I've been reading through the manual for my new camera and finding it to be extremely capable.
Having come from an Olympus and Canon background, the Panasonic menu system does take some getting used to, but that's because there are a lot of features packed into the GF7. I'm sure if you have one or more of the more recent cameras you won't feel like the GF7 is much of an upgrade (the camera is very similar to the GM1 I owned for a very brief moment in time), but coming from an Olympus E-PL2, the advances made in the last few years with the micro 43 format are tremendous.
One of the features that I read about, but didn't think much of, is focus peaking. Wow, I was wrong about how incredible this feature really is! Having the in focus areas highlighted in blue while working manual focus makes manual focus actually fun!
Here are just a few samples I took using manual focus. These were shot in jpeg without any alterations made to the image. I used my Lumix 1.7 20mm lens for these photos.
I'm not a photography expert, I'd classify myself more in the photo enthusiast crowd, so for me I'm very happy with the image quality.
Coming from a non-touch screen camera, I'm also loving using the touch screen to get through the menus. I guess I've been trained by using my tablet, so it feels natural to me, plus the ability to move focus using just a touch is a godsend. As much as I loved my Olympus E-PL2, often times when using auto focus, it would hunt or focus on the wrong thing.
One of the things I've come to enjoy doing while traveling with my family is taking family portraits, and I really see the flip screen as a tool to make those portraits easier. I've discovered in the past that most strangers take terrible photos when you ask them to help take a picture. This is the main reason why I had to learn to take my own picture while traveling. Same goes for having others take a family portrait. For example, I took a photo for a family on top of the Galeries Lafayette, making sure to have the Eiffel Tower perfectly lined up in the middle, when they returned the favor, there was no care taken in the photo, even leaving out the Eiffel Tower.
Another feature that Panasonic added is the ability to self trigger the camera when the screen is flipped up and in selfie mode. By waving a hand in front of the camera, it triggers the camera to either take the shot or start a countdown (3 seconds or 10 seconds), so no more putting the timer on and running in a hurry to get into place.
So far the biggest disappointment I can see is the short battery life. Since I've been playing with the camera a lot, testing out different capabilities, I've noticed it loses battery very quickly. It's not so quick that your average user will run out of battery midway through a day of use, but an extra battery is definitely something to have on hand. When traveling I used to skip a day or two of charging my camera battery, but with the Panasonic GF7 I'd most definitely charge it up every night. Still, not a big enough concern for me to count it as a deal breaker.
Speaking of traveling, the whole reason I got into the Micro 43 system was because I wanted a camera that let me do more than my point and shoot, but wasn't a pain to carry around. As much as I enjoyed the photos that came out of my old Canon dSLR, I never wanted to take it anywhere with me. I see a lot of people traveling with dSLR cameras, but they always seem so loaded down, on the other hand I can see carrying my GF7 with me constantly without feeling like it would be out of place to bring a camera (try bringing an dSLR to a bar without feeling awkward).
In essence, I'd have to say I am Panasonic's prime target market for the Panasonic GF7. No, that's not true, their target market are selfie obsessed cell phone camera users who want to step up to a better quality camera, but it just so happens a lot of those same features are really beneficial for sometimes solo travelers who like to travel light(not so much the soft skin and slimming mode)!
Having come from an Olympus and Canon background, the Panasonic menu system does take some getting used to, but that's because there are a lot of features packed into the GF7. I'm sure if you have one or more of the more recent cameras you won't feel like the GF7 is much of an upgrade (the camera is very similar to the GM1 I owned for a very brief moment in time), but coming from an Olympus E-PL2, the advances made in the last few years with the micro 43 format are tremendous.
One of the features that I read about, but didn't think much of, is focus peaking. Wow, I was wrong about how incredible this feature really is! Having the in focus areas highlighted in blue while working manual focus makes manual focus actually fun!
Here are just a few samples I took using manual focus. These were shot in jpeg without any alterations made to the image. I used my Lumix 1.7 20mm lens for these photos.
 |
| Panasonic GF7 With Lumix 1.7 20MM Lens |
 |
| Panasonic GF7 With Lumix 1.7 20MM Lens |
 |
| Panasonic GF7 With Lumix 1.7 20MM Lens |
 |
| Panasonic GF7 With Lumix 1.7 20MM Lens |
 |
| Panasonic GF7 With 1.7 20MM Lens |
I'm not a photography expert, I'd classify myself more in the photo enthusiast crowd, so for me I'm very happy with the image quality.
Coming from a non-touch screen camera, I'm also loving using the touch screen to get through the menus. I guess I've been trained by using my tablet, so it feels natural to me, plus the ability to move focus using just a touch is a godsend. As much as I loved my Olympus E-PL2, often times when using auto focus, it would hunt or focus on the wrong thing.
One of the things I've come to enjoy doing while traveling with my family is taking family portraits, and I really see the flip screen as a tool to make those portraits easier. I've discovered in the past that most strangers take terrible photos when you ask them to help take a picture. This is the main reason why I had to learn to take my own picture while traveling. Same goes for having others take a family portrait. For example, I took a photo for a family on top of the Galeries Lafayette, making sure to have the Eiffel Tower perfectly lined up in the middle, when they returned the favor, there was no care taken in the photo, even leaving out the Eiffel Tower.
So far the biggest disappointment I can see is the short battery life. Since I've been playing with the camera a lot, testing out different capabilities, I've noticed it loses battery very quickly. It's not so quick that your average user will run out of battery midway through a day of use, but an extra battery is definitely something to have on hand. When traveling I used to skip a day or two of charging my camera battery, but with the Panasonic GF7 I'd most definitely charge it up every night. Still, not a big enough concern for me to count it as a deal breaker.
Speaking of traveling, the whole reason I got into the Micro 43 system was because I wanted a camera that let me do more than my point and shoot, but wasn't a pain to carry around. As much as I enjoyed the photos that came out of my old Canon dSLR, I never wanted to take it anywhere with me. I see a lot of people traveling with dSLR cameras, but they always seem so loaded down, on the other hand I can see carrying my GF7 with me constantly without feeling like it would be out of place to bring a camera (try bringing an dSLR to a bar without feeling awkward).
In essence, I'd have to say I am Panasonic's prime target market for the Panasonic GF7. No, that's not true, their target market are selfie obsessed cell phone camera users who want to step up to a better quality camera, but it just so happens a lot of those same features are really beneficial for sometimes solo travelers who like to travel light(not so much the soft skin and slimming mode)!
0 comments