Despite Panasonic being the first company to introduce interchangeable lens cameras it made some errors. Lumix DMC-G1 introduced recently was lacking the video recording capability and now this Lumix DMC-G2 can be said as the update to the model with the inclusion. Panasonic also added a touch screen to its latest DMC-G2. Using the touch screen it is even possible to focus. It is not that all the operations are only touch based as the camera includes various other physical controls. To be precise, almost all the operation can be done in both the ways and it is even possible to reduce or maximize the touch controls.
Most of the cameras with the touch screen do not provide navigation with touch and thus we need to scroll through the navigation arrows. This is not the same case for the G2. But when in Auto focus mode and if you mistakenly touch the screen, the camera launches the interface and more worse is that the position of focusing shifts to whatever place you touch. Panasonic is ready to rectify the flaws using a firmware update which will be released only when it receives complains from most people.
G2 has the same body design as the G1 with few buttons moved but it weighs 2 ounces lesser. The camera is comfortable enough to hold with rubber grips placed at the needed position. This will ensure that you will not drop the cameras. The position of the SD card is changed from that of the G1. Now it is located inside the battery compartment. Although it is pretty normal, it might annoy when you have to use the card often, especially when using a tripod.
Intelligent auto is not included in the dial but given a dedicated button. The button glows blue when on, which is a good thought as it might indicate that it is on and there won’t be any chance for confusion. The automatic scene mode included in G2 operates in a similar way to that of the NX10 and hence there is no way to change if it guesses incorrectly. In place of the intelligent auto mode in the dial, movie option is placed. Apart from this option, video recording has a dedicated button. When in movie recording mode, you can get access to various adjustments like peripheral defocus etc. There are a lot many setting which you can find when going through the manual.
For focus mode there is a dedicated dial on the top left. There are 23 scene selections in addition to the single user selectable focus area with four sizes. The dial includes a small switch which selects auto, manual and continuous auto focus modes.
We are sure that every one of you is aware of the good performance of Panasonic cameras. It isn’t a surprise that the camera switches on and get ready to shoot in just 0.9 seconds. When shooting in good lighting conditions it takes 0.45 seconds while it takes 0.7 seconds when shooting in dim lighting conditions. While shooting JPEG photos, the shot to shot time is 0.7 seconds while it is 0.8 seconds when shooting raw photos. The new lens kit range is shorter than the previous model with 14-42mm but it includes almost the same optical characteristics.
Performance of the camera is undoubtedly perfect delivering accurate colors even when in default settings. Some preset options induce some color shifts but definitely not that bad as other dSLRs. The camera could be said as the noisiest of the list with artifacts at higher ISO sensitivities. This could be because Panasonic used the combination of the sharpening and noise reduction. Processing the image using the Adobe yielded better results but are not to the expectation.
Overall Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 deserves purchasing with its exceptional photo quality. It is not compact as other but there isn’t a camera with a built in EVF and such touch screen controls along with such a performance. G2 cannot be an option for shooting videos but definitely a strong contender in still photography.
