Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 review

Panasonic’s G-series cameras deliver genuine SLR-like performance, and the G3 is a notch up from the G2. We measured one second to switch on and shoot, and 0.6 seconds between subsequent shots. Continuous mode ran at 4fps, although it slowed to 0.5fps after 12 shots. Autofocus was seriously fast, even in low light. This is one area where Panasonic is comfortably ahead of the competition from Sony and others.

It’s not so competitive for noise levels at high ISO speeds. We’re happy to report that the G3’s noise levels are much lower than the G2’s and the GF2’s, despite the jump from 12 to 16 megapixels. The NEX-5 still has the advantage, though, producing similar results at ISO 3200 as the G3 at ISO 1600.

We spotted a few other issues with the G3’s images. One was a recurring problem we’ve seen with G-series cameras’ JPEG processing, whereby pale skin tones sometimes displayed vein-like bands of under-saturated colours. It was subtle and infrequent, but was pretty annoying when we did notice it – as below.

It may look like a vein under the skin, but its actually a problem we’ve noticed with under-saturated colours – click to enlarge

Another problem is something we haven’t seen on other G-series cameras: a slightly blocky appearance to high-contrast diagonal lines (below). Adjusting the Sharpness setting made no difference, so we’ll put it down to insufficient anti-aliasing. Again, it was only visible in a few photos, and only when scrutinised closely, but it’s a surprising mistake for Panasonic to make.

You can see the slight blockiness on the hands of the dials here – click to enlarge

Our biggest practical concern was that the Intelligent Auto mode refused to push the ISO speed beyond 800, resulting in either under-exposed shots or blur-inducing shutter speeds in low light. Switching to Program mode allowed the maximum ISO speed to be raised to up to 3200 via a menu option. We expect better from the Intelligent Auto mode, though, especially considering that Panasonic gives it such prominence with a dedicated button to activate it.