OK, that’s the hype on the Drink and Click website, “A Fun Night With Panasonic And Drink And Click At Our Las Vegas Event”! It must be understood that I am never, have never been, the life of the party. I much prefer moving incognito through a room full of strangers. Because there was a full bar, I thought a drink might help. But the last time I was at a bar, the drinks were about half the price they are now. So I did not imbibe.
I did not drink, either.
The event started at 7 and there were less than 20 people there when I arrived at 6:45 pm. I was the 3rd or 4th person in line and, after a few questions like what do I shoot with (Fuji X-T1) and am I looking to compare or trade up (compare), I was handed the G85 Lumix.
Sorry for all the dust but the second and third photos above were from my iPhone and I did not clean them up.
The first I can tell you about the Lumix is that it seemed a lot heavier and thicker than what I am used to. I found a seat and tried to figure out where all the controls were. It was impossible and so I found someone from B & C Camera, the store that was sponsoring the event, and they set up the camera for me. That was the extent of the tutorial. I know it would have been a daunting task to give instructions on each model of camera they had at the event. But something. I didn’t realize until after I got home and downloaded my photos into Lightroom that I was shooting in jpeg all night.
No, that’s not me trying to figure out the camera I was handed. It’s simply confirmation that I wasn’t alone. In fact, the room was full of people looking askance at the camera in their hands. The guy in the hoodie in that first photo up there, the guy sitting at the bar? He’s checking out the camera in his hand, too, as if thinking to himself, “Now what do I do?” Well, maybe that wasn’t him saying that, but me.
Vanessa Green
Chelsey Smith
I had gone around the room and taken photos of the two models who were there (as seen in my previous post Cee’s Share Your World), then took some shots of the people, then even some photos of the artwork on the walls. And then I wondered if it was close to the time to leave. I looked at my phone. It was only 7:30.
OK, stop complaining and get on with the review. I will. Except, at that point, I was able to get up my courage to step outside of the place and take some shots. After all, they had my driver’s license so I figured they wouldn’t mind. They didn’t.
They didn’t even know I was gone.
Then I went back in, splurged, and went up to the bar to order a glass of wine. It cost more than what I would spend on a full bottle at a liquor store!
This woman is putting on her glasses to try to figure out the camera that is sitting on the bar in front of her. Anyway, after all that bitching and moaning I have to say I was pretty impressed by the Lumix G85. Once I got a bit more comfortable with it I was able to hand hold at extremely slow speeds because they had, unbeknownst to me, set the ISO to automatic. And there was hardly any noise on any of the shots. Amazing.
The exterior photo of the people having a smoke was handheld at 1/10 sec. The guy at the table studying his camera was shot at ISO 3200 with not a trace of noise. Maybe not that extraordinary but still I liked it.
So, not a very technical review but let me tell you, if I was actually in the market for another camera, I would definitely consider the Lumix G85. And save a bit of money, too.
Oh, and let me say the people from B & C Camera who gave up their evening for this event were appreciated. They maintained their professionalism and friendliness all evening. I wonder if they received any compensation?
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