Quick Look
This is the first of my quick looks at budget priced older used equipment.
The emphasis of this series is good quality equipment capable of high quality results that won’t break the bank. Although top of the range gear is nice and can help, the advantages are sometimes exaggerated. This series puts value for money above bragging rights and will show the impecunious photographer excellent results are possible with wise low cost purchases. You can successfully do serious photography on the cheap.
The Panasonic Lumix GX7 is a micro four thirds interchangeable lens mirrorless camera styled like a faux-rangefinder with the EVF eyepiece in the left corner. It first appeared in 2013.
The camera has a 16MP 17mm x 13mm sensor, accepts the full range of micro 4/3 lenses (and many others via adaptors). It features an unusual tilting viewfinder which can be can be tilted up to 90 degrees to make comfortable viewing or to use the EVF for low angle shots. It also has a tilting rear LCD screen (not the flip out fully articulated type).
The GX7 is reasonably compact and lightweight for an interchangeable lens body without being too small. It is just large enough to permit easy access to the controls without the tiny buttons of extreme compact cameras. It lacks a full hand grip, but the fat rubbery bump is quite effective with smaller lenses.
There is a pop up flash, a hot shoe and twin command dials. A thumb wheel and a command wheel around the shutter button. It is largely metal bodied and has a premium feel.
The GX7 features Panasonic’s first In-body image stabilisation (IBIS) mechanism. Many Panasonic m4/3 lenses have optical stabilisation but the IBIS is useful useful with adapted lenses or with Olympus m4/3 lenses. Although reputedly not as effective as more modern IBIS, it still a welcome feature.
In my opinion, the GX7 is particularly well suited to compact, lightweight lenses like the 12-32mm and 35-100mm collapsible lenses for the GM range. These are surprisingly high quality lenses that also have built in stabilisation.
It is also well suited to small primes. The IBIS and focus peaking features mean it is usable with adapted manual focus vintage lenses and budget Chinese primes. I’ve used mine with my 35mm and 90mm Contax G Zeiss lenses to good effect.
With the 12-32mm and 35-100mm lenses and a miniature holster case, I find my GX7 is an effective substitute for premium compacts (I replaced my Fuji X10 with the GX7) while offering better image quality and more versatility.
m4/3 system users are sometimes torn between the merits of Olympus and Panasonic products. Both companies make excellent products at different price points and have extensive back catalogues of used models. I find the GX7 suits me better than models like the EM5 or EM10 from a usability standpoint. The Lumix seems easier to hold and operate but this is a highly personal thing, everyone has different sized hands. I recommend always trying a camera for yourself before deciding. Reviews can only tell you so much.
In the field
The GX7 has an EVF mounted in the left corner, useful for those who don’t like composing using the back screen and in bright light. It’s a small viewfinder by 2022 standards but better than no EVF and certainly good enough for composing, focusing and setting exposure. Don’t expect miracles but it gets the job done. It has one trick up its sleeve – it tilts up to 90 degrees which allows eye-level viewing at unusual angles or for stealth purposes.
The rear screen is of the tilty type. It can tilt 90 degrees for that waist level viewing experience or down to around 45 degrees for overhead shots. There appears to be slight weakness to the LCD frame in that it can suffer a tiny crack in the bottom left corner with use. Mine has, but it is mainly cosmetic.
The grip is little more than a well shaped rubbery bump rather than a substantial hand grip but it seems to work better than most small camera grips because it is squashy rubber and well shaped. You are still going to have to work on your two-handed grip for any heavy long lenses. Best with small lenses.
The GX7 thankfully has twin control dials, mid-range DSLR style. One in a rotary ring around the top plate shutter release, the other a thumb wheel on the back plate. The thumb wheel is clickable as well. There a rear button for back button focusing or AE lock. It has a collar switch around it for switching between auto focus and manual focus.
There is a conventional PASM mode dial with 3 custom positions for saving and switching custom setups. There is a dedicated red video button next to the shutter button. The buttons on the rear panel are a bit squashed as they usually are with smaller cameras but there is just enough space for an empty rubberised area to place your thumb. The on/off switch is placed around the base of the PASM mode dial.
SD card and battery fit into the bottom of the camera. The battery is not as large those in the bigger Lumix models – it would be a good idea to carry a spare.
For a smallish camera without a full hand grip, it offers a reasonably comfortable hold with small lenses and everything is nicely metally and premium feeling. There a bunch of built in features such as wifi and other things you can read about in the professional reviews (links below).
I use my GX7 with the small collapsible kit lens and small primes like the 17mm pancake and 25mm f/1.7. In this guise lenses and bodies work well together. I’d be reluctant to use it with large pro tele lenses because of the small body. Used with the small lenses it makes for a compact but usable combo.
Image quality
The GX7 has a 16MP micro four thirds sensor. Against the glut of full frame sensors (or even medium format), this is neither high resolution nor large. This means a disadvantage in high ISO noise, dynamic range and fine detail.
But, a key consideration for serious photography on the cheap is recognising you don’t always need the absolute best, it can still be good enough for purpose. m4/3 makes for a compact, lightweight system. Use it within sensible limits and it is just as good as its more exotic superiors. At lower ISOs, you won’t see any image quality disadvantage in typical desktop printer sizes up to 19″X13″ and often even bigger. Full frame will do better at high ISO or in giant prints but humble m4/3 is still very capable. I will supplement this article later with print scans of A2 prints (23″ wide) to show the typical visual differences you can expect between results from this camera and full frame.
Conclusion
For a photographer trying to do serious photography on the cheap, you could do worse than one of these. The sensor size and pixel count are sufficient for superb prints up to 19″ wide desktop printer size and good quality at larger sizes than this. Unless you go crazy with high ISOs, it is difficult to tell the difference between the prints from this camera and much more expensive offerings for a wide range of different types of photography.
At the time of writing (June 2022) you can pick one of these up from good used sellers (I like MPB.com UK) for £119 for a tatty example, £154 for a “Good” rated example and £169 for an “excellent” example. My experience with MPB is that the ratings are mostly driven by the cosmetic condition and “Good” is good enough for me, with most products looking barely used. MPB provide a 6 month warranty. In the UK, WEX and Park Cameras provide competitive used offerings.
Leave a Reply