Every Friday on Current.com.au, the team chooses the most impressive new product from the preceding week to be named our Product of the Week. The main criteria for this award are that the product is saleable and can inject value back into the industry.

Blending the retro-hip black and silver form factor much loved by street photographers with the ease-of-use that has made Panasonic’s system cameras so popular, the GX7 has lived up to overhype that has accompanied its launch.

Although it has been hard to try out much street photography on the largest sand island in the world (and the European launch was on safari, rather than in Berlin), we have had the opportunity to test this camera’s exposure to light and sand, and the GX7 has impressed.

The highlight is the 90-degree tilting  live view finder (2.7 million dot equivalent), which really does come in handy when taking photos low to the ground on knees that have barely survived 15 years of rugby.

Here is Lumix product marketing manager Doug Campbell:

“The new 16-megapixel Live MOS sensor and Venus Engine support high quality image rendering and significantly reduced noise. This means that even images shot in low-light situations are stunningly clear with sharp resolution; and a max 25,600 high ISO sensitivity can be selected.

“The new sensor also ensures excellent motion picture quality, with smooth results from Full HD 1920 x 1080 50p recording in AVCHD Progressive and MP4 with stereo sound.”

And here are some shots taken by this reporter (very much a beginner photographer) at the launch this week:

 

 

 

Panasonic GX7 is available from mid-September from RRP $1,249 for the body only.

Editorial responsibility for Product of the Week is taken by Current.com.au editor Patrick Avenell.