Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GX80KEBK Professional Camera with 12-32
Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GX80KEBK Professional Camera with 12-32 mm Lens – Black
Capture ‘Unimissable’ Moments
Our 4 K Photo feature lets you capture the perfect unmissable moment by selecting a frame from a video sequence (shot at 30 fps) in camera, and saving it as an individual high-res image. Simply shoot, select and save.
More Detail. More Clarity
The stunning power of our 4 K Video lets you record every moment in up to 4x the resolution of Full HD. More detail and more clarity, means there’s more to see in every moment.
Shoot Now. Focus Later.
Post Focus gives you the power to decide exactly what you want in focus, even after you have taken the photo. Simply capture the scene, review the image and touch the part of the photo you’d like to be pin sharp. It’s simple and stunning.
| Size: | 12 – 32 mm Lens |
| Dimensions: | 12.2 x 4.4 x 7.1 centimetres |
| Brand: | Panasonic |
| Model: | DMC-GX80KEBK |
| Part: | DMC-GX80KEBK |
| Colour: | Black |
| Batteries Included: | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included) |
| Dimensions: | 12.2 x 4.4 x 7.1 centimetres |
| Size: | 12 – 32 mm Lens |
A Superb camera for the money, and even though it came out in 2016, it is still viable in 2022 and is not far behind newer versions of the lumix GX models and for the money it’s a no brainer especially if you just want a nice little well made (its actually built like a tank) travel camera and not bothered about the video aspect of photography than this is superb.
Love this camera, it’s small in the hands, but packed with the features I need. The kit lens is great, but I’ve picked up some second hand prime lenses to go with it for cheap, so it’s now a really effective camera system. I’m enjoying doing some simple photo projects, portraits and landscapes, and just getting used to the feel. It’s my first mirror less camera, and the eyepiece is great.
The only slight annoyance for me is the touchscreen is a bit sensitive, and I found I sometimes change settings when I don’t want to. Other people will love using the screen to control the camera.
I have several other camera’s, This is my second GX80, i sold the 1st one when I got a full frame Pentax, and while I love the Pentax I actually missed the GX80 for it’s sheer size. Small and lightweight with a corresponding range of small and lightweight lenses, it’s a truly portable outfit for getting out and about. Feature packed, it’s hard to think of anything it cannot do. Highly recommended.
**UPDATE** August 2022 and I still have the GX80 and it’s still being used. Great images and I decided to sell my Pentax K1 and get the Panasonic G9. In the time I’ve had the GX80 my Panasonic collection has extended to 5 system models GX80 GX9 G80 G9 and G100. So i guess Panasonic must be doing something right. P.S. Dropped the GX80 from waist height onto solid concrete. Small dent in corner, but still works 18 months after dropping it.
This is my second GX80, sold my first to get a Sony bridge camera and regretted it as the Sony was too big and heavy to bother carrying around.
I sold the supplied kit lens and either use fast primes like the 20mm f1.7 and 42.5 f1.7 or a 14-140 do it all zoom for travel use, the prime lenses really suit this camera as they are very small and amazing quality.
OMG I really only bought this for video capabilities and OMG the image quality out of this camera is amazing especially at this price point. I have often heard people talk about the challenges around the low light performance of MFT sensor cameras but you know what I’m not bothered and haven’t noticed it that much against my apsc sensor cameras. The kit lens produces really nice images but having no manual focus ring was a bit weird at first but the onscreen manual/auto focusing works a treat, simply point at what you want to focus on and your done.
Fantastic camera and I really looking forward to seeing what I can get out of it.
It’s a keepe
Personally, I think the Fuji cameras gave better colour rendition, but the combination of super quick focus (both Fujis had slow focus), accurate focus, resoloution and cost made the GX80 a clear winner to me!
I’ll add some sample pics in due course so you can compare.
It has a bit of heft to the weight, it can be a good or bad thing depending on your subjective taste. It is definitely worth visiting the shop to try it out before you buy this. But if I have to make a comparison, it would be about the weight of 2.5 iPhone 11 pro stacked with each other.
I got this on black friday for 365. It was so worth it. I have been considering getting a smartphone upgrade just so I can get better photos but this camera’s performance is just miles ahead of any smartphones and shot better quality photos than the latest iPhone 11. So from the price performance perspective, this camera wins hands down.
It is very responsive and I do not notice any lag at all in the interface, and the auto focus is lighting quick. Only down side is that this camera (or more accurately the kit-lens) does not perform well in low-light or night time – this affects almost all cameras unless you have specialised equipment, so it’s not really the GX80’s fault.
Bought it to my friend who said she loves it. She said it even take pictures! She didn’t manage to get them off the camera though as she said she couldn’t find the opening latch to the film cover.
After much research on mirrorless cameras, I settled on this one and I am glad I am.
The tilt screen has come in handy for some interesting angles, the preset filters on the camera are cool to play around with and the shooting modes also make it easy to take great photos.
For those more adventurous/experienced users, the priority modes are a great shortcut to getting shots on the go and the full manual mode coupled with the touchscreen is a breeze to use.
Picture quality is amazing, crisp, vibrant images with image stablisation built in. Shooting can be done in RAW too which is a massive bonus.
Pulling pictures off the camera on the go through the app is easy enough, I like to put them onto my phone at the end of each day, but the app is a bit clunky and could do with an update.
Overall this camera caters for newbies, amatures and pro users a like.
The Panasonic gx80 for the price with a view lens is the best alll round beginner mirrorless camera around
I managed to photograph the northern lights using a very long exposure of 5 minutes and managed it theclens you get is decent but a zoom lens would be a better optio
I’ve been using the GX80 almost weekly for over a year to shoot my YouTube videos in 4K and it has exceeded expectations. The video image quality is outstanding. It has great manual control – with the exception of manual focus with this kit lens which has to be done via the touch screen. Photos are crisp and not overly saturated. The dual image stabilisation is brilliant and at times when I’m filming whilst walking it almost looks as if the camera is mounted on a gimbal.
There are only two potential downsides – the lack of a microphone input (which would be difficult on a camera this size), and in low light the autofocus isn’t great.
But for a camera of this price and size and the performance it gives you, the GX80 is an outstanding camera.
EVF, touch screen, compact, up and down flip screen, affordable, fast focus, m43 cmos, Sony rx100 no touch screen and expensive, lx10 no evfonly one-way flip screen, lx100 no built-in flash only one-way flip screen,gx80 is the best choice.
A very good companion to my G80, relatively compact and takes stunning photos.
Amazing little camera for the money! – built in IBIS makes sure your images are sharp & motion free even at low shutter speeds. 12-32 Kit lens that comes with the camera is one of the best kit lenses I’ve had the pleasure of using, solidly built, unlike some that feel like they will fall apart. It is still a kit lens though so it doesn’t win any awards for low light capabilities.
Panasonic’s menu system is crisp and clear with a multitude of settings, you really can’t go wrong for 371
It’s a step up from any camera I have owned before. So many more features than what I am used to. So there is a big learning curve to learn all the features. I love the size and weight. So many cool features and fantastic image quality. Just wish there was a bigger zoom range and external mic jack… but I knew this before buying it. I know there is no such thing as a perfect camera… I could buy one with a bigger zoom, but then the low light image would suffer. Really all depends on what you buy the camera for. I bought this for my main travel camera. Very happy so far.
very pleased with this camera, light and handy to carry around without having to give up photo quality
Without going into a myriad of technical detail it is true to say that the camera addresses the requirements of a very high percentage of photographers.
Holding it reminds me of my Leica M3 days of many years ago when the capabilities of such as the the GX 80 were beyond our wildest dreams.
In the hand,It has that same feel of solidity with simplicity which was the hallmark of the M3 – perhaps not entirely surprising considering the long standing recognition which each company accords the other.
At 399.00 the GX80 is extraordinary value for money. Considering it’s capabilities, could it not be the best camera value ever?
The camera is OK, good picture , a little bit on the heavy side, less comfortable to handle than a Sony alpha. what I really hate are the menu control, got frustrated each time have to search for something , and never find the useful one.. like were is the macro!!!!! is putting me so much off I start to hate the camera.
Great little camera.. I bought just for the dual is and post focus. I have few lenses who can use dual is system. It’s just perfect for my equipment but with added hand grip from gx9, because it’s hard to hold it with zoom lenses like 100-300 and 100-400. Recommended for this price of 300 pounds with 12-32 set.
Reasons to buy the GX80
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A small powerful package which incorporated all the benefits of Panasonic’s touch screen focusing, 4K photo modes, post focus and in camera focus stacking ( brilliant if you do macro photography or want front to back image sharpness) as a firmware upgrade in 2016. It also has a tilting screen which is extremely useful. In that sense its very close to its better equipped siblings. The current GX9 is comparable and is considered to be closer to an upgrade to the GX80 rather than the GX8. Both the GX8 and GX9 are way more expensive and have a slightly larger sensor (20MP versus 16MP in the GX80). So you are getting a well specced and highly versatile camera capable of taking high quality pictures and in terms of software features, similar to the GX8 and GX9 but at a much lower price. What’s not to like?
There are a number of things you need to take into consideration if you are a first time buyer of a Micro Four Thirds camera, and the reason I reluctantly returned mine.
Things to consider before purchase
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The first thing to realise if you are buying your first Micro Four Thirds camera is that you are buying into a system, and a very capable one at that. At this end of the market the appeal for any owners is that they use them for street photography. Small, discrete and pocketable depending on the lens…and therein for me lies the problem. My version came with the 12-32 f3.5-5.6 kit lens. This is a small light lens which when closed has at the look of a pancake lens, but requires to be manually opened and focused when the camera is turned on. In good daylight it takes sharp pictures but in low light at 32mm its struggles even with the excellent 5 axis in body image stabilisation. At some point you are going to tire of it and consider another lens. And that’s, for me, mainly the problem.
To get the best from this camera in every situation requires ‘fast glass’ with a constant aperture anywhere between f1.4 and f2.8. Add to this the Micro Four Thirds crop factor of 2 over a standard 35mm lens and things get even more difficult. For street shooting Panasonic’s 20mm or 25mm f1.7 come closest to the standard for a street photography prime. My preference would be for the 20mm f1.7. So immediately you are buying a lens which costs about 2/3rds the price of the camera body to get a really good starter setup. The kit lens is almost given away with the body so no sense in going body only plus another llens.
What about zooms? Lovely lenses delivering high quality images across a number of zoom ranges and all well reviewed. Once again the crop factor comes into play at the wide end as well as aperture range overall. As in any system fixed aperture zooms cost a lot of money. Also on a GX80 body size really does matter where you get a very small camera with a mighty lens. It just feels wrong on the examples I’ve tried in retail outlets.
Conclusion
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I really liked this camera. It is small, highly versatile and has some amazing features. Coupled with a fast prime lens or (for me) the Pana 12-60mm zoom it makes a great compact package. If you have a wallet that would choke a donkey and can afford to buy fast zooms or other primes then you can add to the bag, or if you have already invested in the system this really is an excellent little camera.
If you are committed to the GX80 – a super little camera – then try and get a package with a fast prime at a decent discount or look at purchasing a used additional fast aperture lens.
Since I already have the smaller sensor TZ100 and a lot of the features in the GX80 as a grab and go camera I’ll pass.
So, when it comes to buying let the head rule the heart and if the head says ‘go’ GX80 you will not be disappointed with this highly versatile and accomplished little camera.
Update April 2019 – My daughter is developing her photography skills and wanted an upgrade. She chose the GX80 with 12-32mm lens and is delighted with it. I eventually was lured by a bargain on the GX9 after this review and have now ‘bought into’ the M4/3 format literally, with a couple of additional used lens. I’ve been using my daughter’s GX80 and my own GX9 with various lens and I remain mighty impressed with the GX80, especially with a fast prime such as the the Pana 20mm f1.7 or the Pana 15mm f 1.7 Summilux. The GX9 is generally regarded as an upgrade for the GX80 rather than the GX8 in the numbering sequence. However, the differences are, in real terms, minimal given the disparity in the price point beween the two. I’m now lifting my 4 stars to 5 stars for this great little camera.
After many hours spent researching every other alternative, it boiled down to two choices: the prettier and well-proven Olympus OMD 10 Mark II or III, which also produce beautiful pictures and video, or the GX80. I went for the GX80 because I prefer the slightly wider angle 12-32mm very useable stock lens, and this lens is almost pancake sized which makes the GX80 pocketable. What also swung the decision was Panasonic’s offer of an extra 25mm lens thrown in as a virtual cash back offer.
Many GX80 owners like me will be wondering whether they should have gone for the Olympus for its handsome looks, but then perhaps stop worrying when they see the higher price of the Olympus. The GX80 is not going to win any prizes for its somewhat ugly duckling appearance and its slightly higher weight, but that notion disappears when you see the fantastic quality of its images and far better menu layouts, which though complex, do have a more logical and more easily absorbed structure.
There is only one bogey man with the GX80 compared with the Olympus. Its electronic viewfinder is not the best, but it is still perfectly useable, as is the pullout display which though not fully articulated is nevertheless very bright and clear. Neither camera has an audio input socket, a common irritation in many smaller micro 4:3 cameras but internal sound is reasonable.
What stands out about the GX80 is its absolutely stunning, filter free images. Unless you are really pushing ISO levels, it delivers punchy, vibrant and pin sharp images in both stills and video. Its 5 axis stabilisation, which matches that of the Olympus, makes it streets ahead of nearly every comparable Lumix or Canon equivalent. Indeed Panasonic’s own LX100, LX10 and TZ100/200 series don’t come even close regarding stabilisation. This feature cannot be underestimated, because it enables the GX80 to take stills in challenging hand held conditions that would make other cameras produce blurred and shakey pictures. Not only that, but even in 4k video mode you still get the same stabilsation, while almost every other similar camera disables this feature unless you are shooting in 1080p. You can almost get gimbal or steadycam-like video while walking, panning and zooming, though if you are into selfie/vlogging the GX80 is not for you because the viewfinder doesn’t flip in reverse. For that I recommend the quite excellent 1 inch sensor and bargain priced Canon G7X ii.
For those wishing to extend the zoom or wide angle possibilities of the GX80, you can avoid the ludicrously high priced addon “official” lenses by purchasing several choices of third party converter kits which are between a fifth and a tenth of the price of Olympus/Panasonic standard lenses, and this applies to the whole range of Lumix cameras.
The GX80’s battery is rated for less than 300 stills but in reality you can stretch this to 600 shots easily by setting the display to switch off after a few seconds of use, but even without this option the battery lasts quite a lot longer than the conservative official figures. You can buy a spare battery for around 8 and you can also purchase a third party charger for use outside the internal USB standard in-camera charging.
Overall, this camera is in my opinion the very best in the micro four thirds mirrorless line up of ALL comparable cameras, given that its price is now 499 or lower, including a reasonably decent starter lens. It out performs the Sony 1 inch sensor RX100 which is more than twice the price! It also has no issues with overheating when shooting 4k video which many other cameras suffer from.
To summarise:
The GX80 is the very best of all cameras in this class due to its brilliant image quality and wealth of features which match many other cameras that are far more expensive. I recommend it without hesitation. Well done Panasonic.
Pros:
First off the camera is loaded with different features such as 4K Photo mode, 4K video up to 24fps (30fps in the US) and the photo mode is pretty nifty for capturing images of subjects such as birds in flight and it allows you to capture a certain moment while the bird is in mid-flight and create a JPEG file from it. It also features Panasonic’s Post Focus feature where the camera will take an image using all its focus points and allow to tap on any focus point on the screen to bring a subject into focus while the rest of image might be blurred out. It also features focus stacking options, where the camera will take a series of images and stack them together to produce an image with a maximum depth of field with everything in focus from the foreground to background and into the corners.
The camera also has great image stabilisation. In fact this is the best image stabilisation that featured in a Panasonic M4/3 camera up to this point and its really smooth, particularly with Panasonic lenses but also even with Olympus or third party lenses and it pretty much sees Panasonic now on par with Olympus for in-built sensor stabilisation.
The image quality is also excellent as this is the first camera Panasonic released with the low-pass filter removed, which is supposed to help produce crisper images and I think it does make a difference and could see the images were nice and sharp. So overall, I was really impressed with the image quality from this camera and its about time that Panasonic opted to remove the low-pass filter from their cameras.
The camera design is also quite pleasant and a big improvement on the Lumix GX8, which preceeded that I always thought was a bit on the ugly side looks wise and this has been called the Lumix GX7 Mark II in Japan and its clearly the follow-up camera to it. The grip is not that substantial but its not bad and I actually prefer the feel of the grip to the GX7’s grip, which tended to cramp my fingers.
And lastly the mechanical shutter noise is now much improved and is alot quieter than the ones in Panasonic’s previous M4/3 cameras as the ones in the GX7 and GX8 were particularly loud and rather shrill sounding. I was used to the sound of both of those cameras until I got an Olympus E-M1, which has a much quieter shutter also, so the fact they have sorted it out with this camera is a big bonus.
Cons:
As for the cons, I think the main one is the EVF, which is really poor and as its one of those field sequential ones, where you can see a tearing effect on viewfinder when you look through it and its nowhere near as good as the viewfinder in the follow-up camera, the Lumix G80, which has an OLED EVF. So, the EVF is a real minus with this camera.
Another issue I have with it is to do with the lack of an input for a microphone or indeed even for a remote release to trigger the camera remotely and I found this really frustrating if you want to take shots without having to press the shutter button. Instead you would need to rely on the Panasonic image app to remotely fire the shutter, which works ok but its still not very convenient.
I also have a small complaint about the camera’s build as it feels strangely weighted toward the right side of the body and the body weight doesn’t feel equally distributed. You would need to really hold the camera to get what I’m on about but I can see it be an issue for some camera users but thankfully I am now used to the feel of the camera.
And last of all I think while the image quality is very good from this camera, it is guilty of blowing out the highlights of images rather badly at times and this is even a problem with video as in bright shots the highlights tend to look overexposed. You can sort this out in post processing or even try and adjust the shadow/highlights setting in the camera but its still a bit frustrating that you would need to do this in the first place.
So, overall I think the Lumix GX80 is an excellent camera overall and I would definitely recommend it to Micro Four Thirds camera users and the pros definitely outweight the cons here.
**Check out my images using the GX80 on Youtube**
By the way, if you would like to see some of the images I have taken using this camera, you can check out my Youtube channel, which is called Kenny75 Photography as there are a couple of videos where I use it for photos. The videos are “Night Photography Vlog – Glasgow Pacific Quay” (the first Pacific Quay video I did not the second one) and “Photography Challenge Vlog – Shooting at f/2.8 only in Glasgow Green”. Please also feel free to check out other videos on my channel aswell and subscribe too.
Cheers!
Everyone is asking what camera I’m using because of the super crisp quality
It’s my best affordable camera in my toolbox
The only downside is the kit lens that I switched to the 25mm 1.7 asph lens
I’ve been impressed more than once, it’s just great and because of the price, I’ll give it 5 stars.
Only real cons is the focus, it’s quite unreliable. Fortunately I use manual since it’s always on a tripod.
I was waiting for Panasonic to make a new TZ100, with a tilt screen, but they never updated it this year.
So I took the plunge, and bought this. I wanted a Canon Eos M6 , but no camera shop had one in to have a look at it, and the GX80 was there to have a look at in Jessops.
It fitted my requirements apart from the resolution, but went hope,empty handed as the one in Jessops wasn’t for sale.
I went home, checked it out on Amazon, and was much cheaper ( though jessops has a deal on with case and tripod)
This little camera is fantastic. The little lens that come with it is a little too short for me, so got an additional zoom for more range.
Highly recommended camera. I will upgrade when either Panasonic or Olympus bring out another similar size, bigger resolution at an affordable price however.
The only negative is the cash back deal. Waiting to submit is poor IMO.
The only downsides are no mic input but as I have never used an external mic with a camera no issues for me. The screen does not fully articulate but can be tilted up and down. While I am a fan of the weight, it feels great in the hand some might find it a little heavier than expected.
Again for the current price of about 410 pounds after the discount with a very capable starting lens you cannot go wrong.
– Handles 4K video in good light. In Low light, the image is soft.
– The camera will continue to live stream via HDMI cable – does not record to the card so there is no limit to how long you can stream for. However, the batteries will only last around 2 hours so practically, you are limited to 2 hours on a full charge.
– Built in Microphones are ok.
– 1080p streaming is ok but pretty grainy because of the small sensor.
– 4K recording is in mp4 eats up memory. A 1.53 minutes worth of recording was 1.19GB so make sure you get a big enough memory card.
– Can plug directly into a HDMI monitor via a type D HDMI cable to type A HDMI cable.
– Will not charge and stream at the same time.
– You can get a clean HDMI output using the functions within the menus (TV Connection option – disable info).
– I plugged this into a 4K Monitor but HDMI output was only 1080p on the screen so not true 4K HDMI output.
– Continuous stream does create heat on the camera and after 2 hours, I did smell plastic. But the camera is warm to touch only.
– Easily imported recordings into Adobe Premier Pro in 4K and the images were crisp.
Generally – a very affordable 4K video camera when compared to the alternatives with a nice len package but streaming is limited to 1080.
Good for streaming but you have to purchase additional units (like the black magic convertors), hdmi type d and extra batteries to get maximum benefits from this unit. There are better 1080p video streaming camera in the market.
My only concern is the small sensor on the camera – nothing like the impressive sensors on the bigger brother or the Canon DSLR range. So it suffers in low light.
Slightly annoyingly the shoulder strap takes a lot of looking at the instructions to figure out. And the battery life could perhaps be a tad better. Being the novice that I am at photography I found this camera is really great for me with technical functions for the connoisseur and simple buttons for the less photographically minded.
Until now I have using my Canon 5D mark 3 and Canon 7D mark 2 with a variety of lenses for holidays, sport and wildlife. I will keep all my Canon gear which I love, but it is heavy for all occasions and I wanted something small and light for everyday use which would hopefully give me quality pictures which I wouldn’t be disappointed with. I am delighted to say that the GX80 does not disappoint and produces great JPEG images and I am really impressed with the quality (see attached picture of New Brighton Lighthouse as an example) even when compared JPEGS from my Canon gear.
The camera comes with an 86 page operating instructions booklet, which is a must to read, and also gives a link to a PDF download which is 338 pages long and is also essential reading if you want to understand all the features of the camera.
My only slight disappointment is that I normally shoot in RAW and JPEG format, which you can do with this camera, but the .RW2 raw files do not appear to be supported by Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop Elements 14 which I use for all my Canon work. The only software I can find for the .RW2 raw files is SILKYPIX Developer Studio 7 which I have tried. So until Adobe support the GX80 raw file format, I will be sticking with JPEG only and to be honest, that does not seem to be a problem as the quality is great.