Digital cameras are so 10 years ago.These days, everyone uses their smartphone camera to capture memories, from the minutiae of daily life to the big family events.
There’s no getting away from it . The smartphone has had an impact on the digital camera industry. The cameras built in to phones have improved so much in recent years that it’s reasonable to assume they can take the place of the standard digital camera for all but the most demanding conditions.
And yet, the digital camera refuses to go away. Because while the smartphone may have the convenience of always being available and in your pocket – battery permitting – the truth is that there are some situations that deserve the quality a standalone camera can only deliver.
The Panasonic Lumix G80 may just be the one that makes you think twice.
Panasonic’s 16 megapixel camera styles itself on the traditional DSLR. If you are looking for something a little more flash, you’ll be disappointed; at first glance, the Panasonic G80 sticks to the tried and tested design, albeit a little more compact. But the camera is hiding some great technology under the hood. The G80 may look like an average camera but it has one important difference: it does 4K – ultra HD – and it doesn’t cost the earth.
It’s not cheap mind you. At €849 for the body only, it will make a dent in your budget. But it offers a lot for that price tag. It comes with five-axis image stabilisation, full manual controls, electronic viewfinder and a touch-enabled LCD panel on the back.
The 4K capability extends to photos too, with Panasonic offering a 4K photo option that pulls a still from your 4K video. It comes with wifi built-in – increasingly a more common sight on cameras – that allows you to share your images as soon as you hit an internet connection.
That traditional design is weatherproof too, so the camera will stand up to a shower or two without turning into a camera-shaped paperweight.
Picking it up for the first time, it’s easy to get to grips with. There’s a full automatic mode which means you can point, shoot and share the results within minutes. You can also choose preset scenes – portraits, night shots, landscape, settings for children – to handle your current conditions. But if you have a bit more confidence, you can experiment with manual modes and come up with some really great images.
The good thing about the G80 is that it’s very easy to get great shots out of it, even if you have no clue what you’re doing. Panasonic has embraced the notion of capturing a second of footage before you press the button to make sure you don’t miss out on a second of footage. The G80 brings in post-focus and focus stacking, so you can alter the focus of your shots even after you’ve taken them. If you haven’t already, you can retire your trusty PC for photo editing for good. But speaking of focus, the G80’s pinpoint focus is done very well. You can switch between several autofocus modes: face detection, pinpoint autofocus, eye detection and so on. There should be no excuse for blurry images with this camera.
That LCD screen can be brought into play in different ways too. If your shot is an awkward angle, you can move the screen so you can get a better view without having to contort yourself into a correspondingly awkward position. It’s a small thing but useful nonetheless.
The camera has removable lenses which are the micro four thirds format mount and compatible with lenses using that format , including third-party lenses.
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