Contents
- 1Body and Ergonomics
- 2Viewfinder and Screen
- 3Operation and Menus
- 4Performance and Autofocus
- 5Flash Performance
- 6In-Body Image Stabilization (IBIS)
- 7Focus Peaking
- 8Wi-Fi
- 9Electronic Shutter
- 10Other Key Features
- 11Image Quality: Dynamic Range and Color
- 12Image Quality: Noise
- 13JPEG Quality
- 14Video
- 15Conclusion
- 16Image Samples
Conclusion
Pros:
- Wonderfully constructed body with an extremely comfortable grip and easily accessible controls
- Tremendous customization options with regards to controls with 4 programmable function buttons and additional on-screen touch controls.
- Excellent tilting Electronic Viewfinder with outstanding resolution, color and contrast and quick refresh
- Rear tilting touchscreen is rich and vibrant and handles touch input very well
- Excellent dynamic range, matching the best cameras in the Micro 4/3 system
- Outstanding color response in RAW images, including deep into the shadows and at high ISOs
- Well controlled noise through ISO3200 and even acceptable at higher ISOs
- Ultra-fast and accurate single shot autofocus that is the best among all mirrorless cameras
- Focus peaking and manual focus assist work extremely well
- Wi-Fi capabilities allow for complete camera control and image transfer to mobile devices
- Built in intervalometer that is easy to use
- Menu system is well-organized and works well with the rear LCD touch screen
- Nice interface and shooting touches such as the reminder to check the focal length input when mounting a manual focus lenses
- Electronic shutter allows for silent shooting
- High quality video
- 1/8000 second shutter speed capability
- Accurate flash exposure
- Includes in-body image stabilization for the first time on a Panasonic body.
Cons:
- In-body Image Stabilization is not particularly effective, allowing for 1-2 stops of correction and lacking stabilization of the viewfinder image
- Auto white balance struggles when using external flashes
- Burst mode of 5 frames per second with the mechanical shutter is a little disappointing in today’s market
- Image Stabilization isn’t available in video mode
- Continuous autofocus still not useful for forward and backward motion
- Rear thumb grip could be better defined and more secure
- No mic input for video
Panasonic threw everything but the kitchen sink into the GX7, providing what many people had considered their ‘ideal’ Micro 4/3 camera – a great sensor in a rangefinder styled body with a corner EVF, in-body IS and all the other great features that come with a modern Panasonic body. And with most of these features, the GX7 is very successful.
The only real letdown in my experience with the camera was the less than impressive in-body image stabilization, which is a far cry from the truly excellent in-body IS on the Olympus OM-D E-M5 and E-M1. There are a few other minor nitpicks such as a little slower than expected burst mode and other such things, but by and large the GX7 is a truly excellent camera. It takes the best single shot autofocus in the industry and puts it into a small body with great image quality, a very good electronic viewfinder and loaded the body with customizable controls and a great touch screen. The overall impression is impressive. In many ways, it’s the best Micro 4/3 camera to date. In others, it’s not quite there. While the OM-D’s IBIS will keep me using my E-M5 as my primary Micro 4/3 body, the GX7 grew on me tremendously during the review period, and it is worth a long hard look for anyone looking to buy a high-end mirrorless camera.
A truly outstanding effort from Panasonic.
Image Samples
Click on an image to enlarge
I believe the GX-7 has a high burst rate of 10 fps, and a super high (with decreased resolution) of 40 fps.
I agree about the rear thumb wheel, they should have milled it like the front one, My G2 rear wheel is impossible to use in cold weather or with gloves.
Wear fingerless gloves. That’s what I do with my GH2. Works great.
and what do you do when your fiingertips get cold?
I find a nearby cafe and order some food and a nice big Belgium beer.
I had mentioned the super high 40 fps, but the 5 fps is the limit with the mechanical shutter. You can shoot in full resolution at 10fps with the electronic shutter, but there is real potential when shooting fast action with the electronic shutter to have very odd distortion artifacts from the sensor read out, which makes it less useful than full speed with a mechanical shutter. I have updated the review to better clarify this.
a clear concise effort …. your reviews are always excellent and illuminating
very nice thought out review Jordan!
The photos do appear to have nice warm colours to them. Do you use Lightroom to process the RAW files and use standard Adobe profiles?
I read this somewhere and was curious to hear from you – does the noise appear to be bit more film like ( grain) than the EM5 /EP5?
All the posted images were processed in Lightroom 5.2 with the standard Adobe Profile. I could create a custom profile, though since that requires a separate product, I review new products with what’s available to the average user. (Well, Lightroom is a separate product as well, but most shooters who will shoot RAW will own one of the big RAW converters).
You can look at the noise sample provided in the Noise section at full size (click on the image, then click the green arrow at the bottom of the screen to go to 100%), which shows 100% crops of the GX7 and the E-M5 side by side at all ISOs. I personally find them to have very similar noise profiles, just that the GX7 has very slightly more noise except at 25,600 where it’s a little better. In any case, the output from these cameras is extremely close.
why you test GX7 nosier than EM-5 all around website show the GX7 control ISO better than
EM5/EP5 ,i want to know about lens and camera settings ,
Um, because that’s how the cameras work? Don’t trust me, look at the crops for yourself. These were tripod mounted with the same lens (25/1.4) at the exact same settings (ISO, aperture, shutter speed), taken less than 3 minutes apart.
Sorry,if my comment so hard,
may i will buy 2 cam for real result ,but i never know why result was variant about camera test,
it so hard to control,business or brand royalty, and sometime i think it not science
and you can answer to me 🙂
camera test that i mean all around(web,magazine & other)
Thanks for he great review.
I have one question: did you test IBIS with non-OIS lenses? The GX7-IBIS does not work with OIS-lenses. I’ve seen other reviews that find the IBIS to be very effective..
See my reply to Bob B. below…
Good review…but I have a question…I am reading some other side-by-side reviews on the web and am seeing a different conclusion than what you have arrived at regarding the still-image is. You go out of your way to say how superior that the 5-axis IS is in the EM5 and you site that IBIS as the primary reason that you will maintain using the EM5 As your go to camera.. For still images surprisingly the IBIS in the EM5 would appear to have no advantage over the GX7, (Of course the EM5 has the IS advantage in video mode as the GX7 has no IS in video mode). I am an EM5 owner myself and surprised at these findings, too.
Perhaps if you did a side-by-side test you may be surprised.
I had done comparisons side by side with my E-M5. For instance, I tested the 25/1.4 on both cameras indoors. The GX7 was consistent down to about 1/30s. Below that, it was all over the place. Sometimes I was sharp at 1/5 sec, sometimes I was blurry at 1/20s. The E-M5 was consistently sharp at 1/5 sec. The biggest issue I had with the GX7’s IS was that I couldn’t trust it to get the shot at a certain speed. It would do fine sometimes 3 stops slower…but not all the time, which made it much less useful for me. You may be different, but I need to have faith in my gear that it will perform how I expect, when I need it. On the GX7, that meant trusting the IS to no slower than 1 stop below normal handholding speeds. It can do better…just not all the time.
If you read a bunch of reviews, you’ll see the results from the IS are all over the place. CameraLabs had a similar experience to mine, while there was a different recent review that had better results with the GX7 than with the E-M1. I think a lot of it may come down to how each individual photographer manifests their hand shake. If one photographer moves almost entirely along the 2 axes that the GX7 corrects, they may have superior results. I likely have a more 3 dimensional shake pattern, which the OM-D corrects beautifully, but the GX7 doesn’t (though I don’t have issues with OIS lenses – the 35-100/2.8 and the Fuji 55-200 are both very solid with their OIS in my hands – but I did have similar results to the GX7 with the 2-axis Olympus Pens).
I tested the IS with the Olympus 9-18, the 25/1.4, the 75/1.8 and the Canon FD 85mm f/1.8. The 35-100, of course, used its OIS when mounted.
Did you notice any shutter shock with the GX7?
Not that I could pinpoint directly as shutter shock.
Hi,
Can anybody advise me if GX7 is better for young lady than Canon Rebel SL1?
Hi Anna!
GX7 is deffinately better for any lady and any gentleman, IMHO!
If you have any specific requirement though, we may discuss here, otherwise, I can’t see a reason to chose any Canon cropped sensor camera over GX7!
It’s so fine and stylish review… Let me ask a couple of questions.
I enrolled into a preliminary record to buy this camera in few closest weeks as soon as it would be available in my country.
Actually I have to pay in advance in absence the camera that I have never seen alive,
but I don’t expect to discover something wrong because I do trust in Panasonic, I was the owner of Panny GF1, G2 and G5 and generally I can imagine what I should get .
The only thing disturbs me – the visual quality of GX7 EVF. My eyes is rather sensitive for any unplesant things related with viewfinder,
I hate to see a jerky, flickering or moire patterns in EVF, it’s rather critical for me.
Could you kindly comment if you noticed something similar looking via GX7 EVF?
And else, whether it’s a real handicap that the 4:3 viewfinder mode is small because it’s actually a crop of the native 16:9 picture?
Did you feel any visual discomfort due to this not so conventional EVF design?
Thank you in advance!
Anatoly
Bummer you didn’t include ISO info in your sample shots so we could draw our own conclusions. Hopefully you’ll add that.
Thanks for the review and beautiful sample photos.
Quick question: I notice my GX1 (and GF1 before that) underexpose heavily at higher ISOs. Usually, I have to use up to +2 ev compensation to get properly exposed photos at 3200 – 6400.
Does the GX7 do this as well?
Can anyone offer any thoughts on the GX7’s EVF? I am very tempted to buy one, I already have a GF1. However the 16/9 viewfinder format surprise me somewhat as most snapper would be using 4×3 or 3×2. Is using 4/3 or 3/2 practical in a 16/9 finder? Or is the image too small?
TNX
Excellent review, thanks! Just one query, at the top of page two you state the movie button can be “commandeered for additional functions as well”. I would love to be able to set this to quickly shift ISO while keeping my eye to the viewfinder, but i can’t see where to set this! Any ideas?
Your information about the Flash auto exposure compensation has made my flash usable! Many grateful thanks.
So glad I could help.
Helped me too – today Aug 22, 2016!
You say that the facility to enter the focal length of lenses with no electrical contacts is the first of its kind. Every Pentax DSLR has had that option from the beginning, the ability to use legacy K-mount lenses being one of the attractions of their line. That said, your review of the GX7 is very fair. I’ve had one for over a year and it reflects my experience. Including the relative ineffectiveness of the in-body stabilisation.
GX8 review?