What do 5D Mark II users think about the GH2?

[MrHeavySilence]

I just got a GH2 a few months ago; I'm especially interested in hearing the opinions of those who have both cameras.

Which camera do you prefer and for what reasons?

 

[Ted Ramasola]

Do you also have the 5d?

 

[Cory Braun]

I have both and use each depending on what it is for. Personally, I like the aesthetic of the 5D more than the GH2, but the GH2 has a better technical image. I was shooting a music video a few weeks ago with the main location being a studio apartment with a huge brick wall that would have most likely torn apart the 5D image. However, I shot an unplugged video this past weekend, and I showed the musician shots in the location that we were shooting at with both the 5D and the GH2 (both using Zeiss lenses) and every single time he said he preferred the 5D image. He had no idea what a 5D or a GH2 was, (I could have told him I was shooting with the DVX5D300a and it would have meant the same thing to him) so he had absolutely no bias. But again, that was just his opinion, and others will probably differ.

I have no bias towards either company. In terms of DSLRs, I started with the GH1, then got a T2i, then a 5Dmkii, then a GH2. They each have their strengths and weaknesses but if I was choosing on pure aesthetic alone, I would choose the 5D almost every time.

 

[nigelbb]

I have both cameras. I bought the GH2 almost by accident a couple of months ago as it looked a good match for my Panasonic AG-AF101 especially being able to share lenses. I have been blown away with how good the GH2 video is. In some ways the GH2 is far more complex to set up & use than the 5DII as it has so many features like "Touch screen to focus" & facial recognition that are useful but also a whole load of presumably consumer oriented nonsense like entering your pet or baby's name to weird stuff like bracketing different aspect ratio still photos! Every time that I sit down with the non too comprehensible manual I discover a new gem.

First off some bad points. The GH2 is tiny with fiddly little buttons & if you have large hands like me it's awkward to use. Compared to the 5DII it feels like a little plastic toy.

The video is impressively good quality with hardly a trace of moire or aliasing. The colour, contrast, saturation etc can be manipulated endlessly but straight out of the box Cinema looks good, smooth & filmic. There is little or no grain even when the ISO is bumped up to the maximum 3200.

I have some decent lenses that were bought with the AF101. The 7-14mm F/4 (great wide angle zoom). 20mm F1.7 (great low light lens) & 14-140mm F/4-5.8 (good walking around lens). Don't forget the 2X crop factor means all these focal lengths need to be doubled for equivalent 5DII lenses. With the Extra Tele Conversion feature which uses the central portion of the sensor these lenses can then be multiplied by an extra 2.6X for 1080i or an amazing 3.9X if you shoot 720p (at 50fps!). This means that the 14-140mm lens is an effective 28mm-1092mm mega zoom. Despite the plastic construction & narrow aperture of these two zoom lenses they do produce very good images (presumably partly because of clever electronic correction) & because of the noise free video it is OK to bump up the ISO to compensate for the relatively narrow aperture. I have the Voigtlander 25mm F/0.95 on order. It is by all accounts an outstanding lens with low light capability second to none plus a pin sharp image.

I like using the 5DII more as it feels better in my hands. Not only are the controls better but they are simpler & more logical (I am also aware that after 2 years of ownership I am very used to using the 5DII which is one reason why it feels so much more comfortable). There is a far superior selection of Canon lenses available but when the Birger adaptor is shipping we will be able to use them on the GH2 & Af101. The 12 minute recording limit on the Canon DSLRs has never been an issue for me but whereas PAL GH2s have a 30 minute recording limit the NTSC GH2 recording time is only limited by the size of the SDHC card.

Despite the fact that the GH2 doesn't look 'professional', feels cheap & plasticky & is fiddly to operate there is no escaping the fact that it still shoots really great video. On balance the video is superior to the 5DII even in low light.

Finally the price of the GH2 is less than half that of the 5DII & for many it will be a better choice. I am not selling my 5DII for one thing it shoots beautiful still photos but if I needed to buy additional cameras for shooting events then another the fact that couple of GH2s with 14-140mm lenses cost little more than just a 5DII body is an awfully compelling argument.