Review: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF7 The Little Picture

7/10

Wired

Small, light design with included lens makes the GF7 a suitable upgrade from point-and-shoot cameras. Intelligent Auto and solid scene modes make it simple to use for beginners. Bright, crisp display makes composing easy, even in direct sunlight.

Tired

Small light design can be awkward with larger lenses (or if you have large hands). Tiny size means a small battery–buy an extra if you plan to shoot all day. Kit lens isn’t great. Encourages selfies.

The micro four-thirds camera market has matured greatly since the standard was launched seven years ago by Olympus and Panasonic. Starting the first Pen cameras (Olympus) and the first G-series shooters (Panasonic), we’ve seen each successive model inching closer to the ideal promised by the new system: a compact, mirrorless design with interchangeable lenses and full manual controls.

Of course, as you keep making your cameras smaller, the tradeoffs grow larger, and things like optics, control layouts, and screen size suffer. So it’s remarkable that Panasonic has created a camera so small with so few tradeoffs as the new GF7 (\$460). It takes great images, and even though it’s very small, you can mount all manner of lenses on it—new, legacy, and adapted. It has all the Wi-Fi features for beaming photos to your phone. Battery performance lags (tiny camera, tiny battery), but I can still recommended it. It even has something for the kids: the LCD on the back flips up vertically and spins around, and some special software fires the shutter automatically so you can (yep) take selfies.

The GF7 is a little different than recent GF models. It has a blocky style that has more in common with Panasonic’s GM line of ultra-compact micro four-thirds cameras than with the GF offerings. The GF7 eschews the anonymous black body with round corners of its predecessors in favor of a cleaner, almost retro look. It’s reminiscent of one of my all time favorite cameras, the original GF1.

However, where the GF1 was very much a photo-enthusiast camera, aimed at those who wanted DSLR features in a more portable body, the GF7 is targeted more at those just looking to step up from point-and-shoot and cellphone cameras.

The design is quite handsome, but the blocky, solid-looking case you see in product shots makes it easy to overlook how diminutive the GF7 is. It fits in my palm with room to spare. It is slightly larger than the GM5, which remains the smallest micro four-thirds body out there, but not by much. It’s so tiny that if you swap the 12-32mm kit lens for a telephoto like Panasonic’s 45-200mm, things start to look comical.

In Buddy mode, the camera will automatically snap an image when it detects two faces in the viewfinder.

The tiny footprint is nice with compact lenses—especially Panasonic’s 20mm micro four-thirds lens, which remains my favorite prime in the MFT range—but the GF7 gets tough to hold when you put something larger on the front. That’s not to say you can’t attach a big zoom, just that it’s undeniably awkward both physically and aesthetically.

To be fair Panasonic is positioning the GF7 as a social-media-friendly upgrade from smart phones—a way to step out of the vast point-and-shoot sea to something more serious. Surely, Panasonic’s target audience are the kind of people who are unlikely to ever strap a giant zoom on the front. Instead they’ll be taking advantage of the selfie-friendly vertical rotating screen and face-detection software, both of which perform admirably. Included in the standard assortment of scene modes are some settings just for selfies: the “Face” and “Buddy” modes. In Buddy mode, the camera will automatically snap an image when it detects two faces in the viewfinder. In Face mode, you just wave your hand in front of your face to fire the shutter.

In terms of image quality, the GF7 sports a 16-megapixel four-thirds sensor that’s roughly equal to what you’ll find in the GX7 and GM5, which is to say it delivers great results for everyone except those who still hang around photo forums arguing about megapixels and sensor sizes. The GF7 can shoot in 4:3, 3:2, 16:9, and of course the Instagram-friendly 1:1 image ratio. The GF7 can shoot 5.8 frames per second, but lacks the Depth from Defocus technology that makes higher-end models like GH4 much faster.

The retro-style body offers quite a few physical dials, including a couple you can customize—though sadly, not the very handy thumb wheel you’ll find on the GM5 or GF1—as well as a touch screen interface.

The touchscreen components can also be used in compose mode. Touching to focus is sometimes awkward, but gets interesting in conjunction with Panasonic’s Intelligent Auto setting (which can be toggled with a dedicated button). In iA mode, the GF7 will change scene modes based on touch. For example, it will automatically select portrait mode when you touch a face on the screen. Also, it will switch to macro mode when you tap a frame-filling flower. Even as someone who generally frowns on automatic composition tools, I have to admit this one was handy in situations where I didn’t have time to set everything up the way I wanted. Sure you can probably compose something better than what the algorithms do for you, but can you get the shot before the subject moves or the light disappears?

The GF7 is as beginner-friendly as the best point-and-shoots.

These tools, along with the various selfie modes, perfectly illustrate the camera’s raison d’être: they’re there to make sure you get the shot you want every time, even if you don’t have the know-how (or extra seconds) to get it right on your own. It’s as beginner-friendly as the best point-and-shoots, but it also offers many of the manual controls more advanced photographers will be looking for.

I’ll confess to putting my hand up to test this camera primarily because I’ve been itching to upgrade my GF1. From that angle, the GF7 is indeed a worthy upgrade provided the small size works for you. I strongly suggest visiting your local camera shop to hold it before laying down your hard earned cash. The size could be especially troubling for people with bigger hands.

The GF7 stacks up well against the GX7, which is another option for those looking for a solid micro four-thirds body. In fact, the two are so close, I had to pull out the spec sheets to figure out how the GF7 differed from the GX7. It’s also worth considering the (albeit much more expensive) GX8 which just arrived and seems positioned as the bulkier heir to the GF1, freeing the GF7 to become the lightweight, point-and-shoot friendly option.