Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1 Review

16 Megapixels16 MegapixelsHigh ISO: ISO 6400 or more is available at full-resolution.High ISO: ISO 6400 or more is available at full-resolution.Level: Measures camera tilt and helps to keep the horizon level.Level: Measures camera tilt and helps to keep the horizon level.Continuous DriveContinuous DriveFull 1080p HD Video: 1920 x 1080 resolution or more but less than 4K.Full 1080p HD Video: 1920 x 1080 resolution or more but less than 4K.Manual Controls: Both fully-manual (M) and semi-automatic modes (T and V).Manual Controls: Both fully-manual (M) and semi-automatic modes (T and V).Custom White-Balance: Specifies exactly what should be white to the camera.Custom White-Balance: Specifies exactly what should be white to the camera.Action Photography: Shutter speeds of 1/1500 or more.Action Photography: Shutter speeds of 1/1500 or more.Night Photography: Reaches shutter-speeds longer than 4 seconds.Night Photography: Reaches shutter-speeds longer than 4 seconds.Spot MeteringSpot MeteringAccepts Secure Digital Extended Capacity (SDXC), SDHC and SD memory.Accepts Secure Digital Extended Capacity (SDXC), SDHC and SD memory.Neocamera detailed reviewNeocamera detailed reviewDiscontinued: No longer produced by the manufacturer. May still be in stock or found used.Discontinued: No longer produced by the manufacturer. May still be in stock or found used.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1 Introduction

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1 is a miniature mirrorless camera. It is the smallest and lightest with a 2X or lower FLM and features a 16 MP LiveMOS sensor with a sensitivity range from ISO 125 to 25600. It can record full 1080p HD video at 30 FPS and images at 5 FPS.

Size is the key feature of the GM1 and Panasonic has made an incredible technological achievement by fitting a Four-Thirds sensor into a body the size of a compact camera. It is not much larger than the 3" LCD on its back yet maintains full manual-controls and a number of external controls.

The Panasonic GM1 offers plenty of advantages over compact cameras. Most notably, interchangeable lenses. With a small collapsible lens, the GM1 stays smaller than the majority of premium cameras which do not offer this flexibility. It has access to the full lineup of Micro Four-Thirds lenses.

Despite its diminutive size, the GM1 includes a traditional mode-dial, a single control-dial, customizable buttons and a built-in popup flash. It takes standard SDXC cards and a small proprietary battery which brings its weight to a mere 204g, plus lens. Panasonic ships it with a small and versatile 12-32mm F/3.5-5.6 stabilized lens.

This digital camera review analyses the usability, image quality and performance of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1 Features

Sensor

  • 16 Megapixels CMOS Four-Thirds sensor
  • 2X Crop-Factor, 4:3 Aspect-Ratio
  • Micro Four-Thirds lens mount
  • Built-in Dust-Reduction

Exposure

  • ISO 125 - 25600
  • Intelligent & Standard Auto ISO
  • Customizable Auto ISO Limit, 400 - 25600
  • 1/16000 - 1s Electronic-Shutter
  • 1/500 - 60s Mechanical-Shutter
  • PASM Exposure modes with Program-Shift
  • Multi-Segment, Center-Weighed and Spot metering
  • Exposure-Compensation, ±5, 1/3 EV increments
  • AEB, 3 - 7 frames, 1/3 - 1 EV increments
  • Forced, Redeye, Slow-Sync, Slow-Sync Redeye, Off flash modes
  • Flash-Compensation, ±2, 1/3 increments
  • First or second curtain Flash-Sync

Image Parameters

  • Automatic, 5 presetsSunny, Cloudy, Shade, Tungsten, Flash, Kelvin and 2 Custom White-Balance memories
  • White-Balance Fine-Tuning, 19 steps, 2 axis
  • WB Bracketing, 3 frames, 3 step sizes, 2 axis
  • Adjustable Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation and Noise-Reduction, 11 steps each
  • 5 Color and 1 B&W modes
  • sRGB or Adobe RGB color spaces

Drive

  • 5 FPS Mechanical-Shutter drive without preview
  • 10 FPS Electronic-Shutter drive without preview
  • 4 FPS Drive with preview
  • Maximum 7 RAW files per burst
  • 40 FPS Drive @ 4 MP, Max 39 JPEG
  • Self-timer, 2s, 10s or 3 shots @ 10 seconds
  • Interval-Timer, 1 - 9999 frames, 1s to 100 minute interval, immediate or delayed start
  • Multiple-Exposure, 3 frames
  • Automatic HDR, Auto or 1 - 3 EV steps
  • Optional Auto Gain for Multiple-Exposure
  • Optional Auto Align for HDR capture

Focus

  • Single-Shot autofocus (AF-S), continuous autofocus (AF-C) or manual-focus (MF)
  • Pinpoint, Center-point, 23-Points, Tracking and Face-Detect contrast-detect autofocus
  • Optional DMF
  • Optional Quick autofocus
  • Optional MF-Assist
  • Optional AF-Assist Lamp

Display

  • 3" Touchscreen LCD, 1 megapixel
  • Optional Live-Histogram
  • Optional Blinking-Highlight
  • Optional Framing-Guidelines, 3 types
  • Optional Focus-Peaking, 2 levels
  • Adjustable brightness, 7 steps
  • Adjustable saturation, 7 steps
  • Adjustable color, 11 steps, 2 axis

Output Processing

  • 3:2, 16:9 & 1:1 Cropped aspect-ratios
  • 12, 8 and 4 Megapixels mode
  • JPEG, RAW, RAW+JPEG capture
  • 2 JPEG Compression qualities
  • Optional Long-Shutter Noise-Reduction
  • Optional Vignetting Correction
  • Optional Contrast Enhancement, 3 levels
  • Optional Resolution Enhancement, 4 levels
  • Optional Face-Recognition

Video

  • 1920x1080 @ 30 FPS MPEG-4
  • 1920x1080 @ 60i FPS AVCHD
  • 1280x720 @ 60 FPS AVCHD
  • Built-in stereo microphone
  • Audio Input-Gain, 4 steps
  • Optional Audio-Meter, 2 channels
  • Optional Wind-Filter

Connectivity

  • HDMI (1080i) output
  • USB 2.0 connectivity
  • WiFi (802.11b/g/n)
  • NFC-F (ISO/IEC 18092)

Misc

  • Single control-dials
  • Traditional mode-dial
  • One customizable button
  • Lithium-Ion battery
  • SDXC memory

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1 Usability - How easy is it to use?

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1 is unbelievably small for a mirrorless. Its clever body shape using a protruding lens mount makes it look even smaller than it actually is. Regardless, this camera is the size of a typical compact and yet very few cameras this small have manual-controls. This is both a source of awe and compromise.

The rectangular body offers no grip at all, just a flat and slightly-textured surface, making this camera precarious to hold. As with other mirrorless cameras, it is expected to be held with two hands, so there is less risk of it falling. An eyelet on each side allow the use of the supplied neck-strap, but one would probably use a wrist-strap instead with such a small camera.

Given how short the body is, one ends up with a cramped two-finger hold on the front. This is similar to compact cameras and is not meant for prolonged use. Still, the GM1 is incredibly light and will not be tiresome without a bulky lens attached. With the 12-32mm F/3.5-5.6 OIS kit-lens, it is a truly feather-weight while offering far better image-quality than any similarly-sized offering.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1

The top plate of the GM1 is utilitarian. At the left, we can see the top of a small built-in flash. After a tiny bit of free space, there is a stereo microphone, right against a combined rotating autofocus switch and customizable button. The switch rotates between 3 positions for AF-S, AF-C and MF modes. Since there is no direct ISO button on this camera, Fn1 should be configured to control sensitivity. There are 32 additional options to choose from though!

The shutter-release is found, surrounded by a rotating power-switch, further to the right. It has short amount of travel and a soft halfway point. This makes it less likely to shake the camera during exposure but increases the possibility of misfiring. At the edge of the top-plate, there is a traditional mode-dial. The ubiquitous PASM modes are all there, plus a fully automatic mode, a Filter mode, a position to groups all Scene modes, two customizable modes and a dedicated Video mode.

The Video mode in particular is very welcome as it allows to accurately preview video-framing, which is not the case on all modern digital cameras. The Panasonic GM1 is very capable for video. It offers full manual-controls, where the exposure-mode is selected in the menu, and processing parameters which are separate from stills.

All rotating controls on the top-plate have strong detents to prevent accidental changes. The mode-dial is also textured to provide a good grip which makes it usable with thin gloves. The focus switch, on the other hand, is smooth with only a small protrusion for purchase.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1

All remaining controls are located on the back of the camera which is dominated by a large 3" touchscreen LCD. The display is bright and, at 1 megapixel of resolution, extremely sharp. Unfortunately, it is not Exposure-Priority except in Manual exposure-mode and only when the Constant Preview option is enabled from the Custom setting menu. At least it shows 100% coverage and previews WB correctly though.

The touchscreen feature can thankfully be disabled. While it provides access to more customizable features, the screen is so close to the control-dial that it constantly gets inadvertently triggered. For some unknown reason, it remains active in Video mode. We can only guess that it is to avoid pressing buttons which may affect the sound-track or shake the camera.

To the right of the LCD, there is room for about half-a-thumb next to the Video-Record and Playback buttons. Both of these are slightly recessed from the camera surface to prevent accidental use which also makes them unusable with gloves on. The Video-Record button can be disabled but not reconfigured to anything else. The Playback one works just as usual.

Just below, there is a 4-way controller with central MENU/SET button. Each direction is assigned a dedicated function:

  • Up: Toggles EC, except in Manual mode where it switches between Aperture and Shutter-Speed.
  • Right: Selects White-Balance. The screen which appears when Right is pressed is also used to fine-tune white-balance or enable WB bracketing.
  • Down: Selects a drive mode: Off, Single-Shot, ContinuousSuper-High Speed (40 FPS @ 4MP), High-Speed (10 or 5 FPS) without preview, Medium Speed (4 FPS) or Low speed (2 FPS), Bracketing and Self-Timer2s, 10s or 3-frames at 10s. There is no difference between Off and Single-Shot as far as we can tell.
  • Left: Selects the AF mode: Pinpoint, Single-Point, Automatic 23-Area, Tracking and Face-Detect. The focus point or area, depending on the mode, can be set by pressing Down fro there. Pinpoint allows the selection of an exact point while Single-Point allows the selection of an image-area. Four area-sizes are available.

Around the 4-way controller, there is an extremely thin control-dial. This is the only one on the GM1 and is rather flimsy. In Capture mode, it controls the active exposure parameter. In Playback mode, it magnifies images. It can also be used to navigate the menu. The control-dial has soft detents and is ribbed to provide some grip. This is insufficient for use with gloves on.

Along the lower-edge of the camera, there are two more buttons. One is Q.MENU which brings up 2 rows of icons to set some photographic controls. The same button is used to back-out of sub-menus and to delete images and videos, depending on the context. The other button, DISP, cycles over display modes in Capture and Playback.

There are quite a few display options on the GM1. A 2-Axis digital level overlay is available. It is accurate, easy to see and unobtrusive. Exactly how it should be! There is a MF Assist function which magnifies part of the frame to full-screen or PIP to keep an eye on framing. Focus-Peaking can optionally be enabled.

There is a Live-Histogram which sadly shows the display distribution instead of being based on exposure. One of 3 types of framing guidelines can be enabled, as well as blinking highlights. These last ones do not appear to be accurate either.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1

The bottom of the camera features a metal tripod mount which is perfectly aligned with the optical axis. There is also a rather flimsy plastic door which covers the combined battery and memory-card compartment. The unusual thing to note about here is that the lens mount is flush with the base of the camera. Since the camera is so thin, this makes it difficult to zoom while the camera is mounted on a quick-release plate which causes friction against the lens ring.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1
Buy from these sellers: Buy From Amazon.com
By Neocamera on 2014-10-24

Please Support Neocamera

All information on Neocamera is provided free of charge yet running this website is a huge endeavor. Purchases made via affiliate links found throughout the site help keep it running and up-to-date. There is no additional cost to you, so please consider buying via these links to our affilates:

  • Photography Store Banner
  • Essential Photo Banner
  • Best Buy Banner
  • Amazon Banner

If you found any information on this site valuable and did not purchase via our affiliate links, please considering donating via PayPal:

Any amount will be greatly appreaciated. Thank you for your support!

Panasonic DMC-GM1 Highlights

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1
Mirrorless digital camera

Sensor-Size: 17 x 13mm

Four-Thirds Sensor

Actual size when viewed at 100 DPI

16 Megapixels MirrorlessISO 125-25600
Micro Four-Thirds Mount
2X FLM
Shutter 1/16000-60s
2 Axis Digital LevelFull manual controls, including Manual Focus
Built-in Dust ReductionCustom white-balance with 2 axis fine-tuning
5 FPS Drive, 7 ImagesSpot-Metering
1920x1080 @ 30 FPS Video RecordingLithium-Ion Battery
3" LCD 1 MegapixelsSecure Digital Extended Capacity
Buy from these sellers: Buy From Amazon.com

Camera Bag

Clear

Your camera bag is empty. To add a camera or lens click on the star next to its name.

Your camera bag is empty.

Add cameras or lenses by clicking on the star next to their name.

Updates

    2023.11.20

  • 2023.11.20

    Best Digital Cameras of 2023 Update Poster

    Best Digital Cameras of 2023

    Find out which are the Best Digital Cameras of 2023. All the new Mirrorless Digital Cameras from entry-level to high-end professional.

  • 2023.07.10

  • 2023.07.10

    Fujifilm X-H2 Review Update Poster

    Fujifilm X-H2 Review

    40 Megapixels APS-C Hybrid Mirrorless Digital Camera with 7-stop IBIS. Fastest shutter ever and 8K video capture. Large builtin EVF with 0.8X magnification and 5.8 MP, plus an Eye-Start Sensor. Packed with features and large number of controls in a weatherproof and freezeproof body.

  • 2023.05.07

  • 2023.05.07

    Sony FE 20-70mm F/4G Review Update Poster

    Sony FE 20-70mm F/4G Review

    Review of the unique Sony FE 20-70mm F/4G lens. The optical zoom of this lens spans ultra-wide-angle and medium focal-length coverage, making it one of the most versatile Full-Frame lenses on the market.

  • 2023.01.15

  • 2023.01.15

    Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 Review Update Poster

    Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 Review

    Review of the Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 tablet, a medium sized drawing surface with dual dials and customizable buttons. Connects via USB-C or Bluetooth 5.0 with Windows, Linux and Android support.

  • 2022.12.08

  • 2022.12.08

    How to Pack for a Photo Trip Update Poster

    How to Pack for a Photo Trip

    Find out how to pack for a travel photography trip, carry your gear safely while meeting airline regulations.

  • 2022.11.13

  • 2022.11.13

    Best Digital Cameras of 2022 Update Poster

    Best Digital Cameras of 2022

    The best digital cameras of 2022. A short list of the most outstanding models in their respective categories. Choose one for yourself or as a gift.

  • 2022.09.21

  • 2022.09.21

    Pentax DA* 60-250mm F/4 SDM Review Update Poster

    Pentax DA* 60-250mm F/4 SDM Review

    Review of the Pentax DA* 60-250mm F/4 SDM, the constant-aperture telephoto zoom with the highest zoom-ratio on the market.

  • 2022.09.20

  • 2022.09.20

    Pentax DA* 50-135mm F/2.8 SDM Review Update Poster

    Pentax DA* 50-135mm F/2.8 SDM Review

    Review of the Pentax DA* 50-135mm F/2.8 SDM, the lightest professional telephoto zoom native to the K-mount.

  • 2022.09.10

  • 2022.09.10

    Pentax DA* 11-18mm F/2.8 DC AW Review Update Poster

    Pentax DA* 11-18mm F/2.8 DC AW Review

    Review of the Pentax DA* 11-18mm F/2.8 DC AW, the widest professional ultra-wide zoom native to the K-mount.

  • 2021.11.24

  • 2021.11.24

    50 Gifts Under $50 For Photographers in 2021 Update Poster

    50 Gifts Under $50 For Photographers in 2021

    50 Gifts photographers will love. All for under $50 USD. 2021 Edition.

  • 2021.11.17

  • 2021.11.17

    Best Digital Cameras for 2021 Update Poster

    Best Digital Cameras for 2021

    Neocamera shows which are the very best Digital Cameras for 2021 in every category: Mirrorless, DSLR, Premium Compact, Ultra-Zoom and Rugged.

  • 2021.09.04

  • 2021.09.04

    Pentax HD DA* 16-50mm F/2.8 PLM AW Review Update Poster

    Pentax HD DA* 16-50mm F/2.8 PLM AW Review

    Exclusive review of the Pentax HD DA* 16-50mm F/2.8 PLM AW professional lens of Pentax K-Mount APS-C DSLR cameras.