PANASONIC LUMIX G100
Is this the ultimate solution for vloggers and social media creatives?
There’s no dumbing down with this camera for vloggers and social media creatives
There’s an inherent risk of dumbing things down when creating a camera for social media creatives, but Panasonic has avoided that pitfall with the LUMIX G100. It may be targeting vloggers with a bevy of video-centric features, but the G100 is also a highly capable stills camera.
Its 20.3-megapixel sensor renders details superbly, thanks to the omission of a low-pass filter. The G100’s JPEGs are punchy and rich in contrast in good light, and RAW files provide greater latitude for editing post-shoot.
The G100 uses a tried and trusted pairing of AF and metering. It features the same 49-area contrast-detection AF and 1,728-zone multi-pattern metering systems deployed in the LUMIX G7, G85, G9 and GH4. It’s not the fastest or most advanced system around, but it works well enough for general purposes and is rated to achieve focusing in as little as EV
-4. We found it worked decently enough in low light, and the G100 deploys an AF assist lamp when needed.
We tested the G100 with its 12-32mm f/3.55.6 kit lens. Despite not being particularly bright, it features OIS so we were able to comfortably capture handheld shots as low as 1/10sec. But in circumstances where you want to keep the shutter speed higher, the G100 features a max ISO sensitivity of ISO 25,600. The G100 was still able to deliver usable images at ISO 3200 – at least, usable for social media. The same can’t be said for video at higher ISO settings or in low-light scenarios, though, and you’ll need decent light when capturing videos with the G100, otherwise you will see a noticeable dip in visual quality.
When the LCD screen is flipped forwards to face the user, the camera automatically switches into Video Selfie mode. This increases the depth of field, keeping your face as well as the background in focus. We’re pleased to report that the G100’s intelligent face-recognition and tracking algorithms can identify and lock onto faces consistently. Although the G100 recognises faces fairly quickly, it hunts a little during filming, which will annoy the more eagle-eyed creators.
The camera utilises this same tech to implement its ultimate USP: an OZO Audio microphone array by Nokia. As the first consumer camera of its kind to offer OZO Audio, the G100 uses three microphones and face-tracking to follow whoever’s speaking on camera. The idea is that as a user speaks to the camera, the G100 will optimise the direction of the audio-recording signal to match the position of the presenter.
At about half the physical size of the LUMIX GH5, the G100 is one of the smallest interchangeable-lens cameras with a fully articulated LCD touchscreen available right now. We compared it to Sony’s latest vlogging-focused camera, the ZV-1, and the screen on the ZV-1 was barely usable in comparison. The touch commands of the
G100 aren’t as zippy as those on higher end LUMIX models, but that’s no surprise. Despite its diminutive size, the G100 feels solid in construction, featuring few points that seem susceptible to damage.
The control layout is approachable, with a bright red button dedicated to video recording, and four customisable Function (Fn) buttons. Most settings are easy to adjust on the fly using the rear thumb wheel and shoulder dial, occasionally dipping into the menus to toggle settings such as E-stabilisation.
In our test, the G100’s stabilisation modes worked well for both walking and cycling
(although we don’t recommend cycling one-handed). But it’s worth noting that there is a significant crop on the video if you keep E-stabilisation turned on. Although it delivers competently steady footage, walking and talking to camera while E-stabilisation is turned on leaves little room for the scenery around a tightly framed shot of your face. It’s not a deal-breaker by any means, but something worth noting.
There are some small niggles that we have with the LUMIX G100, like the lack of a headphone jack or USB-C port. Another drawback is the lack of 4K/60p video, which much of the competition (including smartphones) will offer.
As the first camera from LUMIX explicitly targeting vloggers, though, the G100 is a stellar effort. It’s super-compact and will deliver high-quality stills and video in a range of scenarios, particularly for travel and home studio-style presentations.
Having access to a hugely popular lens mount and impressive in-camera audio also puts it in a different league to much of its competition. The G100 represents a gateway into a proven system of cameras in LUMIX that can truly take a creative person from amateur to full-time professional.