Hello,
-While I'd also prefer to have the EVF on the side, I can't say I had to complain about it being centered AND I noticed I didn't have to adapt to it : I had SLR & DSLR's before ! So there is actually a possible reason why Olympus could have decided to do it like that.
-1/8000 : agreed, sorely missing it, on many occasions.
-Not entirely true, if you use the touch screen, it will use the defined zoom level of magnifiy. up to 10x. It's a really small area at the tip of your finger. It's a work around, but it works fine.
-Don't think we can expect much wonder with this first I.S. but it's a nice move.
-Oly Auto ISO is indeed rather nice but could use EV compensation, something Pentax understood 1000 years ago, if I'm not mistaken. I don't think Panasonic will do it now, they seem allergic to the idea. Shame because it's a major show stopper for me.
All in all, I can't help but think it's only "catching up" and Panasonic has been a little too busy with its G & GH3 and let the GX to rot. They're giving us an EP5 with a nicely integrated EVF. But eventhough the specs look good on paper, I'm doubting it's going to offer the same magnification as the VF4 and eventhough it's "more mp", it's not telling us everything.
The sensor might be a complete different story but I personally can say this has become a non issue for me. We got rid of most of the horrid banding and we've got enough DR that it never bothers me anymore. MFT image quality is here now. I reached a point of bliss.
Quote:I wish Oly would come up with a similar body as it addresses my main issues with the OM-D:
- Range finder form factor: makes much more sens than the OM-D which wants to be retro, but doesn't make much sense: why the hump for the VF? There is no mirror box! Sony understood that from the get go; I'm glad Panasonic is realizing it too (as well as Fuji)
- 1/8000: definitely a speed that is needed with MFT as with the numerous fast lenses, 1/4000 is not enough on a bright day (and please don't tell me a ND filter is a good workaround - it is not)
- Small focus point: Panasonic shines here compared to Oly and their huge focus points that are useless when accurate and precise focusing is needed
- I hope the GX7' IBIS will be as good as the OM-D, but I guess I can keep dreaming
- I hope the GX7 will allow one to use auto ISO in manual mode (something none of the Panasonic bodies can do); Pentax (TAv), Nikon and Oly implementations work very well
If the GX7 addresses all these points, I'll definitely buy one even if its price tag is around 1k.