Design and FeaturesThe GX7 measures 2.8 by 4.8 by 2.1 inches (HWD) without a lens and weighs about 14.2 ounces. Its EVF is located in the corner, so there's no raised hump in the middle of the body as there is with the Olympus OM-D E-M10 (3.2 by 4.7 by 1.8 inches, 14 ounces). The E-M10 also includes in-body stabilization, but the GX7 is the first Panasonic mirrorless body with that feature. It's only active if you attach a lens that doesn't include internal stabilization. If you're using a stabilized lens, the in-lens system supersedes the in-body system.
Panasonic has built a smart-looking camera that's available in all black or a two-tone black and silver finish. There's an integrated handgrip with a textured rubber feel. The GX7 is comfortable and secure in hand thanks to the grip, especially if coupled with a wide wrist strap, even when using a heavy lens like the 42.5mm Nocticron. The top plate houses a pop-up flash, but there's also a hot shoe so you can add an on-camera strobe or PocketWizard. The mode dial, power switch, shutter release, top control dial, and record button are also housed on the top plate, directly behind the handgrip.There's an EVF toggle switch on the rear, directly underneath the hot shoe, that doubles as the programmable Fn4 button. The flash release is next to it, and the MF/AF toggle switch and Autofocus/Autoexposure Lock button is a bit further over to the right. The remainder of the controls run along the rear right side of the body. They include a rear control dial, the programmable Fn1/Q.Menu, Fn2/Delete, and Fn3/Wi-Fi buttons, and a four-way controller pad with a center Menu/Set button. The control pad sets the ISO, White Balance, Self-Timer and Drive mode, and the active autofocus point, and is also used to navigate through menus.
The Q.Menu button launches an on-screen menu that provides quick access to a number of shooting controls. By default it sets the color output, flash settings, video and image resolution and file format, autofocus mode, focus area, metering pattern, exposure compensation value, ISO, and white balance, but you can set which options are available via the camera's main menu. That's just one of the ways you can set up the GX7 to suit your needs; there are the four physical Fn buttons that can be remapped, and an additional five on-screen run along the right side of the LCD and can be programmed.The rear LCD is 3 inches in size and extremely sharp thanks to a 1,040k-dot resolution. It tilts up and down, and its touch design makes it possible to swipe through images when reviewing photos, and to tap an area of the display to focus or focus and fire the camera. There's also a neat feature that lets you slide your finger around the rear display to move the active focus point while using the EVF—it works really well and is one that I look forward to using whenever I pick up a Panasonic camera that supports it. The size of the focus box is adjustable, and you can make it very small using the Pinpoint focus setting.If you opt to use manual focus for a shot, there are a couple of focus aids available. By default the GX7 magnifies a portion of the frame so that it's easier to perfect hit focus, but instead of it occupying the entirety of your display, it floats above the unmagnified view in a picture-in-picture type format. This way you can keep track of the overall framing of the image while focusing. Peaking, which highlights in-focus areas of the frame, is also available.
At 2,764k dots, the LCD EVF is really sharp. Its native 16:9 aspect ratio leaves a lot of unused space when shooting stills at the native 4:3 ratio. The viewfinder tilts all the way up, which is especially helpful for tripod use. You could also peer down into it while handholding the camera, but for this type of shooting the rear LCD is a bit more useful. Both the OM-D E-M10 and Sony Alpha 6000 actually put less pixels into their 1,440k-dot EVFs, but both of those cameras present an image that appears larger to my eye, which is a more pleasant experience. That's not to say the GX7's EVF is poor—far from it. It's just not quite as fantastic as its resolution would imply.The GX7 supports Wi-Fi and has NFC pairing to connect to phones that support it. That's great for Android users, and if you have an iPhone, it's a simple matter of connecting the two devices via a password. It's easy enough to transfer images from the camera to the phone as long as you shoot in JPG or Raw+JPG mode. And if you take the time to setup a Lumix Club account, you can post directly from the camera to popular Web services, including Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. This aspect of Wi-Fi isn't quite as refined as that of the Samsung NX300, which allows you to post to Web services without having to set up an additional account.
Remote control is also supported via the free Panasonic Image App (available for iOS and Android, but not Windows Phone). The Live View feed is very smooth, and full manual control is available. You can tap an area of the frame to focus, or focus and fire, and you also have full access to all Q.Menu settings via your phone or tablet. Olympus also builds remote control into its similar PEN E-P5, but it doesn't offer the breadth of manual shooting controls when controlled via a phone.
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