GX7

Contemporary Dance in Moncalieri: Pushing the Lumix GX7’s autofocus to the limit

03/12/2013 By Heather 13 Comments

“Elena’s asked us to photograph one of her dance performances on Saturday night in Moncalieri,” I hear Mathieu yell from the kitchen.

Looking down at the Panasonic Lumix GX7, a smile breaks across my face. I realise that there is one more test I have to perform before I can close the chapter on this mirrorless marvel. Though I’d already used the GX7 in poor lighting to test the ISO and internal stabilisation, and tried out the C-AF, tracking and continuous shooting on my friend’s daughter running towards me on a sunny day at the park for our full review, I’d never put the two conditions together. The combination of low light and moving objects would tell me whether the GX7 could really claim the title of ‘professional mirrorless camera’ or not.

The One Lumix to Rule Them All: A Panasonic GX7 Full Review

18/11/2013 By Heather 26 Comments

The Panasonic Lumix GH3 has been the undisputed flagship of the Lumix mirrorless series since November 2012. Though it is mirrorless, it bears a strong resemblance to low-end DSLRs in terms of size and design. The GH3’s thickset package is meant not just for stills but professional video making as well. In fact, it is widely considered one of the best compact bodies for video by professional videographers.

However, the GH3’s status as a “video camera rather than a stills camera” left a gaping hole in the Lumix mirrorless line-up for photography. While its Micro Four Thirds partner Olympus had already released the professional OM-D E-M5 months before the GH3, and was on the verge of releasing the high-end Pen E-P5, Panasonic still had very little to offer in terms of high-quality compact still bodies. Not providing one would result in being left behind by the competition.

Enter the Lumix GX7, Panasonic’s first serious contribution to the compact mirrorless camera market for professional photographers. It is the successor to the two-year-old Lumix GX1 in name only – everything else about this camera has been greatly improved or changed, hence the leap from 1 to 7. Having used it intensively for more than a month now, I can say with confidence that Panasonic has created the perfect professional body which can be used by photographers who are tired of carrying around a lot of excess gear.

Pasta Ouverture: A stop motion animation with the Panasonic GX7

11/11/2013 By Mathieu 4 Comments

Lumix cameras are always overflowing with interesting features and the new Panasonic GX7 is no exception. The challenge, however, is finding a concrete reason to use them. Lumix cameras have always had excellent video features, and in the case of the GX7, it offers a very interesting stop motion animation feature (first introduced on the G6) in addition to time-lapse and standard video recording. Last week, my colleague’s wife Iryna asked us to help her with a project for the Design Masters Course she is finishing for the Red Oddity school in Bolzano. Serendipitously, that project involved stop motion animation. What could have been more ideal?