Panasonic Lumix DMC-G5

In summary

Buy this camera if:
– You want a compact, SLR-like camera with straightforward controls and logical, easy-to-use menus.
– You would enjoy touch screen controls.
– You’re interested in shooting raw files.  
– You want to shoot Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) video with good audio quality.

Don’t buy this camera if:
– You aren’t prepared to explore its capabilities.
– You need a pocketable camera.
– You only shoot JPEG images.

Full review

Panasonic’s new Lumix DMC-G5 is the ninth model in the G-Micro series and replaces the G3 as the flagship in the line-up. The G3 will continue to be available, at least for the foreseeable future, with a price tag that’s about $190 lower than the G5’s. There’s no G4 model, because four is an unlucky number in Japan. Nevertheless, the G5 represents an incremental progression in the series, rather than a major update.

 The Panasonic DMC-G5 with the    H-FS014042 kit lens.   (Source: Panasonic.)  
With a body design more likely appeal to photo enthusiasts than other G-series models, the G5 also provides more SLR-like handling and functionality than its siblings. A new 16.05-megapixel Live MOS sensor and Venus Engine processor provide enhanced image quality and responsiveness in a ‘classic’ M4/3 camera.

What’s New?
The boost in monitor resolution is the prominent advantage of the new camera. Whereas the G3’s monitor has 460,000 dots, the new camera is bang up-to-date with 920,000 dots and a wide viewing angle. Both make it easier to evaluate shots and use menus in indifferent lighting, which potential purchasers will welcome.

Front views of the G5 (left) and G3 (right).  (Source: Panasonic.)

Despite a superficial resemblance to the G3, there have been a few changes to improve the handling qualities of the new camera. The body is slightly larger than the G3’s to allow for improved front and rear grips and the shutter button moves forward onto the grip to accommodate a lever for controlling power zoom lenses.  

 Top views of the G5 (left) and G3 (right), showing the changes to the camera’s grip and control layout. (Source: Panasonic.)

The dedicated movie button has been moved from the rear panel back to the top of the camera, where it’s easier to reach. Aside from a very minor cosmetic redesign, the mode dial is unchanged and the flash housing   with hot-shoe and inset stereo microphone grilles is essentially the same as the G3’s.

The larger grip enables a larger battery to be used and this, in turn, has extended the camera’s shooting capacity from approximately 270 shots/charge to 310 shots/charge with H-FS014042 kit lens. (The review camera was supplied with the H-PS014042 kit lens, which is likely to reduce this figure if the power-zoom is used frequently.)

Back views of the G5 (left) and G3 (right). (Source: Panasonic.)

There’s been a bit of button shuffling on the rear panel and some buttons have metal covers instead of plastic ones, giving them a higher-quality look and feel. Shifting the movie button to the top panel makes space for an AF/AE lock button, which doubles as one of the Function (Fn) buttons.

The Q. Menu button has been moved from under the arrow pad to sit between the AF/AE lock and the viewfinder housing, while the playback button (which was located here on the G3) moves to just above the arrow pad. The arrow pad controls are unchanged, with the directional buttons accessing ISO, white balance, drive and AF modes.

Below the arrow pad is the delete/back button, which also doubles as the second Fn button. The third Fn button shares duties with the LVF/LCD button to the left of the viewfinder housing, while the fourth and fifth Fn buttons are accessed via the touch screen.

The viewfinder is essentially the same 1,440,000-dot EVF as found on the G3 and very nice to use, displaying a bright, clear view of the scene that is very close to frame-accurate. The eye-start proximity sensor, which wasn’t included in the G3, makes a welcome return in the new camera, although it often has difficulty distinguishing between the user’s eyes and other things that come close to the camera and will switch between views when your hand (or something else) passes close to the sensor. You can’t adjust the sensor’s detection sensitivity or switch off the EVF entirely.

Internally there have also been a few changes, starting with the AF system, which is based on a new ‘Light Speed’ AF module that underpins the camera’s contrast AF system. Panasonic’s Light Speed has a drive speed of 120 frames/second, which claims an accuracy and speed that rivals many DSLRs, particularly with fast lenses at wide apertures, where it boasts lock-on speeds as high as 0.09 seconds.

Frame coverage has also been improved for autofocusing with a 23-area sensor array that covers most of the frame. You can select any area with the arrow pad in Single-point AF mode or use the touch screen to focus (and trigger the shutter, if desired) on any area of the screen

The touch focus and touch shutter controls can now be used while shooting with the EVF instead of only in live view mode using the monitor. To do this, the monitor must be extended laterally, which changes the way you cradle the camera in your hands. You can move the focus point about with either a finger or thumb tip and track it on the EVF. It’s a handy feature in bright outdoor conditions.

The default setting for the Q. Menu displays 12 functions: Photo Style, flash mode, movie setting, picture setting (image size & aspect ratio), quality, focus mode, metering mode, exposure compensation, ISO and white balance. You can add three more items to this list from a list of 14 functions that includes drive modes, HDR, iDynamic  and extra tele conversion settings.

The G5 is the first G-series model with an HDR mode. It works by capturing three frames with different levels of exposure, combining them in-camera to produce a single image covering an extended brightness range. This function doesn’t appear to be covered in the iAuto (Intelligent Auto) mode so snapshooters faced with contrasty scenes (e.g. beach and snow) will have to learn how to use it.

Only two settings are supported in the HDR setting: on and off. In contrast, the iDynamic control lets you set the exposure differences to high, standard or low ““ or disable the function entirely.

The touch-screen controls in the G5 aren’t quite as well implemented as in the GF5 (which lacks a viewfinder) but they’re pretty god on the whole. Many functions can be accessed by both physical controls and the touch screen and some functions can be awkward to set via the latter.

Support for familiar touch-phone   operations like pinch controls is lacking and it’s not easy to scroll through menus by touch. On the plus side, you can re-position the focusing point or histogram with a fingertip and the touch shutter is great fun to use, particularly when taking candid shots. It’s also useful for selective focusing.

The   iA (Intelligent Auto) mode is largely unchanged since the G3 and Photo Style pre-sets carry over to the new camera. Panasonic has extended the Creative Control options to enable users to choose from 14 pre-sets: Expressive, Retro, High Key, Low Key, Sepia, Dynamic Monochrome, Impressive Art, High Dynamic, Cross Process, Toy Effect, Miniature Effect, Soft Focus, Star Filter and One Point Colour. Most provide some degree of adjustment. Examples of some of the new settings are reproduced below.
 

Examples of Creative Control settings: top row – Expressive and Impressive Art; bottom row –   Cross Process and Star Filter.

Sensor and Image Processing
Although sensor resolution remains at 16 megapixels, the Live MOS sensor in the G5 is new and it’s  coupled with an improved Venus Engine FHD image processor.  Like the G3, the new camera has a native 4:3 aspect ratio but supports aspect ratios of 3:2, 16:9, and 1:1 through cropping.

Panasonic claims to have made further improvements to the circuitry in the sensor, resulting in a higher signal to noise (S/N) ratio. The Venus Engine’s signal processing has also been improved and there are now four processor cores to handle the advanced noise reduction system as well as 1920 x 1080 full HD progressive video recording.

A new 3DNR  facility can adjust noise reduction in different sections of an image as required. In addition, Multiprocess NR can detect brightness levels and apply localised noise reduction, where needed, in multiple steps. High Dynamic Range (HDR) processing (outlined above) is also handled by the new chip.

Continuous shooting speeds have been boosted to six frames/second at full resolution (16 megapixels) with the camera’s mechanical shutter.  In addition, high speed burst shooting at 20 fps with electronic shutter is also selectable, although only at the S image size, which is 2336 pixels wide for 4:3 and 3:2 aspects, 1920 pixels with 16:9 shots and 1712 pixels for 1:1 aspect ratio images.

Like the G3, the G5 supports JPEG and RW2.RAW file capture, along with RAW+JPEG pairs at three JPEG sizes. Typical image and file sizes are shown in the table below.

Aspect ratio	Image Size	Resolution	Fine	Standard
4:3	RAW	4608 x 3456	19.8MB
	L	4608 x 3456	8.8MB	4.4MB
	RAW+JPEG	4608 x 3456	28.9MB	24.4MB
	M	3264 x 2448	4.8MB	2.4MB
	RAW+JPEG	3264 x 2448	25.3MB	23.3MB
	S	2336 x 1752	2.9MB	1.5MB
	RAW+JPEG	2336 x 1752	23.3MB	22.3MB
3:2	RAW	4608 x 3072	17.7MB
	L	4608 x 3072	8.0MB	4.0MB
	RAW+JPEG	4608 x 3072	26.0MB	21.7MB
	M	3264 x 2176	4.5MB	2.3MB
	RAW+JPEG	3264 x 2176	22.2MB	20.0MB
	S	2336 x 1560	2.8MB	1.4MB
	RAW+JPEG	2336 x 1560	20.4MB	19.0MB
16:9	RAW	4608 x 2592	14.9MB
	L	4608 x 2592	7.1MB	3.6MB
	RAW+JPEG	4608 x 2592	22.2MB	18.5MB
	M	3264 x 1840	4.1MB	2.1MB
	RAW+JPEG	3264 x 1840	19.0MB	17.0MB
	S	1920 x 1080	2.3MB	1.2MB
	RAW+JPEG	1920 x 1080	16.0MB	15.5MB
1:1	RAW	3456 x 3456	14.8MB
	L	3456 x 3456	6.6MB	3.4MB
	RAW+JPEG	3456 x 3456	21.5MB	18.2MB
	M	2448 x 2448	3.7MB	1.9MB
	RAW+JPEG	2448 x 2448	18.5MB	16.7MB
	S	1744 x 1744	2.2MB	1.1MB
	RAW+JPEG	1744 x 1744	16.9MB	15.9MB

Movie recording has been improved and the relocation of the dedicated movie button to the top panel makes it easier for users to swap from shooting stills to recording movies. Still pictures can also be captured while recording movies by pressing the shutter button.

Two video recording modes are available: AVCHD and MP4.   The G5 is also capable of recording 1920 x 1080-pixel/50p full HD video in AVCHD Progressive (MPEG-4 / H.264) format with stereo sound, bringing its movie capabilities into line with the company’s consumer camcorders.

The maximum clip length for movies is 29 minutes and 59 seconds, although there’s an upper limit of 2GB when recording in the MP4 modes. Typical recording capacities for an 8GB card (which most users are likely to favour) are shown in the table below.

Video format	Aspect ratio	Picture Mode	Picture size  (pixels)	Frame Rate	Bit rate	Recording capacity/8GB card
AVCHD	16:9	PSH	1920 x 1080	50p	28 Mbps	36 minutes
		FSH		50i	17 Mbps	1 hour
		FPH		25p		1 hour
		SH	1280 x 720	50p		1 hour
MP4		FHD	1920 x 1080	25 fps	n.a.	49 minutes 5 seconds
		HD	1280 x 720		n.a.	1 hour 33 min. 43 sec.
	4:3	VGA	640 x 480		n.a.	3 hours 26 min. 16 sec.

Full-time autofocusing and tracking AF are supported in movie mode. Touch AF is also available, providing professional-like rack focusing. The Extended Tele Conversion function is also available in movie mode but provides a slightly different zoom factor from the stills mode.

By default, soundtracks are recorded in stereo and Dolby Digital Stereo Creator is built into the camera to ensure high audio quality. Holding down the movie button delays the start of audio recording by half a second.

A wind cut filter is also available to subdue interference from background wind. Users can record a JPEG snapshot while shooting a video clip by pressing the shutter button. The Picture Mode in the Motion picture menu lets you choose between movie and still picture priorities.

Selecting motion picture priorities locks the image size at S (2M) and the aspect ratio is fixed at 16:9. Up to 30 shots can be recorded with a movie clip in this mode. When still picture priorities is selected, the still images are recorded with the set picture size and quality and a maximum of eight shots can be recorded per clip. The screen goes dark while the still shot is captured and audio recording pauses briefly.

Playback and Software
Nothing much has changed in either area. Playback settings for still pictures are essentially the same as in other G-series cameras and include the same touch-screen capabilities.

The supplied software is also unchanged and includes the latest versions of PhotoFun Studio   and Silkypix Developer Studio plus a 30-day trial version of Super LoiLoScope (a Windows-only video editing program with a game-like GUI).

The Kit Lens
The review camera was supplied with the Lumix G VARIO 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. POWER O.I.S. (H-PS14042) kit lens. This is a very compact zoom lens that is similar in size to Panasonic’s 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens and supports a 3x optical zoom range.

With the camera switched off, the lens projects 26.8 mm in front of the camera body. Weighing only 95 grams, it has minimum focusing distance of 20 cm at the 14mm focal length, extending to 30 cm at 42mm.

The optical design consists of nine elements in eight groups and includes four aspherical lenses   plus two ED lenses to counteract common aberrations. Panasonic has reduced its overall size by replacing the mechanically-driven zoom and focusing rings with levers that control tiny internal electric stepping motors.

Powering up the camera extends the inner barrel a further 20 mm, a distance that remains almost constant regardless of the zoom setting. Focusing is internal and the front element of the lens doesn’t rotate during focusing or zooming.

Using the zoom lever is quite intuitive, particularly for anyone familiar with camcorders. Focal length changes very smoothly, making it particularly well suited for movie shooting. At maximum speed, it took 3.5 seconds to go from the wide to the tele position.

The focus lever is located below the zoom lever and it’s easy to slide your thumb down to operate it when the camera is in manual focus mode. Focusing and zooming are very quiet and both operations are almost undetectable in movie soundtracks.

Our Imatest tests showed this lens to be a competent performer, producing its highest resolution a stop or two down from maximum aperture at shorter focal lengths and mid-way in the aperture range towards full optical zoom. There wasn’t much evidence of edge softening, as shown in the graph of our Imatest results, taken from JPEG files, below.

 
 Lateral chromatic aberration was negligible at all aperture settings, confirming the in-camera correction capabilities. In the graph of our Imatest results below, the red line marks the border between ‘negligible’ and ‘low’ CA.

 
 Focusing speed and accuracy were very good, even in dim lighting. The powered manual focusing was as easy to operate as a manual focusing ring, particularly for focusing manually in movie mode. However, with minimum focus restricted to 20 cm, this lens isn’t particularly useful for close-ups unless subjects are relatively large.

We were unable to assess rectilinear distortion because it’s corrected in-camera.  Strong backlighting was handled very well, despite the lack of a lens hood. The Nano Surface Coating technology  appears to be quite effective at suppressing internal reflections. The built-in POWER O.I.S. was also effective, supporting shake-free exposures as slow as 1/13 second with the 14mm focal length and 1/20 second at 42mm.

Performance
Like the G3, the G5 was fun to use and provided easy access to the key manual controls required by serious photographers.  There were plenty of pre-sets in the Scene sub-menu and an easily accessed iAuto shooting that snapshooters having ‘can’t cope’ attacks can resort to with minimal fuss.  

 Autofocusing was fast and accurate in the main and we had few problems locking onto subjects in dim lighting or strongly-backlit situations. The focus tracking mode kept most moving subjects sharp, even while the camera was panned or the lens was zoomed in or out.

Metering kept track with autofocusing and the new camera’s dynamic range appeared to be marginally wider at ISO settings of 400 and above than we found with the G3. There was a noticeable improvement in image quality at high ISO settings.  

Imatest showed resolution performance matched well with subjective assessments of test shots. JPEGs had plenty of ‘punch’ when viewed on a computer monitor or TV screen and delivered good results when printed. Slightly high saturation in reds and blues was easily controlled at the editing stage.

Raw files were converted with the latest release of Adobe Camera Raw (the ‘release candidate’ 7.2 version), rather than the inferior Silkyix-based bundled software. The resulting 16-bit TIFF files had plenty of depth, giving scope for editing adjustments. Colour reproduction showed well-controlled saturation.

While JPEGs were slightly below expectations for a 16-megapixel camera, raw files came very close and resolution held up very well with both file types across the camera’s sensitivity range, as shown in the graph of our Imatest results below.
 

 
 Long exposures taken in dim lighting showed little visible noise right up to ISO 3200, even without noise reduction processing. Colour rendition appeared to be closer to natural hues than we found with the G3, even at high ISO settings.

By ISO 6400, slight pattern noise and softening were evident. Both had increased by ISO 12800, although shots taken with this sensitivity setting were printable to about half A4 size.

Flash exposures were evenly balanced throughout the camera’s ISO range and colour reproduction was reasonably faithful at settings up to ISO 3200. After that, the influence of ambient lighting could be seen and images were a little soft.

Auto white balance performance was similar to the G3’s under incandescent lighting. However, the G5 was able to eliminate any colour casts produced by fluorescent lights, providing a neutral colour rendition. Both pre-sets over-corrected slightly, pushing colours towards purple. Manual measurement produced neutral colours under both types of lighting and there’s plenty of scope for fine-tuning colour rendition via the touch screen.

Video quality was generally very good. Clips recorded in both movie formats were sharp and clear at all resolution settings. Autofocusing was faster than we found with the G3 and the continuous AF mode kept pace with pans and moving subjects, provided they weren’t too fast.

Traces of the sounds made by the zoom and AF motors could be just detected on soundtracks but they were seldom loud enough to bother about. The wind filter suppressed but didn’t totally eliminate wind noise.

For our timing tests we used the 16GB Panasonic SDHC I UI card, which has a Class 10 speed rating and is the fastest memory card we own. The review camera was noticeably faster than its predecessor, the G3, powering up almost instantaneously and taking less than a second to shut down.

Shot-to-shot times averaged 0.5 seconds without flash and 3.1 seconds with. Image processing times were unchanged from the G3, with the same processing time   ““ 2.3 seconds ““ applying to JPEG, RW2.RAW and RAW+JPEG shots.

The review camera recorded 30 2336 x 1752-pixel JPEG frames in 1.3 seconds in the SH (super-high speed) burst mode. It took 15.1 seconds to process this burst. Using the high-speed mode for high-resolution bursts we were able to record 14 JPEGs at   maximum resolution in 2.5 seconds. It took 5.7 seconds to process this burst.

Only nine frames could be recorded when raw files were captured and capture ceased after 1.6 seconds.   It took 17.6 seconds to process the RW2.RAW files and 24.4 seconds for the RAW+JPEG pairs.

Buy this camera if:
– You want a compact, SLR-like camera with straightforward controls and logical, easy-to-use menus.
– You would enjoy touch screen controls.
– You’re interested in shooting raw files.  
– You want to shoot Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) video with good audio quality.

Don’t buy this camera if:
– You aren’t prepared to explore its capabilities.
– You need a pocketable camera.
– You only shoot JPEG images.

SPECS

 Image sensor: 17.3 x 13.0 mm Live MOS sensor with 18.31 million photosites (16.05 megapixels effective)
 Image processor: Venus Engine FHD
 A/D processing: 12-bit
 Lens mount: Micro Four Thirds
 Focal length crop factor: 2x
 Digital zoom: 2x, 4x
 Image formats: Stills ““ RW2.RAW, JPEG (Exif 2.3), RAW+JPEG; Movies ““ AVCHD / QuickTime Motion JPEG; 3D ““ MPO (with 3D lens)
 Image Sizes: Stills ““ [4:3] 4608 x 3456, 3264 x 2448, 2336 x 1752; [3:2] 4608 x 3072, 3264 x 2176, 2336 x 1560; [16:9] 4608 x 2592, 3264 x 1840, 1920 x 1080;  [1:1] 3456 x 3456, 2448 x 2448, 1744 x 1744; Movies: [AVCHD] 1920 x 1080 50p (PSH: 28Mbps); 1920 x 1080 50i (FSH: 17Mbps); 1280 x 720 50p (SH: 17Mbps); [MP4] 1920 x 1080 at 25 fps (FHD: 20Mbps), 1280 x 720 at 30, 25 fps (HD: 10Mbps); VGA
 Image Stabilisation: Lens based
 Dust removal: Supersonic wave filter
 Shutter speed range: 60 to 1/4000 second plus Bulb (max. 120 seconds); flash synch at 1/60 second
 Exposure Compensation: +/- 5EV in 1/3EV steps
 Exposure bracketing: 3,5,7 frame, in 1/3 or 2/3 or 1EV Step, +/- 3 EV
 Self-timer: 10 seconds delay or   3 images with   2 sec / 10 sec delay
 Focus system: 23-area contrast AF system with AFS (Single), AFF (Flexible), AFC (Continuous), MF modes
 Focus modes: Face detection, AF Tracking, 23-area-focusing, 1-area-focusing, Pinpoint AF
 Exposure metering: 144-zone multi-pattern sensing system with Intelligent Multiple, Centre Weighted and Spot modes
 Shooting modes: Program AE, Aperture Priority AE, Shutter Priority AE, Manual, Custom (x2), Scene (Clear Portrait, Silky Skin, Backlit Softness, Clear in Backlight, Relaxing Tone, Sweet Child’s Face, Distinct Scenery, Bright Blue Sky, Romantic Sunset Glow, Vivid Sunset Glow, Glistening Water, Clear Nightscape, Cool Night Sky, Warm Glowing Nightscape, Artistic Nightscape, Glittering Illuminations, Clear Night Portrait, Soft Image of a Flower, Appetising Food, Cute Dessert, Freeze Animal Motion, Clear Sports Shot, Monochrome)
 Picture Style/Control settings: Standard, Vivid, Natural, Monochrome, Scenery, Portrait, Custom
 In-camera effects: Expressive, Retro, High Key, Low Key, Sepia, Dynamic Monochrome, Impressive Art, High Dynamic, Cross Process, Toy Effect, Miniature Effect, Soft Focus, Star Filter, One Point Colour
 Colour space options: sRGB, Adobe RGB
 ISO range: Auto, Intelligent ISO, ISO 160, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800 (adjustable in 1/3 EV steps)
 White balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Incandescent, Flash, White Set 1, 2, Colour temperature setting; Blue/amber bias, Magenta/green bias adjustments
 Flash: TTL built-in pop-up flash, GN10.5 equivalent (ISO 160/m), Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Forced On/Red-eye Reduction, / Slow Sync., Slow Sync./Red-eye Reduction, Forced Off
 Flash exposure adjustment: +/- 2 EV in 1/3 EV steps
 Sequence shooting: SH : 20.0 frames/sec, H: 6.0 frames/sec(with AFS), M: 3.7 frames/sec (with Live View), L: 2.0 frames/sec (with Live View); Max. 9 raw frames; 40 JPEGs
 Storage Media: SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards; UHS-1 compatible
 Viewfinder: Live View Finder (1,440,000 dots equivalent), 100% FOV, 17.5mm eyepoint, approx. 1,4x magnification, +/- 4 dpt adjustment, eye sensor
 LCD monitor: Free-angle 3-inch TFT LCD with Touch panel with 920,000 dots, wide viewing angle
 Playback functions: Normal playback, 30-thumbnail display, 12-thumbnail display, Calendar display, Zoomed playback (16x Max.), Slideshow (duration & effect is selectable), Playback Mode (Normal/Picture/Video/3D Play/Category/Favourite), Title Edit, Text Stamp, Video Divide, Resize, Cropping, Rotate, Favourite, DPOF Print set, Protect, Face Recognition Edit
 Interface terminals: USO 2.0, HDMI (Type C Mini), microphone jack
 Power supply: DMW-BLC12E 7.2V, 1200mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery; CIPA rated for approx. 310 shots/charge  with H-FS14042 kit lens
 Dimensions (wxhxd): 119.9 x 83.2 x 70.8 mm
 Weight: Approx. 346 grams (body only)

RRP: AU$999; US$800 (with standard H-FS14042 14-42mm kit lens)
 Distributor: Panasonic Australia, Ph. 132 600; www.panasonic.com.au

TESTS

JPEG image files

 

 

Raw image files converted into 16-bit TIFF format with Adobe Camera Raw (‘release candidate’ 7.2).

SAMPLES

 Auto white balance with incandescent lighting.

 Auto white balance with fluorescent lighting.

 
14mm focal length, ISO 160, 1/500 second at f/8.

 

42mm focal length, ISO 160, 1/400 second at f/10.
 
 

2x digital zoom; 42mm focal length, ISO 160, 1/400 second at f/10.
 
 

4x digital zoom; 42mm focal length, ISO 160, 1/500 second at f/11.
 
 

Close-up; 42mm focal length, ISO 1250, 1/80 second at f/8.
 
 

30-second exposure at ISO 160, 16mm focal length, f/4.
 
 

13-second exposure at ISO 800, 16mm focal length, f/5.6.
 
 

6-second exposure at ISO 6400, 16mm focal length, f/11.
 
 

4-second exposure at ISO 12800, 16mm focal length, f/13.
 
 

Flash exposure at ISO 160, 42mm focal length, 1/60 second at f/5.6.
 
 

Flash exposure at ISO 800, 42mm focal length, 1/60 second at f/5.6.
 
 

Flash exposure at ISO 6400, 42mm focal length, 1/60 second at f/5.6.
 
 

Flash exposure at ISO 12800, 42mm focal length, 1/60 second at f/5.6.
 
 

Stabilisation test at 14mm;ISO 400, 1/13 second at f/3.5.
 
 

Stabilisation test at 42mm; ISO 1600, 1/20 second at f/5.6.
 
 The images below were captured with a G5 camera at the official launch of the latest cameras on the Central Coast of NSW. A number of different lenses were used and these are indicated in the shot data.
 
 

Backlighting: Lumix G VARIO 12-35mm f/2.8 at 26mm focal length, ISO 160, 1/200 second at f/3.5.
 
 

Flare: Lumix G VARIO 12-35mm f/2.8 at 14mm focal length, ISO 160, 1/1000 second at f/8.
 

Lumix G VARIO 12-35mm f/2.8 at 12mm focal length, ISO 160, 1/160 second at f/4.
 
 

Lumix G VARIO 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 at 22mm focal length, ISO 160, 6 seconds at f/16. Camera was tripod-mounted.
 
 

Lumix G VARIO 45-150mm f/4.0-5.6 at 45mm focal length, ISO 400, 0.4 second at f/5.6. Camera was held steady against a rock.
 
 

Still frame from AVCHD video clip shot in the PSH mode.
 

Still frame from AVCHD video clip shot in the FSH mode.
 
 

Still frame from AVCHD video clip shot in the SH mode.
 
 

Still frame from MP4 video clip shot in the FHD mode.

Still frame from MP4 video clip shot in the HD mode.

 Still frame from MP4 video clip shot in the VGA mode.

Rating

RRP: AU$999; US$800 (with standard H-FS14042 14-42mm kit lens)

• Build: 8.5
• Ease of use: 9.0
• Autofocusing: 9.0
• Still image quality JPEG: 8.5
• Still image quality RAW: 8.8
• Video quality: 9.0

Buy