Snap!

I need more than my phone to capture my holiday photos...

Panasonic Lumix GX8 From €759 panasonic.com ★★★★

It’s almost time I started booking my summer holidays and one thing I’m determined to do, is to take more photos. I always have a smartphone with me on holiday but too often I seem to return with average snaps of this and that. So this summer, to help me capture vivid, colour-rich memories I’ve decided to take a camera that’s designed for travelling.

The Lumix GX8 from Panasonic has won the admiration of travel writers and photo-journalists who were attracted by its compact size. It’s a feature-packed camera, but as I unboxed it, it was easy to appreciate its svelte lines. It’s just over five inches wide and three inches high and, with a lens attached, weighs in at just over a pound.

The GX8 looks great with classic retro styling. This is a travellers’ camera and needs to be robust so the body is made of magnesium and is water and dust resistant.

I like using the viewfinders on digital cameras as you can frame the photo more easily and you’re not distracted by sunlight or reflections. So I immediately noticed the unusual viewfinder on the GX8. It’s electronic and offers excellent definition but it also tilts. As a result, it’s easy to use and I found myself framing all my photos using it. It also has an eye sensor built in, so if you lift your head, the camera’s view is instantly displayed on the large touch-screen on the back of the camera.

The camera’s controls are laid out well and you can reach everything easily even while looking through the viewfinder. There are dozens of options and modes to explore for anyone who wants to get creative. I was happy to stick to everything in automatic-mode to look at how good the image quality is.

The GX8 makes shooting still photos incredibly simple and straightforward. Auto-focus is wonderfully fast, but there’s also a face detection mode and even eyedetection.

The camera uses a little colour indicator to show when a face has come in to focus and ensures almost fool-proof photos.

Most digital cameras these days film reasonable video but the GX8 shoots in 4K. That’s impressive for a camera of this type and there’s also a slow-motion mode that captures in 1080p.

It has Wifi and NFC connectivity built in which makes for easy editing of images on your laptop or sharing straight to your social media posts. Perhaps one of the most useful features though is its image stabilisation.

It uses a number of sensors in the camera that correct any shakiness if you’re rushing or moving as you’re snapping pictures.

One thing that’s missing is a builtin flash. It’s performance in lowlight is good, but you will need an external flash is you’re shooting at night time.

Overall though, this is a high performance camera in a small package.

Its interchangeable lenses mean you can explore photography, but its robustness and performance make it ideal for exploring the world.

THE LUMIX GX8 IS A HIGH PERFORMER IN A SMALL PACKAGE