Panasonic GF7 Flash

Coverage and Range
A very weak flash with narrow coverage. Above average positive exposure compensation required.

Coverage. Flash coverage is rather uneven at wide angle, leaving the corners of our flash target image quite dark at 12mm, thought that's not unusual, especially for a wider than average kit lens. Some of the corner shading can also attributable to the lens itself. We no longer test flash coverage at telephoto, as it is invariably better.

Exposure. Indoors under incandescent background lighting, the Panasonic GF7's flash underexposed our indoor portrait scene at ISO 200, despite the +1.0 EV flash exposure compensation used. (An average of +0.7 EV is normally needed for this shot.) You'll likely need to boost ISO (or enable Auto ISO) for typical indoor shots. The camera's slow-sync flash mode required no compensation to produce a bright shot, though the longer shutter time (1/6s vs 1/50s) resulted in a strong orange cast from the ambient background lighting.

Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range Test. The Panasonic GF7's built-in flash has a Guide Number of only 4m at ISO 100, or 5.6m at ISO 200. With the kit lens and ISO set to Auto, Panasonic rates the flash's range at 15 feet at wide angle, and 9.2 feet at telephoto. As you can see above, the Panasonic GF7 produced a well-exposed target at the rated distance at full telephoto, which means Panasonic's flash range spec is credible. Our standard test method for flash range uses either a fixed setting of ISO 200, to provide a fair basis of comparison between camera, or uses manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera (at Auto ISO if so specified), to assess the validity of the specific claims.