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Saturday, 10 January 2015

Panasonic G6 Ergonomic Score




The G6 is the  most recent but as I write this probably discontinued version of the original 2008 MILC which was the G1.

It is a nice little camera which in my view has never been fully appreciated by the marketplace.

It delivers decent picture quality and performance together with decent ergonomics, marred by some design errors.  It was tested with the Lumix 14-140mm f3.5-5.6 travel zoom lens.

Setup  10/15

The G6 uses the standard Panasonic menu system which is clearly laid out with a good graphical interface. The main issue is that the sheer number of options can make setup a somewhat daunting task  particularly for a novice.

Prepare  10/15

The G6 suffers in comparison to the GH3/4 or FZ1000. There are fewer direct access points for Prepare Phase settings, particularly if [Direct Focus Area] is set.

Holding  14/20

The handle is nicely shaped but a bit small as is the thumb support. The shutter button could to advantage be a bit further to the left as viewed by the user.

Viewing  14/20

Most of the requirements are in place. The EVF is of decent quality and is optimally located. The monitor is fully articulated.

The rubber eyecup is a bit uncomfortable being rectangular unlike the eye socket which is rounded.
A much shorter EVF blackout time would be to advantage.

Operating 14/25

Most of the requisite features are in place but not all of them work optimally. The rear dial is awkward to operate. The cursor buttons are not easy to locate by feel. The buttons on the right side of the control panel are forever being pressed accidentally.

Review  3/5

With only one control dial the camera does not enable scrolling from one image to the next at the same level of enlargement and same location in the frame.

Total  65/100
This is a decent but not excellent result. The G6 is large enough to support a camera with excellent ergonomics with a rethink of the body design. 

I have posted elsewhere on this  blog  my vision of the camera which might result, in the form of a mockup  incorporating  numerous design improvements.
 


1 comment:

  1. Why the devotion to Direct Focus Area? Touchpad AF works much faster for me, and I really need the default functions of the 4-way controller buttons. Relocating those functions to other buttons is not an option, as the Function buttons are already spoken for.

    You're absolutely right that the Play and Display buttons should be moved below the controller. I hit the Display button by accident all the time. Annoying!

    Great site and thought-provoking writing. Thanks. I hope Panasonic is listening.

    ReplyDelete