Panasonic Lumix G2 & 14-42mm kit lens

Photo answers review

Photo answers rating

The Panasonic G-series of Compact System Cameras (CSC) has impressed with each new model release, and the G2 continues that pedigree with style. The latest offering adds a fantastic touch-screen LCD.

A touch of style
The Compact System Camera has certainly made its mark on the photo landscape, and Panasonic has proved to be well on the pace with some great products in this camera category. We first handled the latest offering – the 12MP Lumix G2 – several months back, and had even more time with it at the recent TIPA awards (see last month’s issue), where the camera was voted the best in its class. We were most impressed with the G2 for a number of reasons, but there’s one feature that really sets it apart from the growing fleet of CSC models and that’s its very impressive LCD screen.
Not only has Panasonic used a vari-angle 3in screen that flips out from the back of the camera and rotates, it has also installed touch-screen technology. Touch-screen is not a new thing, but when you look into the detailed specification you see some surprises in this example. Yes, you can touch the screen to change camera settings and browse the menus, but you can also touch the screen to tell the camera where to focus, and this can be used real time during video capture too. The advantages of this are more obvious when using aperture-priority mode on a wide aperture, where you can focus from one place to another by simply tapping your finger on the area on the screen to get superb Hollywood-style depth-of-field effects.

Features
Beyond the vari-angle screen with its touch-screen technology, the G2 is blessed with many other features. We’ve already mentioned video, and this is one of the G2’s more obvious features. At 720p resolution it’s not full HD quality, but using the AVCHD Lite file format you can store lots more footage on your SD memory cards. The camera sports a built-in flash and has an Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) with a sensor that switches the screen on and activates the contrast AF systems as you raise your eye to the viewfinder. A number of focusing solutions are offered from 1-AF area, 23-AF area (in 9 groups), AF tracking and, of course, Face Detection. All of these can utilise the touch-screen interface if required. The intelligent Auto (iA) mode has also been linked into the touch-screen technology. This mode is capable of determining what it is you are photographing and then setting the camera to get the best results. The touch-screen element allows you to tap the subject and the camera then identifies it (a face, flower etc) – it’s that simple. For image processing, the high-performance Venus Engine HD2 sits at the heart of the G2, providing speed from two CPUs. The processor is also responsible for the image quality management across the camera’s 100-6400 sensitivity range. Internal technology also includes Intelligent Resolution, which can enhance edge detail to sharpen an image, without making the whole thing look false.
 
Ease of use
Clearly the touch-screen technology goes a long way to ensuring the G2 is easy to use. All the menus can be controlled by touch, and even the image playback allows you to flick from one image to the other by stroking the screen. The screen is not the be-all and end-all when it comes to ease of use, as the camera is well designed and has plenty of elements aimed at making picture capture a fun and simple experience. For video users, there’s a one-touch button to start capturing moving images and a separate button for the iA shooting mode. These are great if you don’t have time to think, and you need to start shooting stills or video without having to set everything up. The controls are physically a good size, despite the camera being rather petite in form. It does have a good size of handgrip too, despite the small form, so it’s easy to grip and hold stable in use. All-in-all you couldn’t really desire a camera that was more easy to use while still giving you manual control. It’s an advanced point-and-press, with the advantages of complete control, so it will satisfy a number of photographic levels.

Performance
This is not a super-fast camera, and therefore its sluggish 3.2fps shooting rate will not appeal to the high-speed action minded photographer. To be honest, that’s not the aim of the Lumix G2 but if you want quick and simple high quality images, then you are going to be a lot more interested. The 12.1MP Four Thirds chip is not as detailed as APS-C DSLR offerings, but it’s a lot better than your average compact. The CSC product sits somewhere between a compact and a DSLR, but the image quality is certainly far closer to DSLR than it is the compact. The larger Four Thirds sensor is behind this and it’s comparable to the results from an APS-C DSLR. This means that the G2 produces some very high-quality images, and thanks to the exposure and focusing systems, they are not only detailed, but also colour accurate and sharp. The camera handles tonal range very well, and contrasting lighting does not easily confuse the exposure system. Colours are generally very accurate but at times can appear a touch muted, but selecting a more vibrant colour mode in the camera’s menus easily rectifies this. The built-in flash is not the most powerful, but it is a great tool for filling in a touch of light for portraits. The built-in flash is not ideal for serious night shots unless your subject is close, so it’s best to invest in an external flashgun here.

Final verdict
We’ve have tested a few CSC models now, and can quite happily declare this as the most interesting to date. We really like the touch-screen, and the vari-angle feature is an added bonus. Playing with the touch-controlled focus makes you appreciate how much effort has gone into Panasonic R&D, and there’s further evidence of this in the camera’s performance. The Lumix G2 takes a very nice picture, and it will appeal to the photographer who owns a large DSLR and wants a more convenient casual camera but still have creative control. It will also appeal to the user who wants to keep life simple but has demanding standards when it comes to image quality. Not forgetting, of course, the HD video element of the G2, which is blessed with constant AF and manual control of shutter and aperture if desired. We would happily pay £600 for this camera kitted with the 14-42mm lens, and could see it being an ideal holiday camera for the family to use.
www.panasonic.co.uk

Product specifications
Street price: £600
Effective resolution: 12.1MP
Sensor type: 17.3x13mm Micro Four Thirds
Crop factor: 2x
Lens mount: Micro Four Thirds
Exposure modes: PASM, scene, movie, iA
Metering modes: 144-zone – spot, center-weighted and Intelligent Multiple
ISO range: Auto, 100-6400, Intelligent ISO
Shooting speed: 3.2fps
Card type: SD/SDHC
LCD monitor size: 3in free-angle
Aspect ratio: 3:2, 16:9, 4:3
Live View: Yes
Focus: Contrast AF, Continuous AF, MF
Integrated cleaning: Yes
Built-in stabilisation: No (on lens)
Weight/size (wxhxd): 593g/124x83.6x74mm