Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-06-29)

subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 29 June 2019 43

CAMERA TEST Testbench

The G90 offers advanced features to amateurs

and enthusiasts working to a sub-£1,000 budget

Focal points

AF sensitivity adjustment

It’s possible to make the autofocus system

more or less sensitive when the camera is

set to continuous autofocus (AFC). This is

worth exploring if you want the camera to

react to moving subjects quickly or allow

slow subjects to move a bit without the

camera constantly searching for the subject.

Bluetooth

In addition to Wi-Fi, the

G90 offers Bluetooth

connectivity. Bluetooth

lets you create a

fast connection when

you want to use a

smartphone as a

remote trigger. The main

advantage of Bluetooth

is that it consumes less

power than using Wi-Fi.

Video time limit

On many cameras there’s a time

limit when recording 4K video,

which is usually 29 minutes and

59 seconds. The G90 has no

recording time restrictions,

allowing 4K video to be recorded

for as long as users want – or

until the card runs out of space.

USB charging

The G90 supports USB

charging; however this is

performed via a USB 2.0

Micro B interface rather

than the USB Type C port

that many mirrorless

camera manufacturers

have started using.

93.5mm

77.4mm

Battery grip

Those who’d like to add

more depth to the body or

enhance the handling in

the portrait format have

the option to buy the

DMW-BGG1 battery grip

(£249). It’s built to match

the rugged, splash- and

dust-resistant design of

the G90 and is the same

as the Lumix G80 grip.

130.4mm

unit that was previously used on
the G80. The display speed can
be set to 60fps or 30fps, and
as EVFs go, it’s a good example.
It displays a huge amount of
information, including electronic
levels and a live histogram, albeit
not at the same 3,680-million-
dot resolution as the Lumix G9.
On bright sunny days, when
refl ections can play havoc with
reviewing images on the rear
screen, it’s convenient to be able
to hold the viewfi nder to your eye
for a clearer view. Zooming into
images to analyse sharpness
revealed it takes a split second for
images to render sharp, but this
happens so quickly that it’s unlikely
to frustrate or slow you down.
Below the EVF you’ll fi nd a fully
articulated 3in, 1,040k-dot touch
screen in the 3:2 aspect ratio.
Shoot in the native 4:3 aspect and
the full width of the screen isn’t
used, meaning you get black strips
down either side of the image. The
responsiveness of the touch panel
is superb and with the lightest
of touches users can access the
screen-based Fn buttons, creative
modes, touch shutter and
exposure compensation from the
icons that line the right side. The
touchscreen is great for precisely
navigating through the menu,
personalising the My Menu with
frequently used settings and
swiping through and inspecting
shots in playback mode using the
same kind of fi nger gestures you’d
use on a smartphone. Spraying
the screen with water to simulate

raindrops didn’t affect its response

in any way. There were occasions

on test when the screen feed did

suddenly disappear but this was

due to the sensitive eye sensor

being triggered accidentally. To

prevent screen interruptions you

can turn the LVF/MON Auto

setting off via the Fn3/LVF button.

Performance

Autofocus uses Panasonic’s usual

combination of contrast detection

and Depth From Defocus (DFD).

This arrangement promises

high-speed lock-on in 0.07sec,

with its low-light AF mode

promising accurate focusing in

lighting conditions as low as -4EV.

In real world use, I found focus

lock to be immediate in good light,

while in poor light the bright

orange AF assist beam does a

good job of illuminating close

subjects with only a slight

reduction in AF speed. In very dark

conditions where the AF assist

lamp is less effective at illuminating

subjects at greater distances, the

AF system is prone to hunting and

can struggle to the point that

opportunities are missed.

Those who focus manually will

fi nd they are presented with an

excellent selection of focus aids

when the camera is set to MF

and the manual focus ring is

twisted. The focus scale and

peaking displays are great to

have, but it’s the magnifi ed view

that lets you inspect details at up

to 20x magnifi cation that is

most useful.

Headphone socket

The G80 lacked a

headphone socket,

meaning videographers

couldn’t monitor the

quality of their audio

while recording. The G90

presents a 3.5mm

headphone jack in a

panel below the 3.5mm

microphone socket.