why the GX8, exactly? And why Now??

The GX8 is now my primary camera. 

My track record makes clear that I don't make good body choices* - yet here I sit typing bold statements like the one above.  It sure looks confident - especially for a camera that won't arrive for another week. One would think I should touch it first, perhaps? Yeah, that's not easy to do any more - especially with a camera no longer in production.

The GX8 has been around for five years, and in that time I've tried em5/10/10.ii and g7/8/gx85 bodies - and a YI M1. Yet I didn't try this one, and at several forks in the road I was sure that decision made sense.

Script Flipper

What I did was stop looking at its flaws, or to put it better: looked at them as features I preferred less than others. The only true flaw is shutter shock, and as many find it hard to reproduce as find it overwhelming. Its main perceived flaw (by me) is the flipout screen.

I've really liked the GX7; its feature set is really right for what I need a camera to do. I tried to like the GX85 with its improved shutter, lack of AA filter and USB charging plus 4k features. I tried at least twice, in fact - but it didn't take. Things like the AF/MF switch are easy, but pressing a button (or touchscreen) twice or button/dial twist is .. less easy. It just didn't work for me.

So what would I wish for the GX7+, and how does the GX8 do on those points?

• Weather seals: done. That takes other brands out of my envy list!
• Capture versatility: more true buttons and switches (which a marginally larger body allows) and 4kPhoto options
• 'Better' images: a 20Mpx sensor with noise that is deemed 'less digital' by people who care about such things and know what to look for is a good start, and the Lumix jpeg engine improves again in most people's estimation
• Equal or better stabilization: Dual∙IS does that for zooms I already own
• Tilt screen for look-down shots - OK I lost my preferred way of doing that, but the tilt EVF is very similar
• A better viewfinder would be nice (especially given the previous bullet); this is so by all accounts!

The GX85 fails to deliver on most of these despite its own positives, and the GX9 brings the 20Mpx sensor and AF/MF switch back to come even closer. The GX8 covers these bases.

If I truly cannot stand the GX8, well that could be it for µ43 and me. Their direction isn't clear from here, with Olympus relieving itself of the project and Panasonic making things I don't value as much. I want this to work though, and I'm optimistic.

* What's odd is that they are well-researched bad decisions. They make great logical sense but don't fit my hand or brain as I would like for a long term fit. That's especially true of the G7 and G85, where hand fit was excellent but I simply got lost in the real estate.