▷Start shooting with the Panasonic Lumix GX80 🥇

Start shooting with the Panasonic Lumix GX80 Par Pascale brites, Digital Focus (

@Lesnums) Posted on 27/02/18 at 14:00 Share:

Today we continue our series of articles devoted to the first adjustments to be made before starting to photograph with your new camera. After the Canon EOS 6D Mark II, Nikon D7500 and Fujifilm X-T20, let's make way for bestseller of the Panasonic hybrid range: the Lumix GX80.

Panasonic GX80 Introductory price € 799

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Buy used: Buy new:

reBuy 308,99
Asgoodasnew.com 309,00
Amazon Marketplace occasion 315,99
Amazon 399,00
Cdiscount Marketplace 545,89
eBay 562,23
Fnac.com marketplace 577,44
Darty Marketplace 584,38
Digixo 601,99
Fnac.com Marketplace occasion 932,99

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Unlike some manufacturers such as Olympus or Fujifilm, Panasonic does not overbid the adjustment dials and the one on the top of the camera only offers quick access to the main shooting modes, such as PASM modes. , video recording or scene and panorama modes. However, the device is not without shortcuts since on the back Panasonic has placed four customizable keys, a click wheel, a clover giving access to the most common settings and five customizable keys via the touch screen. An abundance of shortcuts, therefore, which can be scary at first. In practice, access to the essential settings of the device is however quite simple. This is what we are going to see together ...

Note before getting to the heart of the matter that the GX80 has a feature that we particularly appreciate at Focus Numérique: the ability to charge it directly via its USB port. You can therefore dive directly into the menus without having to remove the battery first to charge it.

You might regret it

We can not emphasize this enough. When using a device for the first time, always set the date and time first. Even if it is now very easy to edit them after the fact in the Exif data of RAW and JPEG files, it will save you from having to remember the exact moment when you took your photos, as well as making a mess in your organization if you shoot with multiple devices or create folders by date on import.

When you turn them on for the first time, you will be prompted to adjust them immediately. If you haven't, go to the menu via the Menu button in the center of the clover. The ergonomics of the GX80's menus are not the easiest, but the presence of touch features and arrows to move quickly from one page to another provides quick navigation. To modify the date and time, go to the first page of the fourth Setup tab.

Like most devices today, the GX80 has a Wi-Fi connection, but no NFC to facilitate pairing, nor Bluetooth to maintain a permanent connection with the device. The latter was introduced in the recent GX9, but it is not used as well as at Nikon with the SnapBridge, for example. The connection between the device and the smartphone is very simple, but does not add much at first since it does not allow the clocks to be synchronized. On the other hand, you could use it later to download photos to your smartphone, apply GPS coordinates to them or control your device remotely, the settings offered by the app being very rich compared to what the competition offers.

Image size and quality

It is in the first tab of the menu that you will find all the settings concerning the quality and size of the images in photos. The sensor ratio being 4/3, keep this format unless it is really unpleasant to you. The other formats are crops that you can always do later on your files. If in image quality you select only Raw, you will not be able to change the format. But if, as in this example, you capture in JPEG or RAW + JPEG, you will be able to choose in the Image format setting the definition of the photos. You will also notice that at the top of the menu is displayed a very practical banner on which the explanations of each setting scroll.

Shooting settings

As we indicated in the introduction, the GX80 has a control wheel on the top giving access to the different shooting modes. Turn to use PASM modes. If you are using the 12-32mm lens from the kit, be sure to turn the zoom ring to extend it and unlock the camera. In M mode, the front dial adjusts aperture while the rear dial controls shutter speed. If you are using P, A, or S modes, they will both have the same value shift function. However, you can press the rear dial to adjust the exposure shift. Convenient and fast! To change these settings, go to the Personal> Dial settings menu.

Shortcut buttons

Among the other very useful settings, the sensitivity and the autofocus modes are accessible directly via the dedicated keys of the clover on the back. By using the rear dial after pressing the ISO button, you can choose a given sensitivity setting or select Auto mode. The front dial will then allow you to designate a maximum value not to be exceeded.

For the type of autofocus selector, press the left clover button and use the touchscreen to choose the type of behavior between face detection, subject tracking, areas, precise point, etc. If you set your sights on 1-zone mode, you can then adjust the size of this zone with the front and rear dials and move the selector using the directional arrows on the clover. The touch screen is also very convenient for placing the collimator in the desired location. The autofocus modes AFS, AFC or AFF can be set in the Rec menu. > Focus mode.

As we mentioned, the GX80's menu isn't the most appealing. This being the case, you can quickly display the most common settings by displaying the quick menu Q.Menu via the button with a recycle bin. The most common settings will appear at the top and bottom of your screen and will be easily selected with your fingertips.

Finally, remember that if the shortcuts chosen by Panasonic do not suit you, you can easily assign a given function to each key on your device. To do this, hold down one of the device's Fn keys for a long time or go through the Fn key setting on the seventh page of the Custom tab. You can then choose a function for each of the four Fn keys on the back of the device as well as the five touch keys. In use, this abundance of settings on the screen is nevertheless quite intrusive. Do not hesitate to use the DISP. Button, at the bottom right, to switch between refined display modes and a mode with all the information.

As with all devices, it is necessary to take a little time to familiarize yourself with the settings of the GX80, but it is clear that it is one of the simplest models to learn and that its basic settings are very easy. accessible. You should therefore not have any trouble quickly finding all your settings and trying your hand at its more specific functions such as 4K Photo accessible directly via the button above the screen and whose behavior is adjustable in the Rec menu. > 4K photo> Recording method