"Panasonic G series" Owners Thread

jamin100 said:
Great Shots..
I've just brought a GX80, 12-60mm & 45-150mm bundle (2nd hand) so am hoping the lenses are good copies and that the autofocus is as fast as it claims to be..
I have an energetic English Springer Spaniel and 3 young children to follow about!
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Thank you but they're just snaps in the garden and the sort of picture I take when out walking but it just so happens that I've been tied to the house recently looking forward to the opportunity to get out :D

Good luck with the brand new second hand kit :D Most of my MFT gear was bought used :D

The GX80 is the fastest focusing camera I've ever had but remember that speed is down to the camera and lens combination. The single point focus speed is easily fast enough for me with all of my lenses.
 
@woof woof Got to have a little bit of a play with the newer 45--200 panasonic lens today, So I thought I'd post some results.

Didn't go into too much detail, (I was looking for a new pair of binoculars)

Popped it on the g7, focus was very nice and quick and quiet, certainly balances nicely. I do think it is better than the previous version. Full sizes should be viewable on flickr

Here are some rather boring test shots, just a little bit of a sharpen and then zoomed in to 100% and cropped the centre (ish) Note I wasn't standing on firm ground, it was event marquee flooring and lots of people walking around, so all the vibrations might have transferred,

45-200 test 1 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr


45-200 test 100$% crop by Michael Johnson, on Flickr


45-200 test 2 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr


45-200 test 100$% crop 2 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr


45-200 test 3, 189mm by Michael Johnson, on Flickr


45-200 test 100$% crop 3 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr


45-200 test 4 184mm by Michael Johnson, on Flickr


45-200 test 100$% crop 4 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr
 
Some of those test shots do look to be very sharp. Maybe it's better than the original?

I did like the build of the original, IMO it felt line a nicely built quality lens. I still haven't had time to get out and use the 45-150mm yet as I've been tied to the house for a while now but all test shots seem to be good and 150mm is probably long enough for me and the lens is nice and compact too. If I get the chance to try a 45-200mm MKII I of course will :D but at the moment I don't have a lot of time to pursue photography.
 
I have absolutely no idea how this photo is going to look here, but is this the sort of noise you can expect to see at 1600 ISO or am I expecting too much from the G80? Admittedly, I shouldn't have been shooting at 1/1000!!P1120706.jpg

By the way, pushed 1/2 stop in LR but not touched default sharpening or NR.
 
My GX80 is broke :( the power switch/mode dial doesn't work as it should and will not turn off/on as you would expect.

I sent it away under warranty and the repairers claimed I've broken it and refused to repair under warranty, they say it will cost £250.

To say I'm unhappy is an understatement, if I leave the battery in it goes flat due to not turning off quickly, and if I change mode is shuts down or does nothing, also have a faulty Panasonic TV which they refuse to admit there's a fault on, so Panasonic at the minute are not my favourite manufacturer, worst part is I run a Panasonic store :/
 
Can someone point me in the direction of a good low light lens for my newly acquired GX80?

Mainly used for indoor family shots towards the winter when the light is dull inside..

A prime maybe ?

I have the 12-60mm and the 45-150mm currently
 
jamin100 said:
Can someone point me in the direction of a good low light lens for my newly acquired GX80?

Mainly used for indoor family shots towards the winter when the light is dull inside..

A prime maybe ?

I have the 12-60mm and the 45-150mm currently
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You don't mention budget, so I'd have a look at something like the Panasonic 15mm f1.7, Olympus 17mm f1.8 or Panasonic 20mm f1.7 depending on how deep your pockets are.

Simon.
 
srhmoto said:
You don't mention budget, so I'd have a look at something like the Panasonic 15mm f1.7, Olympus 17mm f1.8 or Panasonic 20mm f1.7 depending on how deep your pockets are.

Simon.
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How about the Panasonic 25/1.4?
 
Thanks - I was thinking the 20mm f1.7 would be a good length and wide apature.

Is there much difference in IQ between the mk1 or mk2 of this lens?
 
jamin100 said:
Thanks - I was thinking the 20mm f1.7 would be a good length and wide apature.

Is there much difference in IQ between the mk1 or mk2 of this lens?
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I think they're meant to be optically identical but the mk2 is better AF.
 
Hmm with young children and a springer spaniel pheraps I should plump for the mk2 then
 
I wouldn't recommend either version of the 20mm f1.7. I've had both and nice lenses though they are they're not the fastest focusing of lenses so social photography may be an issue unless people will stand/sit still for you. Plus, another thing to think about is 20mm f1.7 noise banding at higher ISO's. I don't know if this affects the GX80 as although I have one of these I sold my 20mm's quite some time ago but I can confirm that the reported noise banding is real and is and very surprisingly lens related, the 20mm f1.7 suffers from it when other lenses don't.

All in all I'd avoid this lens if you're likely to need fast focus and if you're likely to be shooting at higher ISO's. As a compact and relatively slow focusing lens for use at up to ISO 1600 and possibly 3200 it's very nice but I think there are better lenses to use for social photography and at higher ISO's.

I have the Oly 17mm and 25mm f1.8, they're significantly faster than the Panny 20mm f1.7 and they can be found at reasonable prices on the used market.
 
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jamin100 said:
Can someone point me in the direction of a good low light lens for my newly acquired GX80?

Mainly used for indoor family shots towards the winter when the light is dull inside..

A prime maybe ?

I have the 12-60mm and the 45-150mm currently
Click to expand...

I have the 25mm 1.4 and Oly 17mm 1.8, i tend to use the 25 indoors. Both focus fast, I would recommend the 15mm 1.7 as well. Cracking lens and super fast AF. 20mm there isn't much difference between the 2 versions except cosmetically, both will hunt slightly, some say the mk1 is slighly better optically but you would splitting hairs.
 
I have a Panny 20mm f/1.7 mk 2. It has a lovely look and is nice and small, but focuses slowly and doesn't support AF-C. I've never noticed any noise banding at high ISO and I've used it at high ISO values a lot.

I've used the Oly 17mm. In low light it focuses a bit better than the Panny 20mm but still isn't great, and you get more noticeable distortion due to the wider angle than you do with the 20mm.

I'll probably try the Oly 25mm at some point, hopefully it'll focus as fast as the Oly 45mm but I suspect it will be just a bit too wide for what I want indoors.

So of the three I think the best one for me is the Panny 20mm, I just wish they'd tried a bit harder with the focusing motor.

This is all with a GX80. My comparison point is the Canon 40mm pancake on an EOS 6D, a combination I was very happy with.
 
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SixToes said:
I have a Panny 20mm f/1.7 mk 2. It has a lovely look and is nice and small, but focuses slowly and doesn't support AF-C. I've never noticed any noise banding at high ISO and I've used it at high ISO values a lot.
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What ISO have you used?

I originally got a 20mm f1.7 with my GF1 and carried it over to my G1 but these cameras only went to 1600 expended to 3200 so I wasn't able to go higher until I got my GX7 which came with the MK2 and later got a G7. These later cameras went to much higher ISO's and I then saw the banding. Googling confirmed it wasn't something that affected only me and as I said, in the same place with the same lighting and at the same high ISO's the Oly lenses showed no banding.

SixToes said:
I've used the Oly 17mm. In low light it focuses a bit better than the Panny 20mm but still isn't great, and you get more noticeable distortion due to the wider angle than you do with the 20mm.
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This just doesn't ring true to me. I've never seen any distortion with the Oly 17mm.

The following review states "Unusually, for a wide angle lens, Imatest detected 0.439% pincushion distortion. This level is so low that it should not pose any issues for all but the most demanding applications."

Link.
https://www.ephotozine.com/article/...l-ed-17mm-f-1-8-lens-review-21464#Performance

Here's another which states "There's just a slight amount of distortion when using the Olympus 17mm ƒ/1.8 - in this case, barrel distortion, at 0.2% in the corners."

http://www.imaging-resource.com/lenses/olympus/17mm-f1.8-m.zuiko-digital/review/

Unless you're talking about perspective distortion? But I'd have thought there'd be little difference between an effective field of view of 34mm and 40mm.
 
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woof woof said:
What ISO have you used?
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Lots at 3200, maybe a few higher than that but I pretty much consider 3200 the limit for the GX80. I just had a look for banding in some shots with dark evening skies taken at high ISO, and I can't see any. You've been using this system a lot longer than me though so maybe it was an issue but was addressed via firmware in either camera or lens or maybe it just isn't present on newer bodies. I don't know.
woof woof said:
Unless you're talking about perspective distortion? But I'd have thought there'd be little difference between an effective field of view of 34mm and 40mm.
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Yes perspective distortion. I definitely notice a difference between 17mm and 20mm, I've taken very few pictures of people that I think are any good with a lens wider than 40mm full frame equivalent. I know lots of other people are fine with wider than that for portraits, but it just doesn't suit my shooting style.
 
SixToes said:
I have a Panny 20mm f/1.7 mk 2. It has a lovely look and is nice and small, but focuses slowly and doesn't support AF-C. I've never noticed any noise banding at high ISO and I've used it at high ISO values a lot.

I've used the Oly 17mm. In low light it focuses a bit better than the Panny 20mm but still isn't great, and you get more noticeable distortion due to the wider angle than you do with the 20mm.

I'll probably try the Oly 25mm at some point, hopefully it'll focus as fast as the Oly 45mm but I suspect it will be just a bit too wide for what I want indoors.

So of the three I think the best one for me is the Panny 20mm, I just wish they'd tried a bit harder with the focusing motor.

This is all with a GX80. My comparison point is the Canon 40mm pancake on an EOS 6D, a combination I was very happy with.
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I'll probably try the Oly 25mm at some point, hopefully it'll focus as fast as the Oly 45mm but I suspect it will be just a bit too long for what I want indoors.

Long. not wide. Apologies.
 
SixToes said:
Lots at 3200, maybe a few higher than that but I pretty much consider 3200 the limit for the GX80. I just had a look for banding in some shots with dark evening skies taken at high ISO, and I can't see any. You've been using this system a lot longer than me though so maybe it was an issue but was addressed via firmware in either camera or lens or maybe it just isn't present on newer bodies. I don't know.
Yes perspective distortion. I definitely notice a difference between 17mm and 20mm, I've taken very few pictures of people that I think are any good with a lens wider than 40mm full frame equivalent. I know lots of other people are fine with wider than that for portraits, but it just doesn't suit my shooting style.
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I don't find perspective distortion an issue. Yes you can get converging verticles if you tilt the camera and yes you can distort features if shooting wide and with people too close or towards the edges but 35mm equiv shouldn't be an issue and you can after all see the "distortion" in the evf.

I wouldn't be frightened of higher iso's. I shot one recently at 25,600 and it's fine :D and possibly better than I got from 1600 film but of course the final print or image size and viewing has to be thought about but certainly for whole images on screen or reasonable print sizes waaaaay beyond 3200 should be ok after only basic processing, imo :D
 
As this thread is quiet, and the rain is heavy, I thought I would add a photo taken a few weeks ago when the sun was shining!!

 
I started about four years ago with a G3. In many ways I realise it was probably all I needed - but I had to sell the G3, invest in a couple of Nikons (D5100 & D7100) and Fujis (x100s & xPro1) all of which I still have - in order to realise this. A little while ago I bought a GM1 to carry about with me and, because I'm carrying it about, it's my most used camera. But it is a whisper too small. I'd like an EVF, and buttons I can actually see. So one day I might try a GX7 or even hopefully something newer, but meanwhile, here are a couple from a recent bike ride, all with the 12x32.

36177025123_7cc3243840_z.jpg


36815888582_da7610408c_z.jpg


37062231445_54ab8085cd_z.jpg


36985508785_b1166e03be_z.jpg
 
delb0y said:
I started about four years ago with a G3. In many ways I realise it was probably all I needed - but I had to sell the G3, invest in a couple of Nikons (D5100 & D7100) and Fujis (x100s & xPro1) all of which I still have - in order to realise this. A little while ago I bought a GM1 to carry about with me and, because I'm carrying it about, it's my most used camera. But it is a whisper too small. I'd like an EVF, and buttons I can actually see. So one day I might try a GX7 or even hopefully something newer, but meanwhile, here are a couple from a recent bike ride, all with the 12x32.

36177025123_7cc3243840_z.jpg


36815888582_da7610408c_z.jpg


37062231445_54ab8085cd_z.jpg


36985508785_b1166e03be_z.jpg
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Really nice set Derek, and a lot better and more interesting than my previous post!
 
Does anyone know how to set the g7 intervalometer for star trails? Obviously the iso speed and shutter speed is straight forward, iso1600 and 30 sec exposures, but can the timer be set to take a photo every 30 seconds? It's the latter which is confusing me. It would be for in camera time lapse and then stack those pictures for a star trail in software afterwards.
 
Yes you can choose how often the camera takes the picture, in your case every 30 seconds & you can choose how many pictures the camera should take before it stops. I find I get the best results when I shoot in manual exposure.
 
The interval is the time between actuations. If you are using a 30 second shutter speed I would allows a few extra seconds for the interval e.g. 35 seconds. Try it out, see what happens.
 
CSB said:
The interval is the time between actuations. If you are using a 30 second shutter speed I would allows a few extra seconds for the interval e.g. 35 seconds. Try it out, see what happens.
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Good point that, I tried once before and fluffed up , will give it a go, want to get it sorted before the holiday.

While i'm here, I put my 150-600 on the g7 via a cheapo adapter, and triggered the shutter via the mobile app

bullfinch #1 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr

goldfinch #1 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr

great tit by Michael Johnson, on Flickr
 
michael23 said:
So setting the interval to 30 seconds will allow a 30 second exposure, and still have enough time to write the file to the card and continue to the next shot?
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I think the write speed to the card is less of an issue than the long shutter NR which will take as long as the exposure was. So you may want to switch that off, though in my experience cleaning up the hot pixels is very hard and the LSNR is worth it. Not sure how to manage it in your situation unfortunately. Keen to understand how you get on though!
 
Anyone near Chesterfield area with a G7 and ideally the kit lens? Looking at getting one soon, and want to try one (PC World/Currys don't hold them in stock here, only their main warehouse)
 
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