Panasonic GX8 Review

Introduction

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8 is a brand new compact system camera aimed at the keen enthusiast. The GX8 integrates 4K video recording capability with a variety of 4K Photo functions, capable of recording 4K UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels) video with either 30p or 24p frames rates at 100Mbps in the MP4 format. The Panasonic GX8 features a new 20-megapixel Digital Live MOS sensor (making it the highest resolution Micro Four Thirds body to date), a built-in 90-degree tilt-able Live View Finder (LVF) with 2360k dots and 1.54x / 0.77x magnification, and a free-angle 3-inch touch-sensitive rear LCD screen with a resolution of 1040K dots. The DMC-GX8 also offers Panasonic’s first Dual I.S (Image Stabiliser), a splash and dustproof magnesium alloy body, 8fps continuous shooting, low-light focusing down to -4 EV, focus peaking, silent mode for street photography, built-in wi-fi and NFC connectivity, ultra-high speed AF of just 0.07 sec, mechanical (1/8000th sec shutter speed) and silent electronic (1/16000th sec shutter speed) shutters, RAW support and an ISO range of 100-25600. The Panasonic GX8 is available in black or silver for £999 / $1199 body-only, £1099 with the 14-42mm lens, £1399 with the 14-140mm lens, and £1699 with the 12-35mm F2.8 lens.

Feature comparison

Apart from body and sensor, cameras can and do differ across a range of features. The G80 and the GX8 are similar in the sense that both feature an electronic viewfinder, which is helpful when framing images in bright sunlight.
Moreover, their viewfinders offer an identical resolution of 2360k dots. The table below summarizes some of the other core capabilities of the Panasonic G80 and Panasonic GX8 in connection with corresponding information for a sample of similar cameras.

One difference between the cameras concerns the presence of an on-board flash. The G80 has one, while the GX8 does not.
While the built-in flash of the G80 is not very powerful, it can at times be useful as a fill-in light.

screen that can be turned to be front-facing

The reported shutter speed information refers to the use of the mechanical shutter. Yet, some cameras only have an electronic shutter, while
others have an electronic shutter in addition to a mechanical one. In fact, both cameras under consideration feature
an electronic shutter, which makes completely silent shooting possible. However, this mode is less suitable for photographing moving objects (risk of ) or
shooting under artificial light sources (risk of ).

The Panasonic G80 and the Panasonic GX8 both have an intervalometer built-in. This enables the photographer to
capture time lapse sequences, such as flower blooming, a sunset or moon rise, without purchasing an external camera trigger and related software.

Concerning the storage of imaging data, both the G80 and the GX8 write their files to SDXC cards. The G80 supports UHS-II cards (Ultra High Speed data transfer of up to 312 MB/s), while the GX8 can use UHS-I cards (up to 104 MB/s).

Технические характеристики Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8

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Результаты тестирования Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8

Характеристики и результаты тестирования Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8

Внешний вид и управление

Panasonic всегда отличалась необычной приверженностью своему собственному стилю без ретрозамашек. Иногда это давало очень красивые результаты (GF1, GX1), иногда камеры смотрелись довольно блекло – но у Lumix был собственный характер. GX8 в этом плане – отступление от собственных канонов, та самая ретрокамера «под дальномерку»: с двухцветным корпусом и большим числом аналоговых селекторов. Это неплохо, фотоаппарат получился симпатичный, с «лейковскими» мотивами, но определить в нем Panasonic уже нелегко.

Второе, на что обращаешь внимание в GX8 после оформления, – габариты. Это действительно очень крупная для «беззеркалки» камера

Имея в своем ассортименте GM1/GM5, самые маленькие системные камеры Micro Four Thirds, Panasonic, похоже, хочет завоевать и другой приз – за самую крупную камеру системы. Она сильно больше и тяжелее своей предшественницы, GX7, — 133,2 × 77,9 × 63,1 мм при массе 487 граммов, то есть по габаритам вполне может потягаться с полнокадровыми «беззеркалками» Sony a7. Но даже при этом она меньше всех зеркальных камер, особенно если учитывать компактную оптику – ее не обязательно переносить в специальном кофре, вполне можно воспользоваться обычным рюкзаком/сумкой. Это преимущество у «беззеркалок» есть в любом случае – даже если производитель не пытается сделать нарочито компактный аппарат.

Похвастаться идеальным хватом при своих размерах Panasonic Lumix GX8 , к сожалению,не может. Выступ довольно крупный, есть куда положить руку, но он лишен анатомических углублений – в итоге камера не ощущается как влитая. Выступ, как и весь аппарат по периметру, облицован прорезиненным материалом, но относительно скользким. Верхняя и нижняя части камеры выполнены из металла. Сборка прекрасная, с камерой очень приятно работать.

Panasonic Lumix GX8, фронтальная панель

Крупные размеры камеры позволили ее создателям не экономить на органах управления. Фронтальная панель еще относительно чиста: здесь только кнопки блокировки байонета и репетира диафрагмы, а также лампа подсветки автофокуса.

Panasonic Lumix GX8, вид сверху

А вот на верхней панели — изобилие элементов. В основном они сосредоточены справа: кнопка спуска, окруженная селекторным диском, второй селекторный диск с встроенной в него функциональной клавишей, выключатель питания, еще одна функциональная клавиша и кнопка пуска видеозаписи. Ну и пирамидка из диска экспокоррекции и селектора режимов. Последний не снабжен, как сейчас заведено, кнопкой блокировки, но обладает тугим (и четким) ходом – переживать, что режим съемки переключится самостоятельно, не приходится. Левее расположены «горячий башмак», стереомикрофон и откидной видоискатель. Для вспышки на корпусе камеры места все-таки не нашлось.

Panasonic Lumix GX8, вид снизу

Снизу мы видим отсек для батареи и карты памяти с оригинальным блокировочным рычажком, а также штативное гнездо, расположенное довольно далеко – при установке на штатив доступ к отсеку не перекрывается.

Panasonic Lumix GX8, левая боковая грань

Panasonic Lumix GX8, правая боковая грань

Слева находятся три разъема: microHDMI, microUSB и вход для микрофона/пульта ДУ. Последний – 2,5-миллиметровый, это не самое распространенное и, как следствие, не самое удачное решение. Справа – пустое пространство, отданное под контактную площадку NFC.

Panasonic Lumix GX8, тыльная панель

На тыльной панели разместились дисплей, видоискатель и россыпь управляющих клавиш

Обращаем отдельное внимание на удачный переключатель режимов фокусировки и на то, что разные клавиши выступают над корпусом не в равной степени, за счет чего камерой после некоторой тренировки можно управлять чуть ли не вслепую. Ну и на то, что подавляющую часть кнопок можно перенастроить

Без учета элементов управления, находящихся на сенсорном экране, таких кнопок здесь семь. GX8 — очень гибкая и удобная в управлении камера.

Panasonic Lumix GX8, интерфейс

Интерфейс традиционный для Panasonic, обошлось без новшеств. Довольно удобное основное меню с вертикальной структурой и слабое быстрое меню, требующее слишком много дополнительных нажатий. Его, правда, слегка спасает сенсорный экран – за счет последнего добраться до важных настроек можно быстрее.

Review summary

So what is the bottom line? Which of the two cameras – the Panasonic G80 or the Panasonic GX8 – has the upper hand? Is one clearly better than the other? The listing below highlights the relative strengths of the two models.

Advantages of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G80:

• Maximized detail: Lacks an anti-alias filter to exploit the sensor’s full resolution potential.
• Easier fill-in: Is equipped with a small onboard flash to brighten deep shadow areas.
• Faster buffer clearing: Supports a more advanced SD data transfer standard (UHS-II vs UHS-I).
• More affordable: Was introduced into a lower priced segment (25 percent cheaper at launch).
• More modern: Is somewhat more recent (announced 1 year and 2 months after the GX8).

Reasons to prefer the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8:

• More detail: Has more megapixels (20.2 vs 15.8MP), which boosts linear resolution by 13%.
• Better moiré control: Has an anti-alias filter to avoid artificial patterns to appear in images.
• Better image quality: Scores markedly higher (4 points) in the DXO overall evaluation.
• Larger viewfinder image: Features a viewfinder with a higher magnification (0.77x vs 0.74x).
• Faster shutter: Has higher mechanical shutter speed (1/8000s vs 1/4000s) to freeze action.
• Easier device pairing: Supports NFC for fast wireless image transfer over short distances.
• More heavily discounted: Has been on the market for longer (launched in July 2015).

If the number of relative strengths (bullet points above) is taken as a guide, the GX8 emerges as the winner of the match-up (7 : 5 points). However, the relative importance of the various individual camera aspects will vary according to personal preferences and needs, so that you might like to apply corresponding weights to the particular features before making a decision on a new camera. A professional wedding photographer will view the differences between cameras in a way that diverges
from the perspective of a travel photog, and a person interested in cityscapes has distinct needs from a macro shooter. Hence, the decision which camera
is best and worth buying is often a very personal one.

G80 ₀₅₀₇ GX8

How about other alternatives? Do the specifications of the Panasonic G80 and the Panasonic GX8 place the cameras among the top in their class? Find out in the latest
Best Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera listing whether the two cameras rank among the cream of the crop.

Body comparison

The side-by-side display below illustrates the physical size and weight of the Panasonic G80 and the Panasonic GX8. The two cameras are presented according to their relative size. Three consecutive views from the front, the top, and the rear side are shown. All width, height and depth measures are rounded to the nearest millimeter.

The GX8 can be obtained in two different colors (black, silver), while the G80 is
only available in black.

If the front view area (width x height) of the cameras is taken as an aggregate measure of their size,
the Panasonic GX8 is notably smaller (9 percent) than the Panasonic G80. Moreover, the GX8 is slightly lighter (4 percent) than the G80. In this context, it is worth noting that both cameras are splash and dust-proof and can, hence, be used in inclement weather conditions or harsh environments.

The above size and weight comparisons are to some extent incomplete since they do not consider the interchangeable lenses
that both of these cameras require. In this particular case, both cameras feature the same lens mount, so that they can use the same lenses.
You can compare the optics available in the Micro Four Thirds Lens Catalog. Mirrorless cameras, such as the two under consideration, have the additional advantage of having a short flange to focal plane distance, which makes it possible to mount many lenses from other systems onto the camera via adapters.

The table below summarizes the key physical specs of the two cameras alongside a broader set of comparators. If you would like to visualize and compare a different camera combination, just use the right or left
arrows in the table to switch to the respective camera. Alternatively, you can also navigate to the CAM-parator app and
make your selection from the full list of cameras there.

The price is, of course, an important factor in any camera decision. The manufacturer’s suggested retail prices give an idea on the placement of the camera in the maker’s lineup and the broader market. The G80 was launched at a somewhat lower price (by 25 percent) than the GX8, which makes it more attractive for photographers on a tight budget. Usually, retail prices stay at first close to the launch price, but after several months, discounts become available. Later in the product cycle and, in particular, when the replacement model is about to appear, further discounting and stock clearance sales often push the camera price considerably down.

Other camera comparisons

Did this review help to inform your camera decision process? If you would like to see a different side-by-side camera review, just use the search menu below. Alternatively, you can follow any of the listed hyperlinks for comparisons that others found interesting.

• Canon 5D Mark IV vs Panasonic GX8
• Canon 760D vs Panasonic GX8
• Canon XTi vs Panasonic GX8
• Leica D-LUX 5 vs Panasonic GX8
• Leica SL vs Panasonic G80
• Nikon D3S vs Panasonic GX8
• Nikon D4S vs Panasonic GX8
• Nikon D80 vs Panasonic G80
• Nikon P1000 vs Panasonic GX8
• Panasonic G80 vs Panasonic S1R
• Panasonic G80 vs Sony NEX-5T
• Panasonic G80 vs Sony RX1

Specifications Panasonic G80 vs Panasonic GX8

Below is a side-by-side comparison of the specs of the two cameras to facilitate a quick review of their differences and common features.

Did you notice an error on this page? If so, please , so that we can correct the information.

Compatible products which do not comply with Four-thirds standard

Expert reviews

This is where reviews by experts come in. The adjacent summary-table relays the overall verdicts of several of the most popular camera review sites (cameralabs, dpreview, ephotozine, imaging-resource, and photographyblog). As can be seen, the professional reviewers agree in many cases on the quality of different cameras, but sometimes their assessments diverge,
reinforcing the earlier point that a camera decision is often a very personal choice.

The above review scores should be interpreted with care, though. The ratings are only valid when referring to cameras in the same category and of the same age. A score, therefore, has to be seen in close connection to the price and market introduction time of the camera, and comparing ratings of very distinct cameras or ones that are far apart in terms of their release date have little meaning. Also, kindly note that some of the listed sites have over time developped their review approaches and their reporting style.

Panasonic G80: Check Ebay offers
Panasonic GX8: Check Ebay offers