Gadgetory

like its predecessor the gf3 the panasonic lumix DMC gf5 remains among my favorite choices for snap shooters who are looking for a faster better camera but when it's similar enough to a point-and-shoot or a phone that they're not forced out of their comfort zone while the bodies compact sturdily constructed and very similar to the G f3 Panasonic is added a few physical controls that had disappeared from that model but the most important physical change over the G f3 is the new grip the GF 3s was very slippery and this larger rubberized grip is huge improvement especially if you need to shoot one-handed the camera keeps the direct access intelligent Auto button that Panasonic wisely puts on top of all of its models my only wish is that when you pressed it it didn't override your autofocus settings the camera operates much like a point-and-shoot albeit with more sophisticated options such as the ability to fully customize the Quick Menu interface to go with the new higher resolution LCD Panasonic redesigned the look of the touchscreen interface and it's a lot more attractive than before it also incorporates the flyout tab that debuted in the GX 1 as well as interface hints the new touch screen is very nicely responsive as with the G f3 you can tilt the flash backwards to produce more attractive flash exposures as well the power zoom kit lens is convenient and it collapses to make a very compact package but it's a so-so lens and reaching that zoom switch is annoyingly awkward the GF 5s feature set is pretty standard for its class though it is one of the few models that still has a built-in flash and if you're a touchscreen addict you'll probably consider the ability to operate the power zoom lens via the screen a very nice feature it also has a full complement of configurable special effects and it saves a raw file simultaneously when you use them though it's the same resolution as the GF 3 the GF 5 incorporates a new version of the 12 megapixel sensor and enough version of its image processing engine there's some improvement in the noise profile and JPEG processing over the gf3 especially at low ISO sensitivities that seems partly because the image coming off the sensor looks less noisy an expected advancement from one generation to the next however although the colors look very nice and the default settings push saturation and contrast gently enough that there's no discernible huge shift and while it has a reasonable dynamic range you do lose some detail in shadow areas that can't be recovered without introducing color noise none of this is unusual in the price class though metering and exposures generally on target and JPEG photos look slightly over sharpened but not crunchy and finally the video quality is fine for typical consumer use you know vacation clips cat antics and kitty goalscoring the full time autofocus pulses a bit but works well enough well the gf3 is fast the GF 5 is faster most important from a performance perspective though the camera never slows you down while you're shooting a problem which I've encountered with some of the higher resolution models shooting raw plus JPEG feels fast and fluid and they never had to wait for the camera to finish writing an image file before I could review a shot or change the settings and the LCD is sufficiently visible in direct sunlight which is essential since the camera doesn't support an add-on viewfinder I think the sony alpha NE xf 3 has somewhat better photo quality overall and that one has a tilting LCD but otherwise i like the design and interface of the GF 5 better i'm laura grinning and this is the panasonic lumix DMC g f5