Panasonic LUMIX GX7 DMC-GX7K DMCGX7K 16.0 MP Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds DSLM Camera - Body Only (Black)

New to me, had for around a month so far, coming from couple of Panasonics the latest being an LX5 which I loved shooting with but wanted a slightly larger, more substantial and professional machine with built-in eyepiece viewfinder (I had the clip on EV for the LX5 but it was sort of a bother to use) and wider angle lens capabilities - the GX7 fits the bill.The Panasonic Lumix LX5 with Leica 24mm f/2.0 lens is probably the sharpest picture-taking camera and lens combo I've ever had, after many earlier years with Nikon film cameras with their 24mm f/2.8 and 105mm f/2.5 both of which I thought were sharp as tacks. The Leica/Panasonic lens I think, is a sharper tack than those great lenses. Like the wonderful Leica rangefinders, think that the LX5 could have a more ideal distance from the rear of the lens to the sensor, and that the old Nikon film lenses had to be designed to miss that big flapping mirror, which must complicate lens design that rangefinder systems avoid. The LX5 Leica 24mm f/2.0 - I think, might also use this to its advantage of this factor as it is razor sharp.The GX7 of course you have to combine with a lens - one of the biggest reasons for getting it was so I could use it with the Panasonic 7-14mm f/4.0 super-wide zoom. Have that lens now and the combo is fantastic for the way I see and shoot - it is so wide I have to adjust to it which I'm doing. The 7-14mm is very sharp as well, though maybe a tick behind the Leica but hard to tell as the viewing angles are so different, details I was used to seeing with the Leica are "stretched" in the Panasonic and therefore may not be viewable in the results because the wider focal length puts objects in front of you further away, lessening specific details I could have seen in a shorter focal length lens - my idea anyway.The GX7 I'm liking a lot for the many controls that are easier to access quickly without thinking than in the LX5. Buttons and levers abound in a larger body that make it easier to manipulate. The touch screen is a huge plus, now able to make changes often and quickly without having to figure out which physical button on the body to use and press. Zooming in and out of pictures I've taken using finger strokes like on an iPhone is great. In pre-set scenes it has a good panorama shooting feature that stitches things together, again, like an iPhone.The eyepiece viewfinder I love, being old school and like to compose my pictures within a dark, focused visual environment as opposed to doing it on a large LCD screen. With the super-wide lens, I have to check the edges of the frames of shots as you can get distortion and bowing if you're out of alignment. The GX7 has cool vertical and horizontal alignment lines that move with you that help check this for me when composing. A great feature is that the eyepiece viewfinder turns on when you put your eye to it, then switches to the LCD screen when you pull away. Very smart.Got a really good Gariz half camera case, because I wanted a minimal case that allowed me to keep the big Panasonic zoom on all the time. The Gariz case is beautifully designed and made and am waiting for a shotgun strap that will give me fast shooting response times even when around my neck. The thin metal base plate is genius.Moreover, the GX7 looks good, looks like a professional machine in all black, has grown-up controls, knobs, levers, all black shutter button in a package that's easier for me to hold and use than the LX5 was. All controls are marked with clear white painted text on the camera body, very pro-looking and easy to see for me, without glasses which is nice. The LX5 was a fingertip camera for me, the GX5 I hold and cradle but it's not huge and heavy like a DSLR but has similar picture-taking qualities.I realize now, that though I take informal pictures with my iPhone when I have to, and when something is important I make sure I have the GX7. There is a real difference in the end results. The GX7 turns on immediately, zap, takes a picture immediately, pow. My iPhone takes forever to focus and adjust exposure, plus whatever else it's thinking about in the eternity before the shutter goes off.With this camera, digital photography is finally getting close to fulfilling it's promise. Can't wait for the future!

I love this camera. I honestly am not a professional photographer; that said i try to avoid using the camera's automatic iAuto mode (though if I'm really pressed for a shot; iAuto it is). I have read books about how to properly capture a picture using a DSLR. I started using micro4/3 cameras with my first camera being the Panasonic GF5. While i liked it for travel and it is very compact in size; i didn't like how some of the pictures came out when used in low light situations. Especially in the Auto mode (which limited ISO to 1600 and that meant blur blur blurry pictures). Of course it didn't help that i used cheap lenses like Sigma ART series and the 12-45 Zoom kit but I just don't have the budget to purchase very high quality fast glass. In comparison my friend purchases a SONY NEX APC camera and his pictures were relatively clear and blur less. The one knock against the SONY is that it rendered darker skin very badly. The GF5 and the GX7 gets exposure right for skin tone.This is important for my family pictures. I-Auto mode now tops out at a higher sensitivity and this aids to reduce blur. I can give it to my sister and she can take awesome pictures.The GX7 features in body stabilization in order to further aid with blurring due to camera shake. When paired with my Sigma 19mm (which has no in lens stabilization) it is a great walk around and vacation setup. My pictures are now blur free (even using iAuto mode); and the autofocus speed is awesome - even in low light. I use it with the 12-45mm zoom lens (also quick to focus). I also have the very compact 14mm panasonic lens which i use for nigh time landscape photos. I might add the 30mm lens (Sigma) to the repertoire when i want a nice zoom with the blurred background(bokeh).Things I'm not too crazy about: panaramic mode doesn't have a dedicated dial. I'll have to look to program one of the Custom dial settings to accommodate this need. The menu system is pretty complicated; some options like: turning on silent mode aren't really explained well (this turns on the electronic shutter and certain menu items are disabled as a result). I highly recommend going to Amazon's kindle bookstore and purchasing: "The Panasonic GX7 Menu System Simplified". This helped a lot. Lastly, the biggest thing I'm not to fond of is the wifi functionality. It doesn't seem to work as I would want it but after fiddling around with it I was able to connect to the camera from my phone and pull photos from the camera directly. This is rather nice when it works.Why the 5 star review you might ask? The pictures I've taken have gotten me compliments time and time again. This is first and foremost a camera. The panasonic gx7 exceeds on all level based on this. I don't need to invest in expensive lenses to get photos that would make a professional photographer be envious. The automatic mode works well; the manual modes work even better. Buttons change most standard properties such as ISO and enable you to "easily" take better pictures if you are more advanced. Regardless of if you are a novice or a pro; don't let your pocket book deter you from taking the types of photos you want. This is an excellent starter and semi-pro camera. Build your lens collection according to your budget (or not) and enjoy the beautiful pictures the Panasonic Gx7 will enable you to take.

Great camera! The 16mp are more than enough. I've shot wedding photographs as well as standard portraits and this camera works very well. I'm a Canon shooter and initially it was hard for me to dive into the menus just to change ISO. You can reprogram the buttons for different things and I reprogrammed my WIFI button to select ISO and then the rear thumb dial to change it. I also have my rear thumb dial default to aperture control and the index finger dial to shutter speed. Another thing I did to speed up the camera is to disable picture review after the image is taken. It tends to take a long time to pull up and if you are in a fast paced environment ( like a wedding or family portrait session with children ) you will miss a lot of shots due to that delay. Without review this thing is dead silent and super fast.I love the focus peaking this camera has. You can change the color of it and it does help you so much with manual focusing. I'd like to get a Voigtlander 17.5 or 25mm f0.95 at some point and the focus peaking would be amazing for a manual lens like that.My biggest peeve is that you have to turn off screen focusing or you nose ( well my average sized nose at least ) will change your focus point when you are looking through the view finder and using auto focus.Focusing is pretty fast but not on the level of something like my Canon 7D or 5D mk III. Because the sensor is smaller, the depth of field is much larger and setting the camera even to like an f/4.0 will allow you to use manual focus very quickly and get most things in focus.Overall, I'm thrilled with the camera and do not regret the purchase. I have it paired with the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS. which is also a great lens.