The GF3 generally produces very good--and frequently excellent--photos.
Lori Grunin
I've been reviewing hardware and software, devising testing methodology and handed out buying advice for what seems like forever; I'm currently absorbed by computers and gaming hardware, but previously spent many years concentrating on cameras. I've also volunteered with a cat rescue for over 15 years doing adoptions, designing marketing materials, managing volunteers and, of course, photographing cats.
Like the rest of Panasonic's current generation of G-series cameras, the GF3's noise profile and JPEG processing is much better than before and it does a nice job on midrange ISO sensitivities (ISO 400-ISO 800). That said, the JPEGs aren't uniformly great; in our testing, even shots at ISO 160 had some noise in shadow areas.
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iA+ mode, ISO 320
The camera's auto mode works pretty well, but this image also shows the type of image artifacts the camera produces in JPEGs. At ISO 320 there's some color noise on the sharp areas, and the out-of-focus areas look mushy like a point-and-shoot's. However, these should only affect you if you plan to retouch the images (in which case you should shoot raw); when printed as-is, you don't see any of this.
Panasonic performs in-camera distortion control and seems to have nailed the algorithm--there's still a slight bit of barrel distortion, but just enough that it doesn't look artificial.
(1/160 sec, f3.5, spot metering, ISO 160, AWB, 14mm lens)
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Bokeh, 14mm lens
The out-of-focus highlights from the kit lens have a soft, organic shape but look processed.
(1/2,000 sec, f4, pattern metering, ISO 160, AWB, 14mm lens)
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Sharpness, 14mm lens
While it's not a great lens, the 14mm delivers solid center sharpness and the GF3's JPEG algorithm doesn't oversharpen, so you get a nice naturally sharp feel to the images.
(1/100 sec, f4.5, pattern metering, ISO 160, AWB, 14mm lens)
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Color
The GF3 has a little trouble accurately reproducing intense colors in bright light, especially purples and reds. But the colors are pleasing overall, the tonal reproduction looks good, and you can always shoot raw (or try the Neutral Photo Style) for better accuracy.
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Photo Styles
The GF3's default color preset renders pleasing colors with minimal hue shift (at least when compared with the Natural version).
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Burst shooting
Though it's not a great camera for continuous shooting, the autofocus system is good enough for the occasional kid-in-motion or wildlife shot.
(1/200 sec, f3.5, spot metering, ISO 160, AWB, 14mm lens)
