Review of the Panasonic GF5
Technological gear website pocket-lint.com has reviewed the Panasonic GF5 Micro Four Thirds Compact System Camera. According to them and majority of audience they find the Panasonic GF5 a very competent compact system camera that is small enough to fit in a pocket when connected to a pancake lens (as for instance the Panasonic 14mm F2.5 or the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 lens).
Albeit its small size they consider this Panasonic micro four thirds compact system camera to be easy to handle and work with easy access to buttons and touch screen. It is not a flagship Micro Four Thirds Compact System Camera (as it does lack an optional viewfinder and has a 12 mega pixels sensor compared to the latest 16 mega pixels ones found in the Panasonic GX1 or the Olympus OM-D EM-5 but it is able to give beautiful colors specially when processing its RAW photos.
They find that the ideal lens for the Panasonic GF5 is the 14-42 X lens made by Panasonic for Micro Four Thirds Compact System Cameras as closed has a pancake lens look and yet provides a wide zoom range (28-84mm full frame equivalent).
Panasonic GF5 with 14-42 X Zoom Lens for Micro Four Thirds Compact System Cameras
They find the camera’s 3 inch LCD screen touch screen responsiveness extremely fast and useful as makes operation of camera fairly easy and intuitive.
Compared to the Panasonic GF3 the GF5’s autofocus is blazing fast without any lag. The camera also has 23 focus points and has an option for improved manual focus with its pinpoint mode.
The GF5 also comes with 1080p video mode as well as stereo sound (an improvement compared to the GF3). Its improved 12 mega pixels sensor supports a ISO range of 160-12800 though image quality starts degrading considerably from ISO 1600 upwards.
Their final verdict is a score of 4 stars out of 5 which is quite good. Although camera looks small it hides inside a powerful sensor and processor able to rend very nice images and has good video capabilities. The downside of the GF5 with the 14-42mm X lens kit is the price specially when compared to the standard 14-42mm lens. Another one is the lack of an optional viewfinder when compared to the GX1.
Photo samples of the Panasonic GF5:
Please find below some photo samples of this compact system camera:
Panasonic GF5 Micro Four Thirds Compact System Camera Sample Photo
Panasonic GF5 Micro Four Thirds Compact System Camera Sample Photo
Panasonic GF5 Micro Four Thirds Compact System Camera Sample Photo
Panasonic GF5 Micro Four Thirds Compact System Camera Sample Photo
