Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 – My Preview (English Version)

Here are a couple of GX7 news:

1) Two Magnum Photographer will use the new Panasonic GX7 for their work! More info at Lumixgexperience.panasonic.co.uk

2)  In UK: 2 Days After Product Announcement and Reveals Pre-Order Campaign

Having just announced the new LUMIX GX7 interchangeable lens camera, Panasonic is pleased to reveal that consumers will have the opportunity to see the camera for the first time this weekend. Panasonic will be conducting previews of the camera at selected stores from Saturday 3rd August, only two days after the camera’s announcement. Additionally, consumers can pre-order the GX7 from the date of announcement and receive a free battery and leather case via consumer redemption.

The previews will be held at the following stores at weekends from the 3rd August until the 8th September ;
•        Park Cameras, Victoria Business Park, York Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9TT
•        London Camera Exchange, 53 The Horsefair, Bristol, BS1 3JP
•        Frank Wilkinson Cameras Ltd, 27 Friargate Walk, St Georges Centre, Preston, PR1 2NQ
•        Jessops, 129-131 Oxford Street, London, W1D 2HU
•        Cambrian Photography Ltd, 87 Abergele Road, Colwyn Bay, II29 7SA
•        York Camera Mart Ltd, 18 Church Street, York, YO1 8BE
•        Castle Cameras, 329 Wimborne Road, Bournemouth, BH9 2AD
•        Cameraworld, 14 Wells Street, London, W1T 3PB
•        Clifton Cameras, 28 Parsonage Street, Dursley, Gloucester, GL11 4AA
•        Comley Cameras, 7 St Peters Avenue, Cleethorpes, DN35 8HQ
•        Camarthen Cameras, 1 Parkmaen Street, Camarthen, SA31 1DP
•        John Lewis, 300 Oxford Street, London, W1A 1EX (Thursdays and Fridays only)

Working samples of the camera will be available at each store for users to try, as well as a dedicated Panasonic person to talk through product features and answer any questions.  For further information on preview timing, please contact your local participating store.

In addition to the previews, Panasonic is pleased to announce a pre-order campaign where consumers can redeem a free leather case and battery worth £69.99  when they purchase a DMC-GX7 camera. With a stylish case to be proud of and the convenience of a spare battery, this enticing offer is set to be a firm incentive for those looking to purchase the new GX7.  Effective from the date of product announcement (1st August) until the 30th September 2013, the free leather case and battery is claimed by consumer redemption to Panasonic (www.panasonic.co.uk/promotions).

Panasonic’s new LUMIX GX7 interchangeable lens camera sports a retro-classic design, and exhibits advanced features and creative functions that will help change your photography. The camera’s elegant design is evocative of the classical photographic age, making it perfect for the style-conscious enthusiast to carry with them every day. The LUMIX GX7 boasts the speed, quality and flexibility to turn daily scenes into unique reflections of your world.

Image courtesy: Camerasize.com.

New Panasonic GX7 sales:
Before to make you the deadly question here is the full GX7 preorder list. The camera is still the most ordered camera at Amazon ranking (can be seen here). Click on store to preorder and see price and delivery info:
Silver GX7 body at Amazon US, BHphoto, Adorama, Samys and Wex UK and Amazon Japan.
Silver GX7 with 14-42mm lens at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Samys and WexUK and Amazon Japan.
Black GX7 body at Wex UK and Amazon Japan.
Black GX7 with 14-42mm lens at Wex UK.
Black GX7 with 20mm lens at Wex UK and Amazon Japan.
Silver GX7 with 20mm lens at Wex UK and Amazon Japan.

E-P5 or GX7. That’s the question!
I now this will look bad for Olympus. But I want to know how bad the situation is :)  Both cameras do cost $999. So tell me….

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Preorders price and specs:
Silver GX7 body at Amazon US (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Wex UK (Click here).
Silver GX7 with 14-42mm lens at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and WexUK (Click here).
Black GX7 body at Wex UK (Click here).
Black GX7 with 14-42mm lens at Wex UK (Click here).
Black GX7 with 20mm lens at Wex UK (Click here).
Silver GX7 with 20mm lens at Wex UK (Click here).

Previews, reviews and tests:
First impression review at Dpreview, Hands-on by ePhotozine, Preview at Techradar, Spanish Hands-on at DSLRmagazine, Toma de contacto Quesabesde, Hands-on pics at Photographyblog. Hands-on at Pocket-Lint.

Surprise:
Panasonic also announced the Leica 42,5mm f/1.2 Nocticron (Source: Panasonic Japan). No price or release date unveiled.

Image Samples:
Superadrianme (with ISO test), Photographyblog,

Videos:
Introduction Video (Panasonic), Koji Ueda (Panasonic), Bernie DeChant (Panasonic), Kyoto (Panasonic), Praxistest in German (Chip.de), Scandinavian Photo,

Worldwide Press releases:
42,5mm lens at Dpreview, Dicahub (korean), OpenPN (French).
GX7 at Dpreview, ePhotozine, Photoscala (German), DicaHub (Korean), OpenPN (French), Quesabesde (Spanish), DC.watch (Japanese), Panasonic (Japanese), Zoom (Dutch), LeMondeDeLaPhoto (French), Focus Numerique (French), LesNumeriques (French), Fotografidigitali (Italian), Photographyblog, Fotomagazin (German), SLRlounge, PhotographicCentral.

Poll:

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More pictures (Click on it to enlarge):

The recently announced Canon 70D ($1199 DSLR) is the first camera having an on sensor usable phase detection AF area that  covers 80% of the frame. On paper this sounds like a sort of holy grail solution for mirrorless cameras. There are many advantages like:

• AF works at apertures down to F11
• AF covers 80% of the frame
• AF works in light levels as low as 0 EV
• Can work with face detection to keep moving subjects in focus

But Panasonic engineers came up with a similar solution described in US patent 8482657 (Click here). The patent contains plenty of images and description for the more advanced tech friendly readers. I don’t think that sensor will be used for the soon to be announced GX7. But I am sure the next GH may feature exactly that kind of on sensor phase detection feature.

[shoplink 40560 ebay][/shoplink]

Dicahub reports that the EF-M43 Speed Booster will be released in August. EF-M43 will have electronic contacts. This is good news because MFT will get access to the largest lens range of the world. Now Canon gear owners can use their Full Frame lenses on MFT cameras gaining 1 stop of speed!

The Speed Booster can be found:
In USA at Metabones, at Amazon and at BHphoto.
In Europe at [shoplink 40560 ebay]eBay UK (Click here)[/shoplink].

Here is a short list of mails I received from our 43rumors readers:

Bob: “I’ve started a fan page for the Olympus PEN E-P5. Feel free to post photos, videos or experience stories & reviews.https://www.facebook.com/EP5Fans”

Eric: “I saw that you were interested by stories or real life tests so here’s a link to a wedding I made exclusively with micro 4/3 cameras: http://blog.ericcote.net/2013/07/mariage-avec-lolympus-om-d/ This post might be interesting too since I tell my first 4 months with the OM-D from a personal and professional standpoint with examples from portrait to food photography and commercial gigs: http://blog.ericcote.net/2013/01/quatre-mois-avec-lolympus-om-d/ Hope it can be useful to some people. The posts are in french but there is a translate option on the left side (although not perfect).”

JJ: “Here’s a friendly face off between the Nikon v1 and the Oly E-PL5: http://jjsemplephotography.blogspot.com/2013/07/e-pl5-vs-nikon-v1.html”

P13: “Our Big Gig was a national event sponsored by the Arts Council for England this weekend, I filmed the Bradford music gig with a cameraman on the 2nd GH3, the event was the showcase event for Yorkshire & Humberside and was 8 hours in total, it was a mix of street style rap, to various rock music styles and ending with drum and bass. The video was edited and released the following day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Wiw_jJbjoJg”

Ralph: “hier gibt es wohl ein Angebot eines kostenlosen Workshops bei Kauf einer OMD. http://www.kamera-express.nl“

Ludwig: “I saw that you have a rumor about a mirror lens. I own the Opteka 500 mm mirror lens. I use it with my AF100. When you manage to nail focus, you can get decent sharp pictures. Here one example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga7GoZP9An4 The last scenes of the video were shot with the Lumix X 35-100 mm lens.”

Roy: “I would like to share with the m4/3rumors community a video me and a couple of mates made in a hurry for the Tomorrowland Goldenticket contest. We didn’t win, but lot’s of fun shooting it in a day and montage the day after. Entirely shot on my GH2 with Canon 50mm 1.4, Nikon 25mm 2.8 and 14-140 kitlens: https://vimeo.com/70947897“

Nick: “I just wanted to let everyone know that I’ve set up my Zenfolio web page where people can see my artwork and photography.  http://concordenickartphoto.zenfolio.com I’ve been an Olympus owner going back to the OM-10 days and progressing upwards to my current E-5.”

P.S.: FotgaLens Mount Adapter for Nikon G Lens to M4/3 (ThePhoBlographer).

Lumix GH3 Vs G6 by Giulio Sciorio.

Panasonic GF6 review at Neocamera.
Fhugen GH3 cage on Twitter.
75-300mm F4.8-6.7 II lens review at DxOmark.
Olympus 75mm lens test at Bryantakespictures.
Olympus Premium Leather Accessories For PEN E-P5 Launched (ePhotozine).
E-P5 review at Cameralabs.
Olympus E-P5 with 60mm macro lens image samples (DC.watch).
Nokton 42,5mm lens test at DC.watch.
Olympus E-P5 test at Yodobashi.
The Good, the Bad and the Downright Wonderful of the Olympus Electronic Viewfinder VF-4 (BestMirrorlessCameraReviews).
photocamera bag review by Jay Soriano.