Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 Pro Reviews

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 captures images with excellent quality, but it's not a good option for burst shooting.

The Panasonic Lumix GF6 is, by any standard, a great little camera. It's not completely fault-free of course; we weren't keen on some of the fiddly touch-screen controls, and the JPEG sharpening is a bit too harsh, but we love the versatile and accessible manual controls, the tilt-up monitor screen, the excellent build quality and the nicely understated style of the design, not to mention the excellent value for money. Above all though it's just a genuinely nice camera to use; it's the sort of camera that encourages you to get out and take photographs, rather than just snapshots. It has controls that make it easy to do what you want to do, encouraging experimentation and creative thinking, and the results will seldom be disappointing.

A pleasure to use, and takes great photos and videos – the best of the budget CSCs

The new Panasonic Lumix GF6 is an excellent compact system camera that offers more features and performs much better than its entry-level price-tag might first suggest. Now additionally offering built in Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity, a clever 180 degree tilting touch screen, welcome re-inclusion of the shooting mode dial, creative movie mode, sweep panoramas, stop motion movies, not to mention a brand new sensor with an expanded ISO range, the GF6 represents a big step forward for the GF-range and one that will appeal to beginners and enthusiasts alike. Slightly bigger and heavier than its predecessor, the GF6 may no longer be the smallest compact system camera on the block, but it is one of the most well-appointed for the money. The GF6 may still lack a flash hot shoe, accessory port, viewfinder and dedicated ISO button, but we'd bet that most prospective GF6 owners won't miss those features, especially if they stick to the kit lenses and don't venture into longer focal length territory.

Given the current obsession with retro styling and rangefinder chic, it would be easy to pass over a camera like the Panasonic Lumix GF6 in favour of something superficially more classy. But while it may not look as sexy and desirable as models like the Olympus E-P5 and the Fujifilm X-M1, the Lumix GF6 has a huge amount to offer photographers of every ilk. Yes, it's marketed as a consumer model, but the return of the mode dial along with its other advanced features gives it a much broader appeal than earlier GF models. Only the most demanding enthusiasts, those who like the kind of physical control offerred by multiple dials and the option to add a viewfinder, plus features like focus peaking and fast continuous shooting are likely to pass the GF6 over for something more capable, and probably bigger, heavier and more expensive as a result. So if the GF approach suits you, is it worth considering an earlier model? The previous GF5 remains in Panasonic's catalogue for now, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it as an alternative to the GF6. You might save a little cash, but you'd be sacrificing some great features, like the forward facing screen with Self shot mode, Low light AF, intervalometer, Panorama shot, and of course the Wifi connectivity. Those are the features that define the Lumix GF6 and they'd be hard to give up, so it'll come as no surprise that we're awarding the Panasonic Lumix GF6 a Cameralabs Highly Recommended award. It's a great option for anyone upgrading from a point-and-shoot into the world of higher quality interchangeable lens cameras.

What the GF6 gets right, it gets so brilliantly right that it makes us very happy indeed. The 16-megapixel sensor produces image quality that's closing the gap between Micro Four Thirds and the larger-sensor competition, while the super-fast autofocus, tilt-angle LCD screen and new mode-dial-featured design certainly have their individual perks. It's a nod to the original GF1, but brought bang up to date. Movie mode is great too. We do have our moans though: battery life still isn't good enough and Wi-Fi further impacts how long the GF6 will last out. If, that is, you ever happen to use the Wi-Fi options as we found them to be long-winded to set up and too locked down to specific services to be of full use. And there's still no provision to add a viewfinder, but that's the GF-series legacy so we doubt such a feature will ever be included.

The Panasonic Lumix GF6 was introduced by Panasonic as a completely new camera when compared to the previous mode, the Panasonic Lumix GF5, and after testing the camera we can see why. The camera comes with a new sensor, built in Wi-Fi, tilting touch screen, mode dial, panoramic mode and many more new features that we've been asking for. This makes the GF6 a much more appealing camera to not just beginners, but also the enthusiast looking for a high quality mirrorless camera. With an introduction price of £499 with the new 14-42mm IS kit lens, the camera is priced very competitively with similar models, and with the kit lens delivering excellent image quality, we feel that the camera offers very good value for money. Provided with a deep lens hood, premium neck strap, and a wealth of creative effects, as well as panoramic effects, the camera is packed with features, making it a fun camera to use, with a wealth of features to play with.

The overall result is a camera that ends up looking extremely similar to the Sony NEX-3N in terms of both control layout and features. It's also remarkably like its closest Micro Four Thirds competitor from Olympus, the PEN E-PL5; this lacks a built-in flash, but has a hot shoe and accessory port instead.