Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 – Basic Yet Recommended
Thumbs Up:
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 gets a pretty high-quality EVF, articulated touchscreen and pleasant implementation of touchscreen.
Thumbs Down:
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2’s images are a tad noisier at the midrange ISO sensitivities than what we expected them to be; also there are bright chances of accidentally moving focus point with touchscreen.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Price range: $799.95
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Part Number: DMC-G2K
Dimensions: 124 x 83.6 x 74 mm
Weight: 371 g
Optical sensor: Lavabos
Viewfinder type: Electronic
Storage type(s): Secure Digital HC, Secure Digital and SDXC
Shooting Programs: Pet , Night portrait , Baby2 , Baby1 , Scenery , Sports mode , Close-up , Sunset , Portrait mode , Party/indoor , Peripheral defocus
Exposure Modes: Manual, Bulb, Shutter-priority, Program and Aperture-priority
White Balance: Presets, Automatic and Custom
Metering Mode: Center weighted, intelligent multi-pattern and Spot
OSD Language: French, English, Portuguese and Spanish
Recording Media: SDHC memory card, SD memory card and SDXC memory card
Direct Print: PictBridge compatible
Included Software: PHOTOfunSTUDIO 5.0 HD Edition
SILKYPIX Developer Studio 3.1 SE
QuickTime USB Driver
Standard Accessories: AC Adaptor/ Battery Charger, Body Cap, Battery Pack, USB Connection Cable, AV Cable, Shoulder Strap, AC Cable, CD-ROM and Stylus pen
USB: USB 2.0 High Speed
File Format: RAW+Fine, RAW, Fine, RAW+Standard and Standard
Razzle Dazzle:
The all new Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 is pretty much identical to its precursor G1, except for the fact that the G2 comes with few buttons and controls less than G1. The elimination of these buttons and switches has also made the camera a tad lighter, and in comparison to G1 the G2 is 2 ounces lighter. Also what we liked about Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 is its enormous comfortable grip. Although, there also have been few other changes in terms of design, like the SD slot here has been relocated to battery compartment from grip. Though, this is where most of the point-and-shoot cameras, have their SD slot but it can be frustrating at time when you are using a tripod or are taking the card in and out pretty frequently.
Inside Dope:
Panasonic predominantly is the primary camera manufacturer to market its camera with interchangeable-lens camera, but the early models from Panasonic has been a bit flawed. The same was the case with the recently launched Lumix DMC-G1; this reasonably priced camera didn’t have video capturing capability. But its successor the DMC-G2 gets over this deficiency and comes with video capturing capability. Apart from this the Panasonic G2 was also given the gift of a touch screen, which is the first for any of the interchangeable-lens consumer camera, together with dSLRs. The company not only has implemented this, but also has implemented it very well.
Though, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 comes with a touchscreen, which lets you access several functions for instance metering and touch focus, but the camera also has plenty of physical controls, direct-access buttons and navigation controls for accessing different functions of the camera. The best thing about these physical controls here is that they helps you navigate the camera smoothly, and to get you out of any problem that you encounter during the operation of camera. Also apart from the menu navigation, every function here can be operated in both ways.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 apart from having an admirable feature set, lets you straight admittance any of cameras setting. This is great especially considering the fact that in most of the other touchscreen camera’s you will have to scroll all through the settings using the navigation arrows showed onscreen. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 lets you pick your choice of settings just like any other touchscreen camera.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 camera comes with all the necessary switches and dials which you will need for the operation of camera. Located right at the top of the camera is the mode dial of the camera with characteristic automatic, manual, and semi-manual options. Apart from this there also is a Cuts mode, which allows you to access the three different batches of settings.
The performance of Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 is emblematic of what Panasonic cameras are known for, it’s really fast and you can capture your first shot from a completely off stage of the camera in meager 0.9 seconds. Although, if you compare its performance with G1, it’s a tad slower and while the G1 takes 0.4 secs to focus and shoot, our Panasonic G2 takes 0.45. But the shooting performance is pretty similar to the other camera of its class and it shoots 3 frames, per sec.
The picture quality of the pictures taken from Lumix DMC-G2 can’t be easily categorized into good or bad, as while the camera delivered precise exposure and color, even in its default settings, on the other hand the pictures were noisiest camera of its bracket. But overall the performance is pretty acceptable and we don’t see any serious problem in accepting the performance of Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2.
Nitty Gritty:
Even though the pictures taken from Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 were noisy and looked overprocessed in comparison to its competitors, but there is plenty of features that makes us recommend Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 to our readers and we thing you too will like the quick performance and flip and twist touchscreen of the camera.
