[When I purchased and reviewed the Panasonic GX1](http://brooksreview.net/2012/03/gx1/), I left out one crucial reason behind my decision for buying this particular camera: I knew I had a baby girl on the way. I wanted a camera that was small enough to hold in one hand and snap a picture ((Yes I can shoot my Canon 5D one handed, but it’s less than ideal to do so.)) , yet high enough quality to not make me regret leaving behind my dSLR.
I also wanted a camera that could take excellent pictures at high ISO, relatively quietly, so that I could snap those precious “sleeping baby” photos.
That was a huge factor in my choosing the GX1.
Even without a baby, I have found the GX1 to be a phenomenal camera, one that has seriously made me consider selling off my Canon 5D and the lenses that go along with it — just maybe not quite yet.
When my daughter was born I almost immediately started snapping images with the GX1, my wife uses it too. It’s been a fantastic camera for us.
I was worried that the 20mm might be too limiting for indoor shots of a baby, but it’s turned out to be perfect — and thank goodness it is an f/1.7 lens, because low-light shooting is all I seem to do any more.
Which brings me to ISO and noise. I don’t think I have shot many pictures below ISO 1600 with the GX1 since Sloane came along. In fact I have gone up to 6400 and beyond more than a few times. While 6400 isn’t as clean as I dream that it should be, it’s still a good enough picture that I can be happy looking at it.
Also a quick noise reduction in Lightroom yields very satisfactory results ((The noise reduction engine in Lightroom is the primary reason I use Lightroom over Aperture.)) .
I simply cannot say enough good things about the GX1. It has been rock solid. Battery life has been fantastic. The quality is excellent. The noise control is very good.
I truly love this camera.
I did notice right away that with a baby around, I needed a strap on the camera so that I can attend to her when she needs me, without trying to find a good spot to set the camera down at.
At [Justin Blanton’s recommendation](http://hypertext.net/2012/04/dsptch) I ordered both the [wrist strap](http://www.dsptch.com/collections/wrist/products/camera-wrist-strap-black) and [sling strap](http://www.dsptch.com/collections/sling/products/camera-sling-strap-black) from DSPTCH and have been quite happy with them. The way that both clip on to the camera makes it really easy to switch to the wrist strap when at home and the sling strap when out and about.
My wife and I tend to leave the GX1 on the coffee table in the living room, and even though it is a longer reach than our iPhones, we tend to go for the GX1 first when we want to shoot a photo. And that right there perfectly sums up why I am so happy with the GX1: I choose it over the more readily available iPhone camera every chance I get.
