The Lumix G7 is a very
capable mid-range camera that should be considered by anyone wanting a step-up
from budget models, whether DSLR or mirrorless. It has well thought-out
controls, a large and detailed electronic viewfinder and the flexibility of a
fully-articulated touch-screen. It's responsive, focusing quickly even in low
light and firing-off bursts up to 8fps at the full resolution. It's feature-packed
with built-in Wifi, timelapse, silent shooting up to 1/16000, and up to
seven-frame bracketing. It's innovative with 4k video allowing you to capture
movies with four times the detail of 1080p, and the chance to grab 8 Megapixel
photos from footage at 30fps. Plus as a Micro Four Thirds camera, it enjoys
access to the broadest range of native mirrorless lenses. In all these respects
it takes the baton of the earlier G6 and runs with it, making it one of the
best mid-range cameras around, and one which even treads on the toes of
higher-end models. Indeed for many, the video capabilities approach that of the
flagship GH4, making it an ideal budget option for film-makers or a backup body
for B-roll. It's a lot of camera for the money.
Specifiation
- 16 megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor with no low pass filter to confidently capture sharp images with a high dynamic range and artifact free performance; WiFi enabled
- 4K QHD video recording (3840 x 2160) with three 4K Ultra HD capture at 25p and Full HD ( 1920 * 1080 ) at 50p
- 8MP PHOTO BURST MODE at 30 fps, extracts individual high resolution images from 4K Ultra HD video filmed at 30 frames per second to capture split second moments
- Easily control aperture and shutter settings with the front and rear dials while making white balance and ISO adjustments on the fly; Assign favorite settings to any of the six function buttons (six on body, five on menu)
- High resolution (2,360K dot) OLED Live View Finder and rear touch enabled 3 inch tilt/swivel LCD display (1,040 dot) are clear even in bright sunlight, Image sensor size 17.3 x 13.0 mm (in 4:3 aspect ratio)
- 3.5mm external mic port, 2.5mm remote port, USB 2.0 and micro HDMI Type D; Compatible with newer UHS I/UHS II SDXC/SDHC SD cards capable of storing high resolution 4K videos.
Image
Quality
Its photo and video quality is quite good for its price class,
especially if you spring for something a bit better than the kit lens. Photos
have somewhat better-than-average dynamic range for a Four Thirds size sensor,
colors are quite accurate, and its low light JPEG photos remain decently
detailed through ISO 1600. If you process raw you can get even more detail out
of the low-light photos, though like most of its competitors you still lose a
lot of highlight and shadow detail as light drops and ISO sensitivity setting
rises.
The
4K video looks really good -- seriously, 4K in general is visibly sharper and
more detailed than HD -- and is easy to work with and play on different
devices. Persnickety viewers may find bright areas a bit washed out, but
otherwise it displays few artifacts and the low-light video is quite clean.
Performance
Overall, the G7's performance is up to whatever most families
and travelers may throw at it. It takes a middling 0.6 second to wake up and
shoot. That's more than twice as long as the similarly priced Nikon D5500 ,
for example; slow startup is one of the few remaining drawbacks for mirrorless
cameras in comparison to dSLRs. Panasonic's autofocus system is pretty fast, as
is the 14-42mm kit lens we tested with. Focusing and shooting in good light
takes only 0.1 second, which rises to a still-good 0.3 second in dim light.
Camera response when you factor in
image-processing is a little slower. Time to take two sequential JPEGs runs
about 0.4 second. That's not bad, but it's not quite as good as competitors.
Shooting raw drops that to a much better 0.2 second. With flash, the time rises
to just about 1 second, which isn't bad.
Continuous shooting with autofocus is quite
good, running about 6.5 frames per second for more than 30 JPEGs. It takes a
bit longer to process the images, though that doesn't interfere with starting
another burst -- just reviewing the photos and changing settings. It's not
quite as impressive for raw shooting; although it can sustain a burst for about
6.2fps, that's only for 8 frames after which it slows down a lot. In the
limited number of cases where you can forgo continuous autofocus, exposure and
white balance -- like jump shots -- it can shoot as fast as 8fps. The 40fps
super-high burst mode doesn't use those either, and it sets the picture size to
small (4 megapixels).
If you're shooting very short sequences,
the 4K Photo mode is probably a better option than that, since it shoots a
short 30fps short burst of 8-megapixel photos from which you extract and save
the one(s) you like.
Action shooting with the G7 was a
surprisingly good experience, even with the kit lens (as long as you're in
bright sunlight). I achieved an excellent ratio of usably focused to
out-of-focus action shots, both in sunlight and at dusk with the Olympus
12-40mm f2.8 lens. It grabs focus fast, which comes in handy for street
photography, too. In complete let-the-camera-pick-the-focus-areas mode, it's
just slightly better than most cameras; it's still inconsistent about its
choices and tends to default to the nearest object, but if you give it another
chance, it frequently makes more intelligent guesses.
The battery life is rated at a meh 360
shots -- typical for mirrorless models but frustrating in practice. However,
during typical testing I got 750 shots and a handful of videos and the battery
indicator only dropped by one bar. Video does really run it down, though, and
when shooting 4K video in moderately hot conditions (around 80° F/27° C), I
found it would continue shooting but turn off the viewfinder and the LCD.
Design
and features
The G7 looks and feels like an entry-level dSLR,
plasticky-feeling but sturdy, with a comfortable and substantial grip. It has
two adjustment dials in the front and back of the camera's top; a programmable
function button sits inside the rear dial.
Also on the top right is the mode dial with the
usual manual, semimanual and automatic modes, as well
as a manual movie mode, custom setting slot that maps to three sets, and a
panorama mode. The power switch is next to it, along with another programmable
function button and a flat, ill-placed movie record button that's difficult to
find and press without looking and awkwardly moving your forefinger.
On the left shoulder you'll find the
drive-mode dial with options for time-lapse/stop-motion animation (this is one
of the few cameras I've seen with a direct-access control for that);
self-timer, exposure bracketing (up to seven shots in 1/3-stop, 2/3- and 1-stop
intervals); the aforementioned 4K photo and 4K burst options; normal burst
mode; and single-shot mode.
A four-way navigation pad with buttons for ISO sensitivity,
autofocus area (the usual suspects plus Panasonic's unique custom
configuration, which allows you to select any set of AF areas, including
discontiguous ones), white balance and a programmable button. Below that, yet
another programmable button.
Have you been counting? Aside from the
explicitly mentioned Fn buttons, there are a total of 11 buttons that can be
remapped for your customizing pleasure.
On the grip side are the three connectors:
a remote shutter control, Micro-HDMI (the camera supports clean HDMI-out) and
an annoyingly proprietary combination AV- and USB-out. That and the placement
of the SD card slot in the battery compartment are my only two real gripes
about the design.
I really like the EVF. It's big and bright
with a reasonably comfortable eyecup on it. The articulating touchscreen LCD is
pretty typical, and Panasonic utlizes the touchscreen very well, with the
ability to use it for everything, nothing and many stops in between.
The camera really does have an impressive set of features, along
with one of the best PDF user manuals I've seen (download the G7's manual); it takes advantage
of interactivity, provides complete and useful information and reads like it
was written/edited by a native English speaker. Oddly though, it has no index.
Unfortunately, you really need to use the manual. There are tons of features
you'll never find without it and never realize it has.
Some of them include the ability to apply
effects in the manual and semimanual exposure modes, with the option to
simultaneously record an unfiltered version of the JPEG (instead of having to
shoot raw+JPEG). You can apply preset curve adjustments or customize your own.
The Snap Movie feature, which shoots 2- to
8-second clips, has a Pull Focus option; you define two focus points, and the
camera automatically refocuses from one set area to another over the course of
the clip. That's a really neat feature, though it doesn't work with all Micro
Four Thirds lenses. (Unfortunately, the documentation doesn't specify which
ones.)
While its video features aren't quite as
broad as, say, those in the Sony
Cyber-shot RX100 IV advanced compact , it does
support an external hot-shoe microphone, and you can specify whether you'd like
the tonal range to expand to the full 0-255 RGB scale of still photos or the
16-255 RGB compressed video-safe values. It also supports Panasonic's Cinelike
D (dynamic-range priority) and Cinelike V (contrast-priority) tonal settings --
you can customize them as well -- for a little more flexibility.
Panasonic has also made a big deal about its Clear Retouch feature, where you
can remove unwanted objects in a scene by scribbling over them on the display
(similar to Photoshop's Content-Aware deletion technology), but the feature
demos a lot better than it works. At least my fingers are too big and the screen
is too small for me to produce any useful results. Your mileage may vary.
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