Panasonic G7 unveiled with improvements aplenty: Faster focusing, sharper finder, 4K video and stills

by Mike Tomkins

posted Monday, May 18, 2015 at 8:00 AM EDT

In 2013, Panasonic launched the popular G6 compact system camera; today, it follows up with the launch of the Panasonic G7. Where its predecessor was a relatively modest update of the earlier G5, retaining much of its predecessor's internals, the Lumix G7 looks to be a much more significant update, inside and out.

At its core, the Panasonic G7 sports an upgraded 16-megapixel image sensor that's inherited from the GX7, and a current-generation Venus Engine image processor as seen in the LX100 and FZ1000. That's good news, because all three of those cameras scored highly in our reviews, thanks in part to their great image quality.

Burst performance has improved to a maximum of eight frames per second at full resolution, or six frames per second using the company's newly-available Depth from Defocus autofocus technology, now complete with refined tracking algorithms and low-light sensitivity sufficient to shoot in starlight! And sensitivity now spans everything from ISO 200 to 25,600 equivalents without the need to enable ISO expansion. (Should you choose to, though, you can extend the lower end of the range down to ISO 100 equivalent.)

On the outside, the Panasonic G7 has undergone another ground-up redesign, its more aggressively-styled body sporting even more controls than before -- including twin control dials! And both the electronic viewfinder and LCD monitor have been replaced, with the new finder sporting a more generous eyepoint and 64% higher dot count than before, while the touch-screen LCD panel has 50% greater brightness.

Compared to the earlier G6 (right), the rather angular Panasonic G7 has undergone a ground-up restyling that's altogether more aggressive than its elder sibling's rounded, flowing curves.

And that's far from all. The Lumix G7 also now features both 4K video capture capability and a refined version of Panasonic's 4K Photo mode, which allows high-res eight-megapixel stills to be extracted from video clips -- an ultra-fast burst mode of sorts. Other improvements touch on the Panasonic G7's audio capture, electronic shutter, panorama capture, creative filters and more. There's even an unusual function that allows you to erase unwanted objects from your photos in-camera!

Available from mid-June 2015, the Panasonic Lumix G7 is priced at US$800 or thereabouts with a 14-42mm kit lens, while an alternate kit with 14-140mm kit lens will list at around US$1,100. The 14-42mm kit will be available either in silver or black versions with a matching lens, while the 14-140mm kit will ship only in a black version.