What's great about Ralf's detailed reviews is that you can watch it, know everything about the camera, and just walk into your Camera store and buy it without wasting the salesperson's time. :)
Hi Ralf, As an amateur photographer, i found your video on GX7 much valuable. Most of all, i really like the way you put the technical aspects in layman's terms. Please keep up such good works...You are helping an entire community here..
Great review. Such a nice camera. I love the many FN buttons and 2 control wheels and what i now really like is the C1 C2 C3 so there are so many ways to customize things for quick access and then the tilt-able viewfinder and the touch screen with touch to focus and shoot. Sony and Fuji should be paying attention how to make a camera fun to use. Sony needs more buttons and better menu and Fuji needs touch LCD both need touch to focus and shoot.
Thanks. It's so hot this days in hamburg. And I have to shot the video while all windows and doors are closed because of the noise from outside. So after a while it get's really hot inside my office ....
5 You did a terrific job explaining this camera it was like watching everything Leica has done digitally step by step on their M's & their lesser lines if which I know Leica is & isn't against. I am currently waiting for a-M 240 do the amount of lenses I have which you said even fit on this camera Leica made a huge mistake leaving Panasonic.
I realize that, but if you listen carefully, on two occasions while making the comparison, he makes a mistake. The first time he says that Olympus lenses have stabilization built in, later he says it correctly that it's the bodies. The second time he is talking about the Panasonic and he calls it the Fuji. No big deal, you have to listen carefully to catch it. Since English is not his first language, he does a very good job given that this is over 40 minutes long :)
Ralf, this is a very good review. Your english is fluent and correct. One little thing you keep doing though is pronouncing autofocus with the first vowel as it is in German, like in the English word "out". But it should be like the vowel in the English word "taught", something like the o in "verboten". The way you are saying it is a bit distracting, to me at least, because it sounds like "out-of-focus".
4 Analog controls shutter, ISO and Fstops where in the places as they have been historically & marked on Leica Lenses , yet it still has all the digital maturity of this.
When you look for an Interchangeable System Camera ICSC, the very first thing you should do is watch the lenses of the particular ICSC. If you plan to use only kit lens than ICSC is not for you, it will be better to choose one of advanced compact camera. So if we talk about IQ/price ratio of lenses, Samsung seems to have the best ratio. Korean system has lot of lenses and their prices are very low compare to Sony, Fuji, Olympus/Panasonic.
Hi Ralf, Thanks for the review. I bought a GX7 and found the first half of your review helpful, but the second half was just a list of what's in the menus (which are vast and confuse the hell out of me): I wondered if you were planning to do some shorter more focused videos for us e.g. "how to shoot portraits with the GX7"; "how to shoot sports with the GX7"; "how to shoot in a theatre with the GX7"; etc. Often less is more! (but if less is more, just think how much more, more is!!)
Give me an 48h-Day and I will produce more videos. I still have my job as a photographer, host my german website with lots of camera-tests and write books .... there is no more time for extra videos - sorry.
If the EVF is a crucial factor for you take GX7. If not than take NX300 which is the best mirrorless camera for the money (Tipa Award 2013). Other factor is Samsung has cheaper and excellent lenses as good as panasonic/olympus.
Very nice review, thanks. Lots of nice things in the GX7. More feature rich than Fuji X1 and I think I like better then Pen P5. The big thing now becomes IQ and ISO performance. Fuji X1 has nice IQ but lacks in functions and AF speed in comparison and fewer lenses - GX7 all the nice functions and lenses but will it lack due to smaller sensor. I am very impressed with the GX7. They say best ISO performance of any M4/3rd's camera so I am per-ordering a GX7 today :)
Like your reviews just got my gx-7 silver body with 20mm lens. I also have an olympus zuiko digital 40-150mm 1.4-5.6 with m43 adapator works great. Want to get the 75-300 #2. Thanks for your time...G
Very nice overview, thank you. One question: does it have a touch shutter function like (for example) the Olympus E-M5? Touching the screen also takes the photo then.
Enjoyed the review Ralf. Can you say anything about using the viewfinder when wearing glasses and also do you have any comment about the battery life. Thanks.
hello ralf nice review. your 40 min review was worth it. Iam planning on buying a mirrorless camera. since you've made a review on a samsung nx300 last month. Which of the two cameras do you prefer? nx300 or this lumix gx7? i've read that panasonic lenses are great and i like the lumix's design, the adjustable evf the stabilizer for both the lens and the body. but the nx300 has higher megapixels. does higher megapixel matters? ive seen review of nx300 lense and they say its just ok.
I agree IS should be also available for video for none IS lenses - however Panasonic has great lenses with IS - so should not be a problem unless one only has Olympus lenses - maybe they will update later with firmware update. Olympus has the nice 10-50 video lens (kit lens) so yes it is a shame to have no IS in body for video but not an issue with Panasonic lenses - also no Mic input, GH6 more suited for video work - GX7 perfect for image shooting but still good video options
According to an "Imaging Resource" review they said, "It's also important to note that the body-based stabilization system is not used for video capture." If this is true then it is a deal breaker for me with this camera. It is a terrible oversight by Panasonic. Maybe they are protecting the GH3. Can you confirm if indeed there is no IBIS when in video mode? Thank you so much for the great reviews!
with the wifi cloud-sync service can I connect the camera to a wifi connection and have it sync up with my Google drive? or do I have to use a panasonic could service?
Ralf, I have received my GX7 on Saturday morning. After spending some time playing with it, i think I'm missing something. Basically, is it possible to have exposure NOT locked to the AF point but have it unlocked (meter still working) to wherever we point the camera after focus lock? Hope it make sense.. it does work in iAuto mode like that but not in PASM modes. Have you noticed it?
I like this camera but it sensor is only 17.3mm-13mm. Will it make any difference? I am not pro photographer. please recommend which camera shall I buy sony alpha nex6 or this one. thank you.
@kuturgan my first option is really the nx300 since the galaxy nx is very expensive. But panasonic is releasing gx7 i'm considering it as an option and also the sony NEX-6. so nx300 or gx7 or nex-6. Thanks for your advise. Its goes down to having EVF or not.
Nice video but a couple of errors, once he calls a Panasonic lens an Olympus and at the end he calls it a Fuji camera - other than that, a fairly comprehensive overview.
Great question - same confusion exists with Sony with their NEX5/6/7 and now A6000 - I think as the NEX was a better camera then the NEX7 although it had less MP - Olympus is a bit confusing also - as the EM10 is newer and has some better features then the OMD-em5 - and the OME-em1 is the top model the best is the GH4 ( best in video and stills ) - the older GH3 is still being sold and is good but no 4K video and no DFD for faster tracking focus. The GH is the Pro line with weather sealing - but a larger body - next is the GX7 which is also fantastic, ( the GH GX GM G and LX100 all have m43 16mp sensor ) The GX line comes after GH - smaller, like range finder style - Then the GM - M for Micro - same sensor as GX7 and same processor - and GM5 the same but has the EVF from the GX7 - The G line to me is below the GX line - large body's and less expensive - but still very capable - So maybe - GH Pro line GX7 the range finder style ( although it has no optical VF but it has EVF ) G like a less expensive version of the GH series GM the Micro line - super small and of course now with the LX100 - you have the same sensor from the GX7 and a newer processor from the GH4 and the DFD from the GH4 and a M43 16MP sensor (although output 12MP ) but a far larger sensor then the LX7 which is still for sale
You english is very very good but you just want to pause when you say panasonic. like this, pan, a, sonic. almost like you want to separate the syllables but not a long pause.
6. Leica should beg to make this it's new Diglux & then with the 240 in time folk wold be saying Nikon, Cannon who? Dear Leica get some real consultants!
you have to excuse his pronunciation for he is from Germany. now a days, Who would put in 41 mins review for you. not even the sell man from the store you go for purchase. cheers.
5 You did a terrific job explaining this camera it was like watching everything Leica has done digitally step by step on their M's & their lesser lines if which I know Leica is & isn't against. I am currently waiting for a-M 240 do the amount of lenses I have which you said even fit on this camera Leica made a huge mistake leaving Panasonic.
