Panasonic Lumix - Make your photography easier as you grow older

So, how can we make your photography easier and more enjoyable for people of my age who have been keen photographers for most of their adult life? This article is about the Panasonic Lumix.

I have already written about wearing a photo vest rather than carrying a bag; which tends to balance the weight onto your body. So, now on keeping the weight down, even more, by moving down a couple of sensor sizes from full frame.

Panasonic Lumix G7

I visited my local photography warehouse and using one of their cameras shot some images. I was even allowed to load them onto one of their computers! The question I wanted to answer was:

"Will micro 4/3rds be able to compete in any way with those larger heavier and more expensive cameras"?

You bet ya! I left the showroom with a Panasonic G7 mirrorless camera that turned out to be a superb 4k video tool. The flip-out screen was just so handy for video work. Of course, image quality for stills could not compete with full-frame; if you wanted to print big. But it was a good match for the APC-sized sensor. Plus, let's face it nowadays my work is either on my Pbase site or Facebook forums. Plus images are posted at a much smaller size than the sensor can actually do.

Panasonic Lumix G9

I had a few years of enjoyment with the G7 and then along came the game-changer! The Panasonic G9 more resolution (21million pixels), size, and weight easy to handle with a grip to die for. It still has the flip-out screen and 4 k video like the G7. But, Panasonic has done a superb job on the colors for stills. In fact, although I always shoot JPEG + RAW, the JPEG is just so good you can more or less just shoot in that format.

There have been several firmware upgrades to the G9 that has IMHO made the camera, not only the best micro 4/3rds but:

1) A camera that is light Has all the features you could ever want.

2) Apart from being the best all-around camera, I have ever owned over 50 years of photography is not heavy.

3) Is supported by some inexpensive good quality lenses.

As a bonus, there are a number of Leica-designed lenses (still made by Panasonic); that are as good as they get. Combine these Leica lenses with the G9 and you land up with around 6 stops of image stabilization and you'll never actually need a tripod for the majority of your work other than long exposure night shots.

Conclusions

One of my lenses is a 100-400mm Pan/Leica lens (equivalent in 35mm terms 200-800mm), that can easily be handheld. This includes fairly dark conditions with no camera shake. All in the size and weight below your average full-frame 70-200mm lens; on a camera around half the weight of full-frame. Plus, remember! No mirror to lift and slap plus real-time live view not only in the excellent viewfinder but also on the rear LCD screen.

It's a camera for anybody but really comes into its own when you don't want lots of weight but still want to maintain all the latest features and image quality. The lens lineup is impressive and again small and light but I will go into the lenses I have in more detail in the next article.

Thanks for reading. If you found this interesting, please take a look at some of my other articles

Hiya, I`ve been into photography for around 50 years. In the early days, I joined a photographic club and after some time became the chairman. I was an EAF photo judge for some time.

Dave  Chilvers