Panasonic G5 Hands on

[spidey89]

The Panasonic G5 is the latest addition to the micro four thirds family and has the following main features

• A 16mp live MOS sensor with SSWF for dust reduction

• Uses SD, SDHC or SDXC memory cards

• ISO range from ISO 160 to ISO 12800

• Built in EVF with 1.4mp equivalent (approx 100% view) with eye sensor to detect usage of EVF

• Super fast burst shooting of up to 20fps (depending on settings)

• SH: 20 fps
• H: 6 fps (with AFS)
• M: 3.7fps (with live view)
• L: 2 fps (with live view)

• Built in pop up flash with 1/160 max sync speed

• 920,000 dot 3" swivel TFT touch screen

• 1080/60p AVCHD and 1080/30p video recording as well as MP4 HD video

• 14 creative filters

What I got was the dual lens kit consisting of the 14-42 and 45-150mm in silver, the G5 comes in black, white and silver

 

[spidey89]

Still in the process of typing out, please be patient and everything will be up tonight, thanks

 

[Agrivar]

Hi Spidey.. i'm interested in how the new 45-150 performs as well... can you do some tests on that lens too...?

 

[spidey89]

Its kinda soft but the reach is there, similar to your 14-140 only downside is its soft

 

[spidey89]

Here's a size estimate using my EZ-link card, as can be seen the lenses itself are not that much bigger and the length and width of the camera aren't very much bigger either

Here's the G5 mounted with the 14-42mm in my hand, the grip feels similar to previous models, but as usual, its a little too small for my hands as I have very big hands


Top

As on previous models the stereo mics and other usuals like dials or on the top. The G5 also also has a sort of rocking switch which controls the zoom for the new lenses and when other lenses are attached, becomes a exposure compensation switch which I quite like as I need not press the exposure compensation button

The flash release is at the side and the hot shoe can TTL with my FL-36R. the iA button lights up in blue when its activated and can be set to be a press once to active or press and hold to activate



Bottom

Nothing much here but the battery chamber and the tripod socket

 

[blurboiboi]

hw muchie you paid for the system?...
will be interesting to see how the IQ is like against EM5...

 

[spidey89]

Front

Nothing much on the front to talk about, a Shiny G, lens release button, pop up flash is quite high, and have not really seen any shadow cast from the flash being blocked by the lens


Right side

The side is where the HDMI port is as well as its other ports, if you look at it carefully, there is a small "door" which I believe is for the cable to pull out from the battery chamber to use with external power


Back

The back of the camera with all the buttons and the rubber grip for the thumb

the button to switch between EVF and screen and the eye detect sensor which detects when the camera is brought up to eye level

The back with the screen flipped out

Conclusion

One thing I love is the flip out 3" swivel screen, the rocker switch which makes exposure compensation a breeze, the evf which is pretty sharp and bright. It feels very light and the grip is quite pleasent. The silver is very shiny and looks metallic despite it being made of plastic. I like the touch screen for shooting and focusing as well as when moving the image around after zooming in during preview.

A few things I that do not appeal to my taste. For one, the lack of any other video recording mode, I couldn't find anything about manual or semi auto mode after going through the menus in the camera multiple times, all in all, its something of a point and shoot video which is not for me. But if you're shooting your family and you want it to be simple, it'll work. Another thing that was a hassle is the way to choose the AF point. The AF point can be chosen anywhere on the screen with the D pad or by touch, but it doesn't have the "traditional" af points which would make it a lot easier to choose AF points when you see something and want to choose fast.

The iA works pretty well to help the average user get the images. It won't be good to get the best image quality as even in pretty bright light, it chooses a pretty high ISO by default, but if you're a newbie or just want to get the photo in the easiest way, it'll work. The EVF sensor is a little sensitive and place it within a 4cm distance will cause the screen to blank and use the EVF. One suggestion would be to get a better lens when possible if you're concerned with the quality of images.

 

[blurboiboi]

really a sexy combi!!.... drooling le...

 

[spidey89]

Here are images from the camera of different values

Noise

ISO 160

ISO 200

ISO 400

ISO 800

ISO 1600

 

[spidey89]

ISO 3200

ISO 6400

ISO 12800

Here are images from the camera of different values

Colour mode

Standard

Vivid

 

[spidey89]

Natural

Portrait

Mono

Sharpness at different aperture

f5.6

f8

 

[spidey89]

f11

f16

f22

Creative filters

Expressive

Retro

 

[spidey89]

High Key

Low Key

Sepia

Dynamic Monochrome

Impressive Art

 

[spidey89]

Cross Process

Toy Effect

Miniature Effect (a bit hard to see)

Soft Focus

Star Filter (a bit hard to see, needs something reflective from what I can tell)

 

[spidey89]

One Point Colour

Sample images will be uploaded soon

 

[marcellim]

Thanks for the review. Any idea when this model will arrive in Singapore?

 

[sys12345]

Soft throughout or only at the extreme ends? Any idea how it compares to the 45-175 X lens?


Thanks!

Its kinda soft but the reach is there, similar to your 14-140 only downside is its soft

 

[spidey89]

I only have that 2 lenses and my Olympus 17mm, so I cannot comment on how it compares to the X lenses. Soft throughout the range when using autofocus, manual adjustment and its not too bad, no idea of the price and availability

 

[spidey89]

Panasonic G5 sample video

[video=youtube;msSAKiKd72M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msSAKiKd72M[/video]

The video mode is pretty good, quite sad that there is no mic input and no manual mode even after browsing through the manual, I don't see anything, but overall, I'm quite pleased with the quality

 

[sys12345]

Thats disappointing... i wonder if this lens will be marketed as a more affordable tele-zoom instead. It makes no sense for Panasonic to cannibalise their equivalent X zoom lens with this one.

I only have that 2 lenses and my Olympus 17mm, so I cannot comment on how it compares to the X lenses. Soft throughout the range when using autofocus, manual adjustment and its not too bad, no idea of the price and availability