Panasonic Lumix GX-8

[farronb]

As much as I liked my GX-7, nearly everything has been improved on the 8. So much has been said that I shouldn't be redundant so I'll mention only the single most important new feature for me: a dedicated exposure compensation dial, essential for street photography, not need to take the camera from the eye!

Now about the lack of a built-in flash.. No real loss since they're just about useless, but has Panasonic abandoned the Micro Four Thirds hot shoe format, leaving with about $1500 USD worth of paperweights? That seems like an arbitrary choice to sell users a new line of flashes, and if that's what's going on, I'm pissed off about it.
Please let me know if I'm missing something, and I'll be most grateful.
Thanks.

 

[JP Owens]

The GX8 is very tempting, especially with the 4K video.

 

[farronb]

Panasonic GX-8 & compatible flash

Panasonic GX-8 & compatible flash

I'll reply to my own question, posted earlier today. I tried every Micro Four Thirds flash that I own (no Panasonics, too much $$ for what you get) with the GX-8, and they all worked perfectly in TTL mode. The hot shoe contacts look slightly different from the GX-7 but they work the same.
I haven't tried manual or slow sync because I've not yet needed to use those modes.
I'm pleased with Panasonic's not abandoning a perfectly workable hot shoe configuration, and will soon be selling my GX-7.