Panasonic G7 - opinions

[Derek Smith]

I take photographs, some of which are of moving cars, to illustrate articles and books. I also intend to create more video to attract people to my website. I am a keen general photographer although a bit intimidated by the quality displayed on P&V.

I have looked at a Panasonic G7 with a 14-85mm lens. I am attracted by the 4k video. The zoom range is enough for my requirements and the idea of getting 8mp images from video is tempting. I have handled the G7 and whilst I find it a bit plastic feeling, I like the controls - the two dials - and the software is awe inspiring. The spot focusing by the touch screen is going to be very useful.

My question is whether anyone knows any negatives about the camera. All advice gratefully received.

I'll be off to buy it Saturday.

[MysteryLemon]

I own a Lumix G7 and have done for around 6 months now coming from a Nikon d7000.

First of all, I'm not sure of the lens you're talking about. There is no 14-85 on the system so I can only assume you mean the 14-45? The 14-45 is a very old m4/3 kit lens. Not one bundled with the G7 from the factory. The kit lens for the G7 is the 14-42.

The older 14-45 is far better optically to the newer 14-42. I've personally never found a 14-42 that had good sharpness. The 14-42 is much more suited to the G7 though with faster AF speeds. The 14-45 can't keep up with the g7s 7fps shooting and maxes out at around 3fps with continuous focusing.

I actually got rid of the 14-42 that came with mine and replaced it with the 14-45 as I would prefer sharper images over faster continuous shooting.

As for the g7 itself, its a great mirrorless camera that meets all of my needs, coming from a Nikon D7000. The continuous af is generally very accurate although it can sometimes get confused in a situation a dslr wouldn't struggle. Panasonics dfd af system still looks for contrast so if you move the camera quickly, the camera gets lost. It's very quick to regain focus once lost but if youre panning quickly with a subject, it may struggle. Subjects moving away or towards are no issue. Still, its probably the best mirror less camera I've used for focusing.

No real downsides to the camera that I can report. I've no intention to replace mine any time soon!

Edited by MysteryLemon on Thursday 13th October 18:53

[Derek Smith]

MysteryLemon said:

I own a Lumix G7 and have done for around 6 months now coming from a Nikon d7000.

First of all, I'm not sure of the lens you're talking about. There is no 14-85 on the system so I can only assume you mean the 14-45? The 14-45 is a very old m4/3 kit lens. Not one bundled with the G7 from the factory. The kit lens for the G7 is the 14-42.

The older 14-45 is far better optically to the newer 14-42. I've personally never found a 14-42 that had good sharpness. The 14-42 is much more suited to the G7 though with faster AF speeds. The 14-45 can't keep up with the g7s 7fps shooting and maxes out at around 3fps with continuous focusing.

I actually got rid of the 14-42 that came with mine and replaced it with the 14-45 as I would prefer sharper images over faster continuous shooting.

As for the g7 itself, its a great mirrorless camera that meets all of my needs, coming from a Nikon D7000. The continuous af is generally very accurate although it can sometimes get confused in a situation a dslr wouldn't struggle. Panasonics dfd af system still looks for contrast so if you move the camera quickly, the camera gets lost. It's very quick to regain focus once lost but if youre panning quickly with a subject, it may struggle. Subjects moving away or towards are no issue. Still, its probably the best mirror less camera I've used for focusing.

No real downsides to the camera that I can report. I've no intention to replace mine any time soon!

Edited by MysteryLemon on Thursday 13th October 18:53

Thanks for that. I appreciate the time you took.

I got myself a bit confused with the conversion to 35mm focal length. It's a 14-140mm. It is well reviewed. I've read criticisms of the current 14-42mm so decided not to opt for that.

The 14-140 suits my needs more or less exactly although I might go for one with a smaller range if I feel the need.

https://www.parkcameras.com/p/P016210H/compact-sys...

Thanks again.

Derek

[MysteryLemon]

Ah yes the 14-140 is supposed to be a very good all rounder. Will work really nicely with the g7.

[Golaboots]

Is the continious AF on the G7 up to much?
Wife has a GX1 and while pretty snappy in single shot AF it seems to struggle to keep pace with moving objects that a DSLR tracks with ease.
Unless the G7 is much better it wouldn't be my first choice for moving cars.

[Derek Smith]

Golaboots said:

Is the continious AF on the G7 up to much?
Wife has a GX1 and while pretty snappy in single shot AF it seems to struggle to keep pace with moving objects that a DSLR tracks with ease.
Unless the G7 is much better it wouldn't be my first choice for moving cars.

I went through a couple of scenarios with the sales staff and one chap went out with an older g6 for me to try.

It is poor in poor light if trying to take a photo of a vehicle coming towards the photographer at speed. In other scenarios it is, according to the chap, a bit above average for the type (which includes price I suppose). I don't think I've ever taken a photo of a car travelling fast towards me and is quite close, which is where the camera suffers, so it won't be a massive problem.

There were negatives with all sub £750 cameras that I was looking at and the G7 seems to be the best compromise for me.

I've just bought it and am charging the battery. Do these companies realise how disappointing it is to buy a camera and not be able to play with it immediately? I'm reduced to reading the instructions before using it. What man ever did that?

[mizx]

Derek Smith said:

Golaboots said:

Is the continious AF on the G7 up to much?
Wife has a GX1 and while pretty snappy in single shot AF it seems to struggle to keep pace with moving objects that a DSLR tracks with ease.
Unless the G7 is much better it wouldn't be my first choice for moving cars.

I've just bought it and am charging the battery. Do these companies realise how disappointing it is to buy a camera and not be able to play with it immediately? I'm reduced to reading the instructions before using it. What man ever did that?

I believe GX1 had the same sensor as the G3 I had, it's come quite a long way since 2011. I now have the little GM5, can't recall trying the continuous AF on a moving car as it's not something I'm likely to do very often, but general tracking works fairly well if I remember right. AF tracking is getting better and better in the latest mirrorless cameras, it may work well for some doing motorsport, but I guess most will still go SLR. The GM5's version of the 16mp is better than the old one in lots of areas.

I'm guessing it should be done by now, they don't take too long luckily It's well worth buying a couple of spare batteries to keep charged up, the EX-Pro ones are pretty good. Not sure exactly what the shot total on the G7 battery is, but it won't be enough for example to fill a 8GB card with RAW files (RAW is well worth getting into here if you've not dealt with them before, it's a doddle in Lightroom and the extra control on things like white balance is useful. I just import everything with a default NR profile and edit if needed.)

Hope you enjoy it.

Edited by mizx on Friday 14th October 17:19

[MysteryLemon]

I used to own a gx1 a few years ago and trust me, the g7 is leaps and bounds ahead. I wouldn't say it was quite up there with a full on phase detection dslr system but its very very close. Coming from my Nikon d7000, which had excellent continuous af, I'm happy. I would have sold it by now if I wasn't.

The g7 does still use contrast detect AF but uses Panasonics Depth From Defocus system to know which way a subject is moving. Seems to work very well to me and manages to keep up with my kids most of the time.

[Derek Smith]

I've been playing with it for a couple of hours and I'm impressed. The 411 page advanced manual takes some reading.

The 4K video 'stills' is magic.

The touch screen focus point is cool.

I tried panning a moving car and the damn thing slowed and the front seat passenger looked out of the window. The focus went all the way through the multiple shots. So I've got the image of the passenger. I don't think it proves anything though.

So I'm happy with it.

Thanks for the advice, guys. Once I get going I'll post some images.

[tonyvid]

I've just got a GX8 for some work stuff and it is outstanding! That metal and rubber body is really hefty and feels good in the hand. The images and 4k video look very good indeed.