So I have been lucky enough to get my hands on the new Panasonic Lumix G7....and what a lovely camera it is. Well designed, brilliant controls and fantastic image quality, oh and do not forget 4K Video. So what we are looking at here is in reality the GH4's not so little brother. Offering many of the features you find on the flagship model.
So having just made the change over from Canon to Panasonic the design of the G7 is brilliant a DSLR in shape and design but not size or weight. Making the transition from either like myself DSLR to Mirrorless very easy or if you are planning to make your second body something a bit smaller just not too small, then you are looking in the right place.
The G7 has many features one of the key one being its ability to record video in 4K (That is 4x more than Full HD) now many people I talk to push this to one side and say they are not interested in video, keep reading and I might change your mind.
What will change you mind? This camera and all of the Lumix 4K ranges many 4KPhoto options, making uses of the cameras ability to record 4k video footage the camera has several 4KStills options:
4K Burst S/S (Start/Stop) - Press the shutter to start recording press it again to stop, couple this with the cameras ability to use continuous Auto Focus will give you great control when you know what you want to capture.
4K Burst - Half press the shutter to focus, all the way down starts the burst, this mode will continue recording whilst the shutter is pressed.
and finally
4K Pre Burst* - Pre burst is brilliant for when you know something is going to happen but you don’t know when, the camera will constantly be recording and storing to the buffer a seconds data at a time, meaning when you press the shutter approximately 1 seconds footage before and after you’ve pressed will be stored. Giving you around 60 frames to choose from (I will come on to that now)
Now if you are not familiar with 4K still and asking what am I going to do with this small bit of footage that my TV cannot yet display, well to start, most TVs will actually down sample the footage to allow a beautiful HD output and any 4K TV should be able to handle and display the footage in all its glory. However thats not what we have these small clips for, each 4K video frame has the equivalent of 8MP (aprox) given the size and quality of all the sensors currently on the market that offer this feature that would mean if you could take a still from that footage you could easily achieve a print between A3 and A2 in size. The best bit? You can easily take a still from the footage, its as simple as pausing the video at the frame you want (clicking through the near by frames and choosing the best one) and then clicking save. Giving you in reality the option of a 25/30fps. \
For those people wanting to use the 4K video footage for film making you will be please to know that there is the option for an external microphone however not for head phones, for this you would need to make the jump to the Panasonic GH4.
Now when it comes to using it in real world situations the G7 is brilliant, well designed for the hand fast focusing and the vari-angle screen is a brilliant feature. For me what was important was performance in low light and more specifically local music venues. Below are a few quick snaps of a local gig that I called in on.
And for me it meets all my needs, the camera performs brilliantly in low light with no focusing issues and noting to worry about in terms of un-usable noise.
Check out my next post which is due over the next couple of days to see how I made use of the 4K video footage the camera can produce.
*Warning extensive use may cause the cameras temperature to rise to a point where the camera shuts down in order to prevent damage and cool down.
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