Panasonic Lumix GF2 Review - A Compact Micro Four Thirds
Design & Handling - Touch Controls
A Touch Kind of Camera
So where is that Mode dial? Well, it's not entirely gone, it's just gone digital. Instead of a physical dial, you now switch modes using the GF2's software interface. While it's not as quick as a manual dial, it still turns out pretty easy to do, thanks in part to the new touch-screen.
There are two ways to switch modes on the GF2. The first is to go through the main menu by pressing the Menu button in the center of the d-pad. That will take you to another window where you can switch modes.
If that sounds like one too many steps to you, the second way is quicker. Below is the standard display you'll see when you're shooting. Simply tap the mode indicator icon (which is currently on 'A' for Aperture Priority) and it'll take you to the same mode switching screen as above.
We imagine that most GF2 owners won't be switching modes so often, so the absence of the physical mode dial probably won't be felt. This seems to bear out in actual use; we habitually shot in Aperture Priority mode to take advantage of the new 14mm F/2.5 lens, but for other circumstances like landscape shots we simply turned on iA (intelligent Auto) mode using the iA button on top of the camera. When we wanted Aperture Priority back we simply switched iA off with the press of a button. If we wanted to shoot video, we simply hit the video Record button to immediately start shooting. There was very little need for a physical Mode dial and when we wanted to switch modes, it was easy and quick enough to do so.
A Quicker Quick Menu
Besides the more in-depth Menu, like other Panasonic cameras, the GF2 has a useful Quick Menu with immediate access to often-used settings like focus and metering modes (other useful settings like ISO and White Balance have their own dedicated buttons on the d-pad). Like the Mode dial, you can bring up the Quick Menu in one of two ways, either by its dedicated button below the d-pad, or by pressing the Q. Menu icon on the display.
The Quick Menu can be customized by tapping the 'Q' spanner icon on the bottom left. This brings up a screen where you can simply drag and drop icons to create your own Quick Menu. While this is useful, we felt the lack of a Mode dial icon. Sure, you can already switch modes two ways, but since it's a Quick Menu for everything at a glance, why not have it in there too as an option?
Touch to Focus, Touch to Shoot
New to the GF2 are "touch to focus" and "touch to shoot" controls, as well as a touch de-focusing control. Touch to focus and touch to shoot do just what they describe, and they're welcome and easy additions to an already easy-to-use camera.
If we look at the display screen again (see below photo), you'll see a finger and button icon on the right side of the screen. It has an 'X' next to it right now because the function is switched off, but simply touch it, then touch anywhere on the screen again and it will focus on that area and take a shot. It feels fast and works well.
Touch focusing is one of our favorite new features. When shooting, simply tap the area of the screen where you want the focus to be, and the GF2 will further fine-tune its focus confined to that area. While the GF2 gets its auto-focus right most of the time, it's a quick and handy tool to have the ability to change your focus areas with a simple tap.
Touch-defocusing lets you control just how much the background is in focus, what photographers refer to as background blur or bokeh. While in iA mode, tap the icon of a woman with the checkered background, and slide your fingers to bring more or less of the background into focus. It's an intuitive way to control aperture, and Panasonic has wisely capped the aperture setting to a maximum of F/11 to avoid overly long shutter speeds.