Panasonic is billing this as their answer to the Olympus OM-D EM-5; it has a new sensor for which Panasonic claims better low light performance than the Olympus. Also has an EVF with higher resolution than other Panasonics, and a physical switch on the camera body to change between manual and auto focus--should be esp. handy when you can't get the auto focus to focus on a bird in dense brush. Will not be available till September in the U.S., and I believe these reviews are of pre-production cameras.
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/panasonic-lumix-dmc-gx7-expert-review-22581
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/8599640731/panasonic-gx7-first-impressions-review
The first review says it compared the lowlight performance with the Olympus, and found that the Panasonic had less noise, but the Olympus had better fine detail. Certainly doesn't sound like a clear win for Panasonic for bird photography purposes. It will be interesting to see further reviews.
I'm considering upgrading to one of these two cameras, from my G3. Not dissatisfied with my G3, but just looking for something a bit better since I've had it for several years, and there doesn't seem to be anything much better coming soon. So far leaning towards the Olympus based on the remark on "fine detail"; also, it is now $100 cheaper than the GX7, has a weather sealed body, and like the GX7 a nice EVF. I also shoot mostly in JPEG since you get spotting scope class magnification with these cameras in that format using the virtual teleconverter option with no loss of image quality, I've read the Olympus has especially good JPEG processing. I would welcome any contrary or confirming thoughts on any of this.
Best,
Jim
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/panasonic-lumix-dmc-gx7-expert-review-22581
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/8599640731/panasonic-gx7-first-impressions-review
The first review says it compared the lowlight performance with the Olympus, and found that the Panasonic had less noise, but the Olympus had better fine detail. Certainly doesn't sound like a clear win for Panasonic for bird photography purposes. It will be interesting to see further reviews.
I'm considering upgrading to one of these two cameras, from my G3. Not dissatisfied with my G3, but just looking for something a bit better since I've had it for several years, and there doesn't seem to be anything much better coming soon. So far leaning towards the Olympus based on the remark on "fine detail"; also, it is now $100 cheaper than the GX7, has a weather sealed body, and like the GX7 a nice EVF. I also shoot mostly in JPEG since you get spotting scope class magnification with these cameras in that format using the virtual teleconverter option with no loss of image quality, I've read the Olympus has especially good JPEG processing. I would welcome any contrary or confirming thoughts on any of this.
Best,
Jim
Last edited: