Shooting Mode to, say, Aperture-Priority (A) mode and use the iA button to quickly toggle between iA and A mode instantly.
There is no Shooting Mode Dial because it has been moved to the MENU. To set a shooting mode, press MENU/Set – REC MODE – Rotate the Control Dial to select a shooting mode – SET.
The back of the Panasonic GF3 is dominated by the extra large 3.0-inch [4:3] LCD screen with a high resolution 460k-dot for a bright and clear display. On top of the LCD is the Flash Open button. The other controls are on the right side of the LCD: Playback, Control Dial, Cursor Buttons and MENU/SET in the middle, Q.MENU/FN button. The Cursor Buttons have UP = Exposure Compensation, RIGHT = WB with adjustment, DOWN = Drive / Auto Bracket / Self-timer, and LEFT = AF Mode/AF Area.
The Q.MENU/Fn button can be customized to either bring up the Quick Menu or acts as a Function button [MENU – CUSTOM – Q.MENU/Fn – select Q.MENU or Fn]. If you select Fn, you can further customize what function is set when you press the button [MENU – CUSTOM – Fn BUTTON SET – select from AF/AE LOCK, PREVIEW, PHOTO STYLE, ASPECT RATIO, QUALITY, FOCUS MODE, METERING MODE, FLASH, ISO SENSITIVITY, ISO LIMIT SET, EX. TELE CONV., BURST RATE, AUTO BRACKET, GUIDE LINE, REC AREA]. In Playback mode, this button works as the Erase button, allowing you to delete one, a selection or all images. When in MENU, this button also serves as the Back/Cancel button.
The “X” series lens features a Power Zoom lever and a Manual Focus lever on the left side of the lens barrel. The Power Zoom lever is pretty handy as it mimics what we instinctively do when we manually rotate a zoom ring. You won’t be able to zoom while taking a still picture like you can with a manual zoom ring. The Manual Focus lever automatically enlarges the image but it’s a challenge to obtain accurate focus; I prefer a fly-by-wire ring that is tightly synchronized to the focus as we find in some of the newer lenses.
The battery and card go into the bottom of the camera and the battery has a latch to keep it from accidentally falling. You will not be able to change battery or memory card when the camera is on a tripod. The tripod socket is metal and inline with the lens.
Improvement suggestions:
- Hot Shoe.
- Stereo microphone.
- A tiltable LCD.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 [GF3X] is a beautiful alternative to a DSLR for those desiring DSLR performance and image quality in a compact and stylish body. It’s fast, responsive, and so easy to use and handle. Even advanced photographers will find much to like about its handling since they can access most of the important functions via the Quick MENU and the touch screen interface is so well designed.
Next: Panasonic GF3 User’s Experience
