The Panasonic G7 & This Lens!!! -
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- Опубліковано 26 чер 2024
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Street photography is a dynamic and exciting genre that requires a camera setup capable of capturing spontaneous moments with precision and clarity. In 2024, one of the best budget-friendly options for street photographers is the Panasonic G7 paired with the 25mm f/1.7 lens. Here’s why this combination stands out:
1. Affordability
The Panasonic G7 and the 25mm f/1.7 lens offer exceptional value for money. As newer models are released, the price of the G7 has decreased, making it an attractive option for photographers who are conscious of their budget. The 25mm f/1.7 lens, known for its sharpness and wide aperture, is also priced reasonably, especially considering its performance.
2. Compact and Lightweight Design
Street photographers often need to be on the move, and carrying bulky equipment can be a hindrance. The Panasonic G7 is a mirrorless camera, which means it is significantly lighter and more compact than traditional DSLRs. Paired with the 25mm f/1.7 lens, the setup is unobtrusive, allowing photographers to blend into their environment and capture candid moments without drawing attention.
3. Versatile Focal Length
The 25mm f/1.7 lens on a Micro Four Thirds sensor provides an effective focal length of 50mm, which is widely regarded as the most versatile focal length for street photography. It offers a natural perspective that closely mimics human vision, making it perfect for capturing scenes as they appear to the eye. This focal length is ideal for a variety of shots, from wide street scenes to more intimate portraits.
4. Wide Aperture for Low Light
Street photography often takes place in diverse lighting conditions, from the bright midday sun to the dimly lit streets at night. The 25mm f/1.7 lens has a wide aperture that allows for excellent low-light performance. This means you can capture sharp, well-exposed images even in challenging lighting situations. The wide aperture also enables beautiful background blur, helping to isolate subjects and add a professional touch to your photos.
5. Excellent Image Quality
Despite being an older model, the Panasonic G7 still delivers impressive image quality. Its 16-megapixel sensor captures detailed and vibrant images, and the camera's color rendition is excellent. Combined with the sharpness and clarity of the 25mm f/1.7 lens, this setup ensures that your street photos will be rich in detail and color.
6. Articulating Touchscreen
The Panasonic G7 features a fully articulating touchscreen, which is a valuable tool for street photographers. This allows you to shoot from a variety of angles and perspectives, including low-angle shots or shooting discreetly from the hip. The touchscreen interface makes it easy to change settings quickly, ensuring that you don’t miss any fleeting moments.
7. 4K Video Capabilities
In addition to still photography, the Panasonic G7 excels at video recording. It offers 4K video capabilities, which is a bonus for street photographers who also dabble in videography. This feature allows you to capture high-quality video footage, adding versatility to your creative toolkit.
8. Reliable Autofocus
The autofocus system on the Panasonic G7 is fast and reliable, crucial for street photography where subjects can be unpredictable and constantly moving. The camera’s focus peaking feature also helps in achieving precise manual focus, giving you greater control over your shots.
The Panasonic G7 paired with the 25mm f/1.7 lens is a fantastic budget-friendly setup for street photography in 2024. Its combination of affordability, compactness, versatile focal length, excellent image quality, and useful features makes it an ideal choice for both beginners and experienced photographers. Whether you’re capturing the hustle and bustle of a busy city or the quiet moments of everyday life, this setup provides everything you need to create stunning street photographs without breaking the bank.
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Gear Links:
Cameras:
LUMIX G9 - amzn.to/3DyWDKq
LUMIX GH5ii - amzn.to/3DzrK8T
Lenses:
Panasonic Leica 12mm f1.4 - amzn.to/3faHjKv
Panasonic Leica 42.5 f1.2 - amzn.to/3N5h7xF
Panasonic Leica 12 to 60 f2.8 - amzn.to/3zglPCW
LUMIX 35 to 100 f2.8 - amzn.to/3TB87CU
LUMIX 12 to 35 f2.8 - amzn.to/3DybEfx
Essentials:
G9 Batteries - amzn.to/3D5OhbT
GH5ii Batteries - amzn.to/3gKVlD1 - Розваги
The G7 is very good camera. I also added a G100 to my setup, so now I carry G7 with 14--140 f/3.5-5.6 and G100 with 25 f1.7
I have a g9 and a g7. Loving all the micro 4/3 content!
Btw Grant, what's might be your take on non-Stabilized prime lenses for Street photography on the G7 without IBS? Developing stabilized technique is fun and good skill to develop and the G7 and 25/1.7 a good kit to do that with. I got pretty good results hand-holding the old GH2/GF2/GH3 without IBS using wide primes for street by using good 'Body Stabilized' stance and holding technique.
I like using lower shutter speeds for motion effects in candid photos to show like showing a subject surrounded by movement and I found the stabilized Pancake LUMIX G X VARIO PZ 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6 Kit zoom that came with my old GF2 worked well for low shutter speed street photography on non-stabilized bodies and they are pretty affordable and a good video lens I used to use it on the original Blackmagic Pocket Cinema, I combo I really miss.
I've also noticed that with some Panasonic and Leica O.I.S. lenses like the 12-33/2.8 and the 14-140, on the GX8 I often get what appears to be motion blur possibly induced by the IBS and O.I.S. even when on a tripod that I don't get with non-O.I.S. Primes. I've seen others mention this online with some OIS - IBS camera-lens combos so maybe something to look out for. I seem to recall Panasonic mentioning turning off O.I.S. when shooting stills on tripods as it can introduce motion blur.
Finally, another reason I love LX100 as a street shooter, is that it's Leica Fast zoom has good optical stabilization that seems to do well at low shutter speeds and fast point and shoot, and the LX100 Mk1 might not be anymore money than a cheap body and lens combo and it shoots good 4k video.
Awesome advice, Grant 🙌 keep it coming!
It is a great camera. I find that it misses the mark in low light. Any tips to getting less noise? I pair it with the 25mm Panasonic and or the Olympus. Also with the Olympus 12-42? During the day it is quick and with ur color setting tutorial, def great pix
Good question, with a little work your G7 is capable of producing images that rival what most people get from much more expensive cameras with optimal exposure and post editing.
I used to loath still and video noise on the GH2-GH3 until started shooting Cine cameras and realized how Sensors and ISO actually work and started increasing exposure by lowering shutter speed, using faster lenses and higher ISO rather than underexposing and boosting in post, helped a LOT.
Maybe Grant can do deeper dive in a How-to video on ISO, Exposure and noise, but until then Thompson did a pretty good video how to deal with noise on Panasonic cameras
'The BIGGEST ISO Mistake on the GH5 / Panasonic Cameras'
ua-cam.com/video/UJ4kknj85ns/v-deo.html deeper dive into it in a how-to video.
With Panasonic Cameras I typically turn the in-camera noise reduction to -5 or as low as possible, and sharping -2 to 0 depending on scene contrast and to try to get as clean and natural sensor noise as possible, and dealing with it in post rather then let the camera NR turn the image into blocky mush.
When I started emulating how the pros deal with Chroma vs Luma noise in individual color channels, de-saturating color noise in shadows and highlights, using masks and better sharping with noise reduction to preserve and enhance specular highlights and micro contrast, the old GH2/GH3/GH4 Still and images looked as good or better than full frame shots.
When I switched from Lightroom and delved into Capture One, and started learning pro level Davinci Resolve Grading, it was like getting a new cameras line-up and rarely see a need to shoot full-frame
With Capture One, good in-camera and post editing techniques my older M43 cameras often give as good results than my newer and more cumbersome Sony Full frame kit. Even my old Panasonic LX5 pocket camera with it's noisy little 16mm CCD sensor can often rival or surpass larger sensor cameras in terms of color and contrast, and the tiny 16mm sensor makes for some unique deep depth of field story telling perspectives.
Also, a sharper, higher contrast lenses can help give you more image over sensor noise and a better image. I often find that 10-13mp images of the LX100 with the Leica lens have more detail than my 20.3mp GX8 on Kit lens. And the GX8 images with a Leica Prime or Zoom have more detail and pop than a full-frame 30+ megapixel Full-frame on a kit zoom or mediocre prime. lens.
Finally, Advanced AI image processing often make magic (or a mess) I've been playing with Topaz Photo and Video AI for the most part, minor noise is no longer an issue.
Exactly Grant! I've been looking at used G9's and S5's here on the west coast of the U.S. and I've seen used G7's for $150 to $250 and was thinking the same thing. I never really thought about the 25mm 1.7 but at $100 I should grab one. My favorite M43 street lens is the 20mm 1.7.
I might also suggest the Panasonic LX100 MK I, as it has the outstanding Leica 24-75mm equivalent that's got better micro-contrast and color than most of the Panasonic G Primes, and the leaf shutter that allows you to use flash with like 1/1000th shutter speeds that can add a dynamic to street and candid photography. I was just looking at some images I took of the same event using the 20mp Gx8 with the 20mm 1.7 and Panasonic/Leica 12-35mm f/2.8 and the LX100 images beat it hands down.
I still using Lumix g7 and now Im going to buy another Lumix G7 for my Photo & Video Service Business, its still worth it this 2024