With a new 16-million-pixel sensor and a clever tiltable electronic viewfinder, the GX7 could be one of the best system cameras we’ve seen, says Phil Hall. Read the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 review...
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 review – Stabilisation system

Until now, G-series CSCs from Panasonic have relied on lens-based image-stabilisation technology to counteract camera shake, with Mega OIS or Power OIS systems found in most Panasonic optics. Now, for the first time on a G-series camera, the GX7 also features a sensor-shift anti-shake system. This offers users of stabilised and non-stabilised lenses the best of both worlds, with photographers using legacy glass or Olympus and Sigma micro four thirds-fit lenses able to benefit from the sensor-shift system.
Lenses with built-in IS will automatically override the GX7’s sensor-shift system, but once a non-IS lens is on the camera, the GX7’s built-in anti-shake system takes over. To ensure the correct level of correction is applied to the mounted third-party optics, shooters can dial in the lens’s focal length between 8mm and 1,000mm. For video shooters, it’s worth noting that this body-based anti-shake system isn’t activated during capture.
The built-in image-stabilisation system performed well, automatically detecting a non-IS lens and delivering a comparable performance to lens-based systems with shorter-focal-length optics, though at longer focal lengths a lens-based system should have the slight edge.
- Video: Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixels, 60i AVCHD 60fps (PAL), 1920 x 1080-pixel MPEG-4 (30fps)
- White Balance: Auto, 5 presets, 2 custom, Kelvin, all with fine-tuning
- Built-in Flash: Yes, GN 5m @ ISO 100
- Shutter Type: Focal-plane shutter
- Memory Card: SD, SDHC, SDXC
- Viewfinder Type: 2,764,800-million-dot articulated EVF
- LCD: 3in, 1.04-million-dot touchscreen LCD
- AF Points: 23-area and touch-focus anywhere in the frame
- Output Size: 4592 x 3448 pixels (15.8 million pixels)
- Field of View: 100%
- Max Flash Sync: 1/320sec (internal) 1/250sec (external)
- White Balance Bracket: 3 frames
- Sensor: 16-million-effective-pixel Live MOS
- Focal Length Mag: 2x
- Exposure Modes: Program, aperture priority, shutter priority, manual, iA+, 25 scene modes
- Power: Rechargeable Li-Ion
- Weight: 360g (body only)
- File Format: JPEG, RW2 (raw), raw + JPEG, MPO (when attaching 3D lens in micro four thirds-system standard), AVCHD, MPEG-4
- Shutter Speeds: 60-1/8000sec, bulb
- Drive Mode: Up to 5.0 fps (with AFS), 4.3fps (with AFC, in 1-area-focusing AF mode) for 9 continuous shots in raw, unlimited JPEGs
- Colour Space: Adobe RGB, sRGB
- Lens Mount: Micro four thirds
- ISO: 125-25,600
- Focusing Modes: Contrast AF, single, continuous, manual, face detection, AF tracking, 23-area, 1-area, pinpoint, touch
- DoF Preview: Yes, with shutter speed simulation
- Dimensions: 122.60x 70.7 x 54.6 mm
- Metering System: 1,728-zone, multi-pattern sensing system with options for intelligent multiple, centreweighted, spot
- Compression: 2-stage JPEG
- Connectivity / Interface: Mini HDMI, digital/video out, remote release
- Exposure Comp: ±5EV in 1/3 steps
- RRP: £986.99 (body only)
- Tested as: Enthusiast CSC