Panasonic Lumix GH7 Camera Review

[SECTION]INTRODUCTION[/SECTION]

Panasonic is a strong electronics company and has always been so, moving into photography later than many marques but taking it up with a clear passion for building on the solid bedrock of traditional design. This new flagship hybrid design offers several new features and leapfrogs the technical ability of the other top of the line offerings in various ways. A powerful spec for this 25.2MP MFT format camera covers both photography and videography, so let’s couple it up with the Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 12-60mm f/2.8-4 Asph lens and see how we get on.

Panasonic Lumix GH7 Features

The Lumix GH7 is a chunky, substantial camera that fits the hands beautifully. It measures a reasonably compact 100.3mm x 138.4mm x 99.6mm, weighing in at 805g with battery and SD card. With an eye to its video performance, there are slots for CFExpress and SD cards on the right side under a double secured door. On the left there are two rubber doors, but actually hinged rather than flapping freely, so it does look as though they offer a more durable option. Beneath these doors are the headphone socket, plus USB-C and full sized HDMI sockets. In camera charging is possible using the USB-C interface. The battery is housed in the baseplate in the usual way and offers 330 shots (750 in power save mode) using the CFExpress card slot and 360 (850) using SD cards. Video shooting is limited by battery life and depends upon settings chosen, but there is no problem with overheating as air is pulled through the camera via a small and virtually silent fan. Even with this open structure, the camera is splash, dust and freeze resistant.

The heat dissipation structure means that the rear screen is slightly prouder of the back of the camera, but not obtrusively so. The screen is a 3″ tilt and free angle design, giving a 100% field of view and 1.84M dots. The EVF is lovely to use, a 3.68M dot OLED with 100% coverage. The rest of the camera back houses several buttons and dials, including the joystick that controls the focusing point, the Q menu button for commonly used menu items and the four way controller with its outer rotary dial.

There are two main control dials, one at the far right rear edge of the top plate and the other just behind the shutter release button. There is a bank of three buttons conveniently placed to alter white balance, ISO and exposure compensation. There is also the usual red video start/stop button, but also the option of selecting the shutter release button for this function. The mode dial is clearly of solid construction, as is the drive dial on the left of the top plate. There is another video start/stop button on the front of the camera, so all bases are covered in that respect.

Panasonic Lumix GH7 Key Features

• 25.2MP MFT Format BSI CMOS sensor
• Shutter speeds 60s – 1/8000s (focal plane shutter)
• Shutter speeds 60s – 1/32,000s (electronic shutter)
• Phase Hybrid AF EV -4 to EV 18
• Metering range EV 0-18
• ISO range 100 – 25,600
• SD Memory Cards: UHS-I, SD/SDHC/SDXC
• CF Express Type B cards 
• Vari-angle 3” LCD Touch screen 1.84M dots
• 3.68M dot OLED EVF
• WiFi
• Bluetooth
• ProRes RAW
• ARRI LogC3 recording
• Real Time LUT, VLT and CUBE file formats
• Splash and freeze resistant
• CFExpress Battery Life: 330 shots/750 with power save
• SD Battery Life: 360 shots/850 with power save
• 100.3mm x 138.4mm x 99.6mm
• 805g with battery and card
• MFT mount

Panasonic Lumix GH7 Handling

Some cameras gel instantly, and the GH7 just slips naturally into the hands, with everything exactly in the right place. The only exception is the positioning of the joystick, which unfortunately gets nudged by the thumb if the camera is being carried without a strap and in the right hand. The result is that we can find the focus point has been shifted, and if not noticed and corrected, then it might have strayed from the central point, this reviewer’s preferred placement. The answer is to switch off the joystick which does solve the problem. This may not be an issue with anyone who carries the camera in a different way, perhaps using a strap.

Start time can be slightly slower than average, but once underway, the camera performs faultlessly. Focusing is crisp and assured. Exposure is accurate. Control placement is excellent, and access to WB, ISO, and exposure compensation via dedicated buttons works extremely well. 

Video shooting is well catered for, and we have two red start/stop buttons, one on the top plate as usual and one on the camera front. A nice touch is the ability to enable the shutter release button to the same function, which could be especially useful for the more casual or occasional videographer.

[SECTION]PERFORMANCE[/SECTION]

Panasonic Lumix GH7 Performance

The performance section is where we look at the image quality performance of the camera. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review, photos and product ratings.
 

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Panasonic Lumix GH7 Sample Photos

Lens Performance – The lens provided for this review is the Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 12-60mm f/2.8-4 Asph, previously reviewed here and Highly Recommended. The current sample also served well, producing excellent crisp images and matching the quality of the GH7 very well.

Panasonic Lumix GH7 ISO test images

ISO Performance – Images are clean up to ISO 400 with no hint of noise. ISO 800 sees some noise creep in to the darkest areas, and this becomes more obvious at ISO 1600 and 3200. ISO 6400 sees very obvious noise, and by ISO 12800, the image has also become very soft. ISO 25600 loses the plot and the result is unpleasant noise, lack of differentiation of dark area detail and overall softness. For the best results, it could be wise to limit the ISO value to 800. If visible noise is acceptable then ISO 1600 and 3200 do retain a reasonable level of sharpness.

Panasonic Lumix GH7 White-balance test images

White Balance – There are various white balance presets available, plus of course, user settings. Each setting can be fine tuned to taste. We have AWB, AWBc, AWBw, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Incandescent, 4 White Set Capture settings, and 4 WB K settings (set at 5500K as default). Each setting has its uses, but to give a couple of examples, Cloudy equates closely to the 81A warming filter. Shade takes away all the purple tinge that can mar close ups of fungi deep in the shadows of woodland.

Panasonic Lumix GH7 Digital filters

Digital Filters – Digital Filters are split into Photo Style and Filter sections. Photo Styles available are Standard, Vivid, Natural, L.ClassicNeo, Flat, Landscape, Portrait, Monochrome, L.Monochrome, L.Monochrome D, L.Monochrome S, LEICA Monochrome, Cinelike D2, Cinelike V2, Like709, V-Log, REAL TIME LUT and 4 MyPhoto Style settings. Filters are Expressive, Retro, Old Days, High Key, Low Key, Sepia, Cross Process and Bleach Bypass.

Digital Filters in general are well worth exploring, and can offer specific results very close to an end product that could take far longer to emulate using RAW capture. Of all these on offer, the LEICA Monochrome option is one that this reviewer could certainly find useful. Fans of Fuji Velvia film may well like the Vivid setting. There is a wealth of choice to investigate.

Source: Photography News
Panasonic Lumix GH7 Camera Review
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