not a problem at all, happen to have orange lizard skin leatherette at my disposal hehe
Handson Review with Panasonic GM5 - Smallest Interchangeable m43 Camera with EVF
- Thread starter wonglp
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not a problem at all, happen to have orange lizard skin leatherette at my disposal hehe
With Mega OIS on the kit lens, it works very well. There's 2 modes of ISO - Auto & intelligent, the below is from an old manual, strangely it's omitted from GM5 manual, or maybe I didn't find it hard enough.
Auto ISO Sensitivity is automatically set in a range up to 1600 (or what ever max limit you set) depending on the brightness of a subject. It would seem the camera tries to fix at 1/60sec for most low lights.
iISO Sensitivity is automatically set in a range up to 1600 (or what ever max limit you set) depending on the movement and brightness of a subject.
A quick tests seems iISO will bump up more ISO to ensure shake free shot, though it doesn't show you the ISO it's taking even on AF confirmation, only until shot is taken, perhaps doesn't want you to know how intelligent it is Auto will show you. Personally I would prefer using Auto ISO to keep my ISO as low as possible.
12mm, F10, 1/6sec, ISO100, with the help of EVF for better posture.
One thing to note that Panasonic cameras is that stabiliser is on lens, and only Panasonic lenses has Mega/Power OIS(& not all). So if using Olympus lenses or other 3rd party m43 lenses, you would have to take note of the shutter speeds according to focal lengths. To make GM5 small, this is a tradeoff compared to say GX7 which has in body stabiliser. But if sticking to small 12-32 which has Mega OIS this is hardly any issue
Auto ISO Sensitivity is automatically set in a range up to 1600 (or what ever max limit you set) depending on the brightness of a subject. It would seem the camera tries to fix at 1/60sec for most low lights.
iISO Sensitivity is automatically set in a range up to 1600 (or what ever max limit you set) depending on the movement and brightness of a subject.
A quick tests seems iISO will bump up more ISO to ensure shake free shot, though it doesn't show you the ISO it's taking even on AF confirmation, only until shot is taken, perhaps doesn't want you to know how intelligent it is Auto will show you. Personally I would prefer using Auto ISO to keep my ISO as low as possible.
12mm, F10, 1/6sec, ISO100, with the help of EVF for better posture.
One thing to note that Panasonic cameras is that stabiliser is on lens, and only Panasonic lenses has Mega/Power OIS(& not all). So if using Olympus lenses or other 3rd party m43 lenses, you would have to take note of the shutter speeds according to focal lengths. To make GM5 small, this is a tradeoff compared to say GX7 which has in body stabiliser. But if sticking to small 12-32 which has Mega OIS this is hardly any issue
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GM5 powers up fast, and the focusing is fast too, as with all M43 cameras today. Unless one is using the known slower AF lenses like olympus 17/2.8, lumix 20/1.7, you are pretty much going to get very reliable results, especially with the kit lens. Plus it's so quiet, without even using the silent mode. GM5 has touchscreen AF, though you still need shutter button to take a shot.
Here's some street shots to share. Snap and go.
With kit 12-32
A few more with the "dynamic monochrome" filter, really nice filter to use. though sometimes need to up the exposure. There's 20+ filter effects for you to choose from, and you can still use it in PASM modes too, so that useful to shoot in RAW+JPEG in case the effect results is not what you want, you can use RAW to edit. Only the jpeg will show the effect
Here's some street shots to share. Snap and go.
With kit 12-32
A few more with the "dynamic monochrome" filter, really nice filter to use. though sometimes need to up the exposure. There's 20+ filter effects for you to choose from, and you can still use it in PASM modes too, so that useful to shoot in RAW+JPEG in case the effect results is not what you want, you can use RAW to edit. Only the jpeg will show the effect
All out of camera jpegs
With Olympus 45mm/1.8 lens
With kit lens.
This was snapped with kit lens, it was quiet enough for her not to noticed it. ISO3200.
With Olympus 25mm/1.8
With Olympus 45mm/1.8 lens
With kit lens.
This was snapped with kit lens, it was quiet enough for her not to noticed it. ISO3200.
With Olympus 25mm/1.8
Using the Wifi App, very easy to connect this time, I remembered using GX7 it was harder and get disconnected rather easily.
You can do quite a lot with the wifi app:
- Remote shoot
- Geo tagging
- Transfer pics
I actually prefer using via remote shoot option to transfer the shots as the preview will show larger shots so you can see which to send to, especially useful if you have a tablet. If you use the default way to transfer, you need to skim through the shots in the LCD screen, which can be tough to choose the correct if you shoot in burst.
Here's a screenshot of the app captured on my tablet (was aiming the wall)
There's also an instant transfer function that allows photo that's just snapped to a designated device automatically.
You can do quite a lot with the wifi app:
- Remote shoot
- Geo tagging
- Transfer pics
I actually prefer using via remote shoot option to transfer the shots as the preview will show larger shots so you can see which to send to, especially useful if you have a tablet. If you use the default way to transfer, you need to skim through the shots in the LCD screen, which can be tough to choose the correct if you shoot in burst.
Here's a screenshot of the app captured on my tablet (was aiming the wall)
There's also an instant transfer function that allows photo that's just snapped to a designated device automatically.
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Conclusion so far of what I've gotten with this setup.
What I like (apart from the obvious cute factor):
- amazing size even with the EVF
- EVF, not that large magnification, not that fast refresh, but personally, still very useful for bright day usage.
- much improved number of controls (dial, and buttons)compared to GM1 (with just a wee bit taller than GM1 ) but the experience of using GM5 surpasses the increase in height.
- Shutter sound is so quiet (can even turn on silent mode to completely mute the shutter)
- Improve eye sensor that's not at left edge (GX7 was), this helps doing low angle portrait mode more effectively.
- quick start up and snappy AF (as with all M43 cameras today as well)
- useful filters effects - dynamic monochrome is personal favorite
- excellent IQ and kit lens with useable high ISO shots (personally to iso3200)
What I thought can be better:
- ability to do more in camera processing of videos, there's a snap movie mode, if a stitching function can be added can have more fun with it, and straightaway post to youtube. For one who doesn't do much vid editing (and I suppose some customers that this camera is intended to cater to) will find it useful.
- touchscreen snap like Olympus m43 cameras
- tiltable screen perhaps? I'm so used to tiltable screen this days, it seems like all cameras should have one, especially if this camera is also targeting ladies, for selfie, a 180deg tilt screen would be very good. This would certainly increase the depth a bit more, but I feel is a feature that should be present.
Apart from this, this is a very fun camera to bring along for daily usage with a wonderful little kit lens, and certainly a good differentiating camera from the bulk of m43 cameras released this year (Panasonic GH4, Olympus EM10, EPL7), if you are looking at a small camera that's interchangeable with powerful IQ and able to use with the small & excellent prime lenses that m43 camp has to offer, this camera will not disappoint. If price is an issue and EVF is not necessary, GM1 is also a good alternative, albeit with lesser controls. It's quite amazing how much features Panasonic is able to pack into this little camera.
What I like (apart from the obvious cute factor):
- amazing size even with the EVF
- EVF, not that large magnification, not that fast refresh, but personally, still very useful for bright day usage.
- much improved number of controls (dial, and buttons)compared to GM1 (with just a wee bit taller than GM1 ) but the experience of using GM5 surpasses the increase in height.
- Shutter sound is so quiet (can even turn on silent mode to completely mute the shutter)
- Improve eye sensor that's not at left edge (GX7 was), this helps doing low angle portrait mode more effectively.
- quick start up and snappy AF (as with all M43 cameras today as well)
- useful filters effects - dynamic monochrome is personal favorite
- excellent IQ and kit lens with useable high ISO shots (personally to iso3200)
What I thought can be better:
- ability to do more in camera processing of videos, there's a snap movie mode, if a stitching function can be added can have more fun with it, and straightaway post to youtube. For one who doesn't do much vid editing (and I suppose some customers that this camera is intended to cater to) will find it useful.
- touchscreen snap like Olympus m43 cameras
- tiltable screen perhaps? I'm so used to tiltable screen this days, it seems like all cameras should have one, especially if this camera is also targeting ladies, for selfie, a 180deg tilt screen would be very good. This would certainly increase the depth a bit more, but I feel is a feature that should be present.
Apart from this, this is a very fun camera to bring along for daily usage with a wonderful little kit lens, and certainly a good differentiating camera from the bulk of m43 cameras released this year (Panasonic GH4, Olympus EM10, EPL7), if you are looking at a small camera that's interchangeable with powerful IQ and able to use with the small & excellent prime lenses that m43 camp has to offer, this camera will not disappoint. If price is an issue and EVF is not necessary, GM1 is also a good alternative, albeit with lesser controls. It's quite amazing how much features Panasonic is able to pack into this little camera.
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