@oscillian

May be, we'll see.

This cam has one flaw, which is not the end of the world, but it suffers from shutter-shake around 100-160. It would be interesting to see if a firmware update addresses this. Since I use it primarily for video, it's not so important, but I do use it as a camera--and then I have to remind myself to use the electronic shutter (slightly more noise in the image).

I've tried it on a heavy tripod with no luck but that's a good idea for stability. It's just a minor annoyance, several m4/3 cams have the same problem, my first Olympus had it much worse.

Most users are reporting that this camera has a manual shutter problem at certain ISOs. For example, if I take the same picture with electronic shutter at these ISOs, it is noticeably better. Also, the IQ is more or less the same as my GM1, but worse at only these ISOs. So something inside the cam is messing up, otherwise it would affect a wider range of shutter speeds. The GM1 has a much lower mass, but a better shutter, for whatever reason. Olympus was able to improve the problem in their cams with a firmware update, but it didn't completely fix the problem.

@oscillian, I do not think that there will be a new hack after the 3 years old PTOOL 3.66D.

http://www.neocamera.com/camera/panasonic/g7/review

G7 test in Slashcam Germany:

http://www.slashcam.de/artikel/Test/Panasonic-G70---Halbe-GH4-zum-halben-Preis-.html#Einle

"In our 4K Focus chart you can see that the larger crop area of ​​the G7 is good to face even when debayering. So it provides even a small tick more details at the same time a little less artifacts than the GH4"

So G7 has less crop and better image in 4k than GH4. Is that true?

GH4 should have optional full sensor 4k mode even with some aliasing and moire.

I think everyone who used the G7 saw a bit less noise and either the same amount of detail or slightly more detail than the GH4. What is difficult to quantify, because of the really small difference, is the amount of aliasing.

People will continue to use the GH4 over the G7, regardless of the image quality.

The G7 is a very good value if you get it with the unrestricted recording here on PV (I have two), I think the FDR-ax100 still has a tiny bit more detail but of course no interchangeable lenses and more than twice the price. One measure of the quality of a camera is the fact that the price of the FDR ax100 really has not changed much, but, regardless, the G7 is a steal right now. It's the sleeper cam.

One should mention that the Samsung cellphones also produce very good video, although only at 30fps. Interesting to see if there will be a "cell phone parity" with video cams at some point.

Anyway, if you want to throw a few cams in a bag for location work, and not worry about what happens to them, the G7 is the way to go.

The G7 is great if shooting UHD and frankly I like the feel of it better than GH4. The GH4 has more bells and whistles but they account for conveniance more than anything else. The GH4 advantages are not that compelling for me so I bought the G7 and happy I did. I do look forward to being wowed by the GH5 or what ever they call it.

@DrDave Mine arrived yesterday and had a sticker on top of the box that says "Firmware ver 2.0 installed." I'm hopefully going to get a chance to test it out today. I look forward to the unlimited recording :).

@Scot that is the question, isn't it? I will definitely not be among the first to try it.