The Australian store Discountcameras marked the Panasonic GX7 as “officially” discontinued. I asked one of my trusted sources and he confirmed that Panasonic is “fading” out the GX7. There is no word or rumor about a possible successor yet.
In US the Panasonic GX7 with kit lens got a $200 off at Amazon US (Click here). Sells now for $899 only.
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I was thinking of getting a GX7 myself. Guess I’ll hold off to see if they release one with improvements since the GX cams seem to be where Panasonic experiments a little with the features. Hopefully a 20MP sensor with PDAF on board. Would make the GX8 near perfect IMO. In the meantime, wonder whether to wait or get an E-M10 or splurge for an E-M1 or GH3.
I would not hesitate to get it. It’s a powerful cam and a huge step up from the elegant but unimpressive GX1. The AF is fabulous (in low light, too). The only minor shortcoming is the lack of IBIS in video mode. If I were serious about video I’d get the 14- 140mm which offers the zoom range and stabilization I’d want.
Yeah will probably still get it. I’m still on the G1 myself anyway :p Think I’ll get it along with a GM-1.
It is a fantastic camera with the GH4’s picture quality minus 4K and 96fps. I agree with Tom. You will not regret it if you get it… soon.
20MP yes, PDAF? Surely you jest. For which lenses?
For subject tracking. Panasonic is competitive with Sony and Olympus without it. Imagine if it had it.
PDAF-on-sensor on a new Panny sounds too good to be true. Would it work with 43 lenses?
So Panasonic should put in PDAF to sell Olympus 43rds lenses which are large??? Panasonic now has DFD, much improved focus tracking.
DFD does not work with all lenses. Tests show it does not work that well even with Panasonic’s own lenses which they added to their database.
I have heard nothing but positive reviews of DFD and the list of supported lenses will only grow. That’s where Panasonic will concentrate their R&D. Not PDAF. They have just a couple of 43 lenses. So where have you heard or read about DFD not working that well?
I have seen video reviews, GH4 vs GH3, and with some even Panasonic lenses GH3 even faster to focus. GH4 cannot maintain focus on the subect even with 12-35 X. Not to mention that DFD WILL NOT WORK with Olympus, Sigma, Kodak, Tamron etc lenses ever, as Panasonic themselves said.
I did a search for negative reviews on DFD and couldn’t find one. All
have been glowing. Not that my search has been exhaustive so please
point out one or two that are as you say. So you want PDAF in a Pana
body? For which lenses? The Oly 50-200? Or perhaps the $6000 300 2.8? They are large and heavy and weren’t great trackers to begin with. PDAF tech has limitations as well. The list of Panasonic DFD supported lenses
will only grow and the technology develop and improve.
“I did a search for negative reviews on DFD and couldn’t find one.”
I have seen AF comparisons in video between GH3 and GH4 right here on 43rumors and GH4 is not always better, and cannot track all that well.
“So you want PDAF in a Panabody? For which lenses? The Oly 50-200? Or perhaps the $6000 300 2.8?”
For ALL lenses in AF-C, like E-M1 does, for better tracking. It would help with initial direction for AF-S too, never hurts even while CDAF is more precise in the end. With ALL lenses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX56Mo8WPM0
See for yourself, from 6:00.
In one of the recent interviews with Panasonic engineers they mentioned that PDAF has its issues too and that they’re able to achieve similar level of performance using lens “bokeh database” as a guidance in which direction the focusing mechanism should “probe” for focus. Therefore it’s very unlikely we’ll see on-chip PDAF from Panasonic. As for the rumor itself, I find it very unlikely.
what is a PDAF?
Phase detection auto focus.
They are all crap, get the cheapest, and only if you really must…
Admin: are you sure that the GX7 is discontinued?
Isn’t there a typo somewhere? Maybe you meant to write “discounted” (as the name of the the Australian site)?
Panasonic’s main page say nothing about the discontinuation:
http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/cameras-and-camcorders-lumix-digital-cameras-interchangeable-lens-models
It looks like a nice discount (& not discontinued). Cambuy that also discounts has their body price at $899
Didn´t the GX7 come out in autumn 2013?
I believe there’s a misunderstanding. The camera is too “young” to be discontinued. But “old” enough to be discounted.
Now its officially in stock..
how can they discontinue such a new camera
no successor,and mean Lumix discontinue
Not just Lumix but Micro 4/3, and even digital cameras discountinue. Back in Black!
Well, we will be seeing sales on this “new” for at least 2 more years, along with the EPL, EPM lines of cams.
If they discontinue very m43rds camera model there is, there will still be enough stock to sell for another 3-4 years.
Common, how can Panasonic stop a production line after only 10 months from release of the product. This is a fake news Admin, be serious and post only real info, not any stupid rumor.
Admin should taken a look at 2 – 3 Panasonic online stores. The camera is, of course, still avaialble.
competition gets harder and harder, so maybe thats why camera models follow up each other as fast as laptops do?
LOL no FT1-5 rating 😛
(FT0)!!
I just bought a new ( not used ) olympus E-P2. Good price and nice camera. Start saving now for a panasonic GX 7. Nice camera and maybe soon for a nice price
The GX8 could be amazing and be a best seller if they only fix some ergonomic issues, give it the GH4’s guts, and lower the price to a more reasonable level, one at least matching the Sony a6000. Is that too much to ask from Panasonic? They were able to undercut the RX10 significantly, so I hope they can do that with a successor to the GX series.
+ IBIS for video, weather proofing, DFD AF !
Given the steep price drop of the GX7 shortly after release, perhaps it never fulfilled Panasonic’s hopes. It is too similar to the NEX6/7 and now A6000. I tried one for an afternoon and liked it (except for the viewfinder), but it seems Panasonic has made its mind to concentrate on video (GH) and miniaturization (GM). Can’t blame them.
One more thing, the faux-rangefinder trend is waning. All high end mirrorless cameras which appeared in the past year use a centered viewfinder.
I would have bought it over the EM-10 but that GX7 viewfinder looked like a slideshow.
As much as I hope this means GX1 priced GX7’s are around the corner…. I doubt it, where is the rumours about the GX8??
I really really hope they keep all the GX, GF, and G lines! But sadly it seems they won’t :-/
GX8 won’t come so soon
Lovely camera that has always been way overpriced. Sony and Fuji stole the GX7’s thunder when they introduced superior APS-C cams at the same or less price points. Panasonic needed to drop the price on the GX7 9 months ago when it was obvious it had been eclipsed by the other offerings, which were also (a-hem) “in stock”.
they list it in stock now,please check
The successor is a LH1 m43 fixed 35mm equivalent F1.4 lens with mic and headphone input ad C4K 24p . This is announced with LX8… Yes i dreaming…. but i hope this
Any fixed lens camera won’t be a successor of the LX7, no matter how cool it may be.
Umm.. it will be. But won’t be a gx7 successor. I’m sure that’s what you meant.
(self deleted)
I’ve just had a look at that website and the ‘Officially discontinued’ text is not there. Has is been pulled?
Was it a misunderstanding or was it news that should not have been released?
I just finished shooting with this great camera , how could
it be discontinue ? The only negative point of this GX7 is expensive , blame Sony to come out A6000 & other DSLR manufacturers for willing to bring down their prices to battle m4/3 .
GX7 is a great RF camera with it’s own class .
A6000 poor image quality and muddy very muddy video
you must have bought a lemon, images from my A6000 looks like full frame and the video is as they say. “tack sharp”. I have a soft spot and a zillion lenses for Panasonic but the A6000 is an amazing instrument. The sensor is amazing (too bad they don’t use Sony sensors in pannys). Oh yeah and the A6000 body is $300 less than the GX7 which I have and it’s surprisingly big. Bring on the GM2 with Doug Gottlieb’s (guy above) improvements. Yun if you can’t take great photos with the A6000 you may want to have your eyes examined (we all need to from time to time 🙂
“my A6000 looks like full frame” – is this some custom version? You couldn’t gaet FF so at least you camera looks like one?
Sony was wise to move away from the NEX branding and UI. How do you find the new menu system and controls? Looks like a big improvement over the NEX7 I previously owned.
Let’s keep it real “Bro.” The A6000 sensor has only 1/2 a stop better low light performance. Panny & Olympus dynamic range is right on par at 13 stops. It really comes down to lenses and that’s where Sony fails. The faster F2.8’s zooms from Panny or Olympus simply outperform the Zeiss F4’s in light transmission (and probably sharpness). The slower Sony aperture means you actually end up losing half a stop, all things considered.
So as it turns out there’s not much value in buying a cheap body when it’s apparent that the lens situation has completely crippled the system. Don’t even get me started on those Zeiss primes… what an effing joke.
Video on the A6000 may be good enough compared to Olympus and Fuji, but you prefer it against the GX7? Really? A6000 is “an amazing instrument” — this with its anorexic body with a grip designed for chimps and menu system designed by a crazy mental asylum inmate — compared to the GX7? Seriously? I am beginning to detect that you are actually here to promote Sony in a subtle way.
Some possible explanations:
1) Panasonic is overhauling every enthusiast camera but the GH line and replacing them with new, magical organic sensor models developed in partnership with Fuji and these new miniature cameras will rule the world. (F1)
2) They’re releasing a GM2 with the same great IQ but have added an EVF, tilt screen, weather sealing and only a few millimeters and will focus on two enthusiast lines: GH for video and tiny M43 bodies. (F3)
3) This rumor is erroneous. (F4)
Any of the above would be fine by me. The GX7 seems like a great camera and that won’t be any less true regardless of what comes next. (F5)
This will end just like the last iteration of PEN cameras. Fine cameras but overpriced compared to competitor offerings. They’ll stubbornly refuse to lower prices to a reasonable level until the model is almost outdated (just like the PEN was ‘replaced’ with the E-M10 which’s got almost the same introductory price as the PL5) and then will end up selling them at discount prices.
That’s the real challenge for M43 cameras: Panasonic and Olympus are trying to move the business into the high end and have great options, but Sony, Fuji and even Canon (SL1) have offerings that cost less or similar and offer a slight edge in sensor size, which sometimes translates to an edge in IQ, sometimes not. I still prefer the smaller lenses and greater variety of the M43 ecosystem, but at a quick glance, Sony looks pretty attractive. It isn’t until you use a NEX that you realize how much you hate it. On paper, it looks like a great camera. Meanwhile, Fuji keeps improving both their camera performance and lens line up. They seem like the greatest competition for enthusiasts’ hearts.
To be honest I think this ‘high end’ strategy is utter crap. The weirdest thing in m43 is that in spite of being one of the first in mirrorless, they still don’t have ANY cheap non-DSLR body with inbuilt EVF in 2014.
If they had just put an EVF onto the GF5 with a price bump of about 100-150EUR (should be more than enough for a very high quality EVF), we’d today have a GX7 lite at something like 400EUR which would almost certainly have been a HUGE success.
Yes, it would lack all those nice things like tilting EVF (compromised EVF size too much imo), tilting screen, latest gen sensor, IBIS, etc. but so what? Entry Canons don’t have any of these features either and they’re doing just fine. (And I doubt many would pay x2 the price just for these features).
To me, the largest mystery is how Olympus and Panasonic can target the high-end user base, when they eventually won’t have any entry level user base left that wants to upgrade. For such a stupid strategy to work, their cameras would have to be significantly superior to all competitor offerings which they just aren’t.
“Only” 900 USD with kit lens? That’s a silly price, of course they are shutting down. Smart arses…
Unfortunately the lovely GX7 came out a year too late.. it is a beautifull camera to handle.. love the rangefinder design and super quality images. I do agree that the EVF is not great.. my old GH2 had a huge EVF.. and the A 6000 EVF should have been on the GX7… millions of pixels is all very well, but squinting thru a tiny slot is not much fun.. though the rest of the camera is so well thought out.
You mean the A600’s EVF which is smaller AND lower res than on the NEX-6?
Yea right! Whats up with that?.. talk about a huge step backwards.
I have a gx7 and I really like it. Seriously, this M43 camera gives me a huge surprise! I have a Canon 6d and lots of film cameras including Hassalblad. As for APSC mirrorsless camera, I had a x100s and nex 6 before. Honestly, i like gx7 better because it’s smart touch screen, fast af and cheap but prefect lens! BTW, I got GX7 with a wonderful price–only 600 body only.
lol, MFT isn’t going to last. Sell your gear while you can.
SD has a kindred spirit. With a headband.
“Micro Four Thirds: Not Going To Last Since 2009!”
No, no, keep your gear, we don’t want you mingling with us LOL
And when you say “us” Do you mean Photo snobs who prefer large gear from Canon and Nikon?
GX8? Already? Or would that be too early?
GX8K!
I think this rumor is wrong. Gx7 only was released last year.
Sony is pumping out the old NEX5 now A5000 and soon to be A5100 with new models just about every year – Fuji did not wait long from X-10 to X-20 and X100-X100s and Sony with their RX100/M2 to now M3 – Fuji is rumored to have a XT2 out to replace the Xt1 soon – so Panasonic might need to improve the GX7 to improve some things –
to help them better compete with the likes of the A6000 so a faster focus on moving objects and a lower price for a kit –
I think if they improve focus on moving objects phase/contrast focus sensor and some other improvements and have the price the same or slightly less it will be a good move –
The Sony A6000 for beginners and intermediate users is a good deal – great IQ etc – but of course no where close to the user friendliness of the GX7 with the real nice Touch LCD and Touch to Focus and Shoot etc – Sony have a long way to go in the user interface and controls to match Panasonic and Olympus – but Sony is a larger name and are offering a great value in the A6000 so Panasonic has to answer – so either coming out with a less expensive mode that can compete on price or improve a lot to compete with the OMD-Em1 – but hopefully something that can both compete with the OMD-Em1 and the AF speed on moving objects like that in the A6000 and still be cheaper then the A6000 – that would be a seller
Hey Admin. Just asked Panasonic if this is true and got a one sentence reply “GX7: Totally not true” So perhaps the GX7 is discontinued for the particular dealer but Panasonic is NOT discontinuing the GX7. It’s one of the hottest sellers in the Lumix G system.
^This^
Yeah, actually it’s also not discontinued on this discountcamera site anymore either.
Maybe YOU should start a m43 website. Call it something cool like “smallcamerabigpicture.com”
I ended up buying a EP5 instead. To bad, this thing looked like a really good performer. Alas, I’m a sucker for looks.
Yeah the EP5 in silver looks dashing. I’ve read the GX7 is great for 1080 videos as well, though, so it’s a tougher decision for me.
Silly boob, this site is.
You seem to have one? A silly boob? How else might you know otherwise?
GX7 with 14-42 II for $900 is supposed to be discounted?!?! No wonder they have to discontinue it, how it is supposed to compete with a6000 with 16-50?
Perhaps this should have had a (FT0) rating?
(FT-1)
WOW. Someone Affiliated with Panasonic says the GX7 is NOT discontinued, yet the heading has yet to be fixed… Huh…
great camera, they could sell that for a much longer time
Hope this gem of a camera doesn’t get discontinued soon…..if they can lower its price to around the level of A6000 or make the kit with 20mm lens cheaper, it can surely rise in sales again 🙂
I totally agree – I have 2 GX7’s – just a gem of a camera – just hope they have an update – better EVF – faster focus for moving objects so a hybrid phase/contrast focus – weather sealing to compete with the OMD-em1 – and bit sturdier buttons – but basically an improved GX7 – Panasonic did well from GH3 to GH4
DFD, weather sealing and IBIS for video should do it……I’ve heard in a lot of reviews that DFD is awesome (TCSTV video shows also)…..I am sure Panasonic will deliver soon
Ignorance is bliss I guess. At least, for the four-thirds rumors staff it is. This article should be amended to show it was incorrect, but there’s no fool like a rumors fool.
Perhaps this should have had a
http://ict3.com
Wow – that is a surprise – I love the GX7 – I have two of them -so I hope this just means that Panasonic is coming out with an update like an improved EVF to compete with OMD-EM1 and Fuji Xt1 – I would assume it would also have 4K recording although I think Panasonic should focus on having the GX?? more of a still camera and just leave the GH3/4 to the heavy duty video work – rather then a crippled 4k like no IBIS with video and no Mic input etc –
So on my list would be an update to sensor for better low light performance – better EVF –
Weather Sealing – 5 axis image stabilization in body – improved electronic shutter to minimize jello affect – a bit stronger dials –
The GX7 is a real joy to use – I have Sony NEX bodies and Fuji X series and Olympus and of course DSLR gear – just find the size and the many FN buttons and C1 C2 C3 and the great Touch LCD with Touch to Focus and Shoot so great – so my favorite camera to use –
So hope we will just see an improved GX7 with same size and layout but improved – but like what they did with the GH3 to GH4 – they did very well there
So the news is that we will have a LX8 as well as some other Fixed lens M43 sensor camera –
but with GX7 starting to show Discontinued that would mean that a GX?? is coming soon –
I am hoping they are not just discontinuing the GX7 all together –