Mat Mayer

Generally people around here think the RX10II is not that good and the XC10 is more split with some loving it. I am run and gun and 100% happy I went with Panasonic and interchangeable lenses (my 3 main lenses are tiny). I was about to buy the RX10ii untill Sony screwed up their specs and told me it only filmed 5 mins 4K. That was a blessing in disguise as I get much better quality video from Panasonics. Sure it is a pain changing lenses in certain situations but you get to buy loads of cool vintage lenses. I guess it depends on what zoom you need Vs image quality, at least for the RX10. Plus the smaller sensor gives a flatter look and I used to get more macro blocking off that sensor on the RX100ii. That said- you did a great job in the video above.

Here is a photo of Panasonics new lenses, all f2.8-4. Maybe the 8-18mm can accept filters this time?

G7 was cheap 3 weeks ago. Just got to keep an eye out for Panasonic special offers. Given that I don't need weather sealing or stabilisation; I will probably stick with my new £299 G7, now that 4:2:0 is confirmed. Then revise things in 6 months or so when the big boy (GH5) is released.

That's quite a good endorsement for the G80. I am changing my mind and buying it. Will just wait a while as my G7 is less than a month old and maybe Panasonic will have a £100 cashback on it at some point like they just did with the G7. Pretty much a certain buy if the video is better than the G7 (which I bought partly due to raving reviews from people like Andy). It is around a third of the price of the GH5 and certainly won't have an image 3 times worse. Could use the money saved to consider the 8-18mm lens which might be awesome, like allowing filters and no purple blobs like you get with the 7-14mm. Edit: there is already a pretty good deal on it in UK- free battery grip which is a big deal with their little batteries. I am guessing this is worth around £150.

This last video is making the rep sweat lol. Will be very interesting to compare the 200 Mbps FZ to the old FZ, plus the 4:2:2 G80 to the G7. Its like previewing certain GH5 specs by themselves. Maybe the G80 move to 4:2:2 will be enough of an improvement for those not needing V Log.

The 1080p crop seems to be full width in the M43 sensor, so that is 12MP from a 16MP camera. Which is three quarters. So best case senario is that the 4K crop will be 3/4 of 18MP which is 13.5MP. Then downsampled or however they do it? I don't understand why they didnt go full width for Cinematic 4k in the GH4, but I assume they will go full width if they can. They seem to of gone a bit wider with UHD in the G7, so if they continue with that maybe Cinematic 4K goes to the edges in the GH5 to get close to that 13.5MP?

I am in that camp of people at the moment. Just got the G7 to partly make £335 from selling GH4. But I think 10 bit 4:2:2 will make a lot of us get a new credit card if need be.

An official link: http://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/cameras-camcorders/lumix-g-compact-system-cameras-learn/GH5.html of the press release with additional information not pasted above like a new 8-18mm lens!

All 3 cameras are obsolete now that the GH5 specs have been announced. For 98% of people here imho. Edit: didn't realise the G80 had 4:2:2 when wrote the above. Comment is bullshit. Edit 2: sounds like it is actually 4:2:0, probably. Hmm

Maybe a certain export setting will make your footage qualify. I remember someone telling me once they can't tell the difference. Not sure if that was for TV though. I saw something on TV obviously filmed with one of the crappy CCTV lenses the other day or a cheap wide angle convertor, so standards cant be that high. I would probably copy it to a USB, visit local TV store and plug it into the biggest TVs. If it looks good insist it meets their specs and you might be fine.

I love Panasonic. Feel like I want them to have every penny I spend on cameras and lenses. Most intersting part for me will be to see if the 200 mbps internal recording is enough to make up for the small sensor. As that will bode well for the camera most of us are really waiting for.

Looks like the main differerence will be "the g80 camera will record 4K at 4:2:2 8bit on internal SD cards", whereas I believe the G7 does 4:2:0 8bit. I have no idea what difference that will make? But bigger numbers are usually good. I know nothing about this kind of stuff but have read more people talking about the jump from 8bit to 10bit being a big deal (e.g. V-Log L being crap unless exported at 10bit, and the GH5 is romoured to be getting the 10bit 422). Will be interesting to see the tests. My G7 was only £299 last week and people were still buying them on eBay for around £100 more used, so it should be cheap to upgrade if the IQ diffence is great. I am sure 95% of people on here already known this but I had forgotten so went to check what all the 444, 422, 420 business is. Simple explanation: and a very simple comparsson, which basically confirms higher numbers is more accurate detail (ì looked at his hair):

The G7 is very nice in your hands. It is like a little baby DSLR. The GX80 is newer so probably better video, but it costs more and doesn't feel nice to hold for me. Either are very compact especially if you use Panny or Oly lenses. If you really do want a 3.5-5.6 12mm-24mm lens you should be able to get the good Panny 12-32mm pancake lens in a kit with the G7 or GX80. But most people would recommend getting body only with the Panny 12-35mm constant 2.8, or the Sigma with Speed booster option (both much more expensive). If you dont need a fast lens much the 12-32 with the 35-100mm 4-5.6 (might be able to get both of these lenses in a kit) and the Olympus 45mm 1.8 is a good kit imo (will probably get a fast prime between 17-25mm too). Total cost approx. £640 all new except the Panny lens which was bought used but as good as new. It seems that GX80 is more for people who need stabalisation. And the G7 is better ergonomically (fully articulating screen, nice dials etc...). You may miss Canon colours but at least you will have 4K video. Keep an eye out for Panasonic cashback offers (they currently have a £100 one). I used to love the colours and general image from my 600d (t3i?) with or without Technicolor Cinestyle. If you dont need 4k maybe just upgrade to a newer Canon or look at the Canon XC10. If it was me I would go for a Panny to be future proof in terms of resolution and you can use nearly all lenses. The colour is still decent enough. The strange bright green and red on GH4 seems to of improved.

I went to a special occasion yesterday and had no regrets about using my Samsung S6. I don't pixel peep or anything but knew as soon as I tried it in the store that it was a major step up from anything else I had used before (iPhone 5s, various Samsungs and Oppo find 7a- which is nearly the same as OnePlus One). I was able to give it various people of all ages to take photos and plenty came out fine. Just wished my new G7 had arrived yesterday instead of today for some bokeh (with my oly 45mm 1.8). But the S6 did a good job and it is so convenient to carry around. Easy to edit and share too of course. The phone is too big for me so might swap for the 2016 A3 if the camera is just as good (probably won't be, unless the Note 7 and S7 cameras are much better than the S6, in which case the S6 camera might be OK for a mid range phone in 2016 like the perfectly sized A3).

Love the timelapse in the OP. It is on my bucket list to view and maybe film the earth from that height one day. Reminded me a little of my favorite ever Vimeo video (not a timelapse):

Yes. I havent time to look into the maths but I know you get a bigger image with the G7 and better video quality, plus I got £345 out of the deal from selling the GH4 (less whatever the required spare battery costs).

I read somewhere else that the UHD crop for the G7 is 2.2 , which sounds great compared to 2.4 on the GH4. (If what I read was the same maths) The G7 has a £100 cashback deal in UK at the moment, so it is a very affordable option (£299 from Wilkinson Cameras).

Visited an electronics store the other day and saw a 27 inch iMac which should be just fine for £1500, slow rendering but I can live with that if it means not paying double for the top spec versoon I had convinced myself I would require. Will just add an extra 16GB Ram for a small amount. Choosing on the website I cant help but pick the most expensive option but Macs are very efficient so the 1.5k option should be fine, and an absolute joy to use (dedicated 2gb graphics, i5, 8gb RAM, 1TB HDD). I just cant get used to using Windows, using an iMac makes all work fun.

Andrew has deleted a link I posted to Philip Bloom on his YouTube before. So all is fair in love and links/war.

Mods deleting inflammatory posts.

There was talk of some or all vintage lenses having an issue with the NX1 I believe. So I would search for that before making any choices.

as an extra alternative lens for occasional use I would consider a Helios 44 (there are various versions) which is awesome for portraits. f2.0 (but you must stop down to get it sharp so think of it as a 2.8 or 3.5 lens, but with the option to push it if you really must have that extra bokeh), 55mm focal range, less saturated compared to other lenses but if you shoot RAW photos no problem, if you shoot video just dial up the saturation a bit. The benefit of this lens is the unique and beautiful bokeh. These are some of the most mass produced lenses ever made and therefore cost very little on eBay. Available on various mounts with a cheap adapter- maybe $30-40 total?

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Edit: ignore this it wont work... I can email you the firmware version with it free in if you want. Version 2.3 which is a 39MB zip file. I dont regard this as unethical at all as they gave it us free with no instruction not to share.

I prefer the cleaner kit lens look as I don't want the cinematic look. It can be made wider with a step up ring and Ricoh GW-1, which works surprising well and changes it from 12mm to 9.5mm. I usually use a longer lens but the 12-32 is so small it is always worth taking along.