How interested are you in a GH6 anymore?

[ahalpert]

that’s some impressive glass, assuming the image looks nice. I have the laowa 7.5 from years back and it was pretty good.

Yeah my laowa 12mm in FF is one of my favorite lenses, though I don't use it much now because it's manual focus.

That is a pretty serious set of cine glass for MFT, although it looks like there's no 25mm yet?

[filmguy123]

For those who like manual MFT glass.

https://www.43rumors.com/laowa-has-a...ew-mft-lenses/

that’s some impressive glass, assuming the image looks nice. I have the laowa 7.5 from years back and it was pretty good.

[DLD]

For those who like manual MFT glass.

https://www.43rumors.com/laowa-has-a...ew-mft-lenses/

[sgttom]

The only thing I don't like about it is it doesn't seem to have good downsampled 1080p or 2k. 2K Prores is my preference for shooting most things.

Everything else checks my boxes in what I've been looking for. Internal prores check, low rolling shutter check, good dynamic range and high ISO performance check, high frame rates check, good battery life check, punch in focus check, not a blackmagic camera check LOL

[DLD]

But kudos to them for finding a niche.

Some work for popular web sites, others for the brick&mortar outfits, others yet do photo tours or rely on sponsorship. The market is very watered down to make a living off ads.

The DP Review hire of Chris and Jordan made a lot of sense. I am surprised that the retailers have not snatched up other popular hosts. Even more surprised that other streaming platforms didn't snatch them up. Signing Joe Rogan was the best move made by Spotify.

PS. If Rogan went rogue ... uh, PPV, he could probably get 5-10 million subscribers at $5/mo.

[stoneinapond]

...it's mostly designed to sell Tony's product videos)

I never watch them but decided to cllck on their GH6 review. Chelsea looked like a hostage giving a prepared statement as to how great the camera was. Turned it off after a few minutes when they started hawking the guides.

But kudos to them for finding a niche.

[Zim]

I don't trust any of them completely on any product. Which is one of the reasons I stopped even clicking on Tony Northrup's channel. While it is not useless - or wouldn't be entirely useless had it been the only video review channel on YouTube - it's mostly designed to sell Tony's product videos. I haven't ever clicked on those offers but those guides may be a decent investment for someone who just paid a couple of grand for a camera. What $30-$50 more, right? Well, when you got a million and a half subscribers, selling a few thousands guides has to be a piece of cake.

PS. I will give them a ton of credit for being as popular as they are. They're the Kardashians of the YouTube camera reviewers. I can't wait to see Tony's lighting setup as Chelsea gets ready for a little nip&tuck.

(it's a joke ... Chelsea is an attractive woman and Tony is her attractive dunce)

I've never watched them

[NorBro]

There are like 20 Kardashians of the YouTube camera reviewers. And they all have around the same traffic, views and likes. T&C have more subs than all of them, but not by much in the grand scheme. If they keep doing it they will eventually find 2M and 3M subs, which will make it easier to reach 4M and 5M and that will put them on another level.

[DLD]

Not all get paid. I many even have video of the camera's video.
So you don't trust Sony or Canon reviews either I guess?

I don't trust any of them completely on any product. Which is one of the reasons I stopped even clicking on Tony Northrup's channel. While it is not useless - or wouldn't be entirely useless had it been the only video review channel on YouTube - it's mostly designed to sell Tony's product videos. I haven't ever clicked on those offers but those guides may be a decent investment for someone who just paid a couple of grand for a camera. What $30-$50 more, right? Well, when you got a million and a half subscribers, selling a few thousands guides has to be a piece of cake.

PS. I will give them a ton of credit for being as popular as they are. They're the Kardashians of the YouTube camera reviewers. I can't wait to see Tony's lighting setup as Chelsea gets ready for a little nip&tuck.

(it's a joke ... Chelsea is an attractive woman and Tony is her attractive dunce)

[Zim]

DFD / contrast - if there’s a way to fix the pulsing issue without further hardware I don’t know how. I don’t think so. The system by design has to pulse to find focus, that is how it verifies. So in fact as the mechanism goes quicker it just pulses more. The only solution I can think of would be to do digital trickery where the camera composites comparisons frames on the fly and masks them but it seems that could just create more problems and require serious hardware.

in any case it is my guess on this iteration you will have to live with pulsing. As far as speed and holding focus, I’m not sure. I think that can continue to improve via machine learning and software update, it has so far.

as far as long term, I think it will all get solved, but will almost certainly need a new iteration with new hardware. Panasonic may never get PDAF but they can perhaps invent something new. Like a time of flight sensor, or a second micro lens on the body that performs DFD and distance calculation so the camera doesn’t pulse. Or a new tech not yet invented. It’s just a matter of when IMO.

But from my understanding of the tech, I would expect further speed and stability improvements throughout the GH6 life cycle since that has been par for the course for years now with Panasonic. But I would not expect the pulsing issue to go away, because I can’t think of a way it can be solved in software - at least as far as I underwent how it works. I’d be happy to be wrong.

But for me personally I’ve always used MF and so when I’d use AF it would be in dynamic shots and sparingly so I think it might give me a new little tool to mess with, harder to notice the pulsing when the camera is moving around. And I didn’t think the pulsing is too bad if you aren’t looking for it. But then I also wouldn’t use AF to hold a long static shot like an interview in focus (even though NorBro brings up a good use case for such).

yes turn off continuous AF or shoot manual and the pulsing will stop. Some of the reviews you can't see pulsing or very little.
I've always like AF for photography and will use it in video too. Not so much continuous AF. In filmmaking I'm going to check everything, not switch to auto white balance, auto exposure, AF, and hope for the best.

[Zim]

Every reviewer is there to do business. And the nature of the beast is that they're not in the reviewing business as much as in a selling business. Their 2%-5% commissions from B&H, Amazon, Adorama and alike add up. So, it's not that the reviews are blatantly dishonest, it's that they're blatantly positive.

"The best Panasonic ever". Well, it actually may be so. But it may not be the best camera under $2,500 ever. Regardless, they're silent about that. Which means that, if you don't read between the lines and infer the unsaid, you may end up DFD'd. Which is always a personal matter.

Not all get paid and many even have video of the camera's AF.
So you don't trust Sony or Canon reviews either I guess?

[Zim]

Did you see a person's mouth saying those words or did you see samples of the focusing?

From what I have seen, nothing is fixed or usable unless pulsing at any given time is okay.

If pulsing at any given time is okay - or one has the luxury of editing around pulsing like with some music videos where shots could be 20 frames (not even a full second) and there's no specific direction - then that can be usable for that individual.

But, Zim; you want to make films. You sound like you care about making films.

This camera is the complete opposite of a filmmaker's camera when it comes to AF. I highly recommend you turn it off when using it during precious takes if you are serious about making a movie and care about your movie. (If you have a complicated camera movement then that's a different conversation.)

And the difference between Sony and Canon AF and Panasonic AF was explained in this thread. It's how they stay patient and react; not if they lose focus.

Yes it was in reviews with people talking.
I didn't say AF was the number thing needed to make a film. Filmmaking isn't blogging or weddings. Do you even see all the other features in the GH6? Do you know you can shut off continuous AF?
It's nice to have, but you still need to frame a shot, set exposure, check focus etc. I don't turn on continuous AF and hope for the best.


The GH6 has a more powerful sensor and from reviews they has made the AF usable. Maybe not in every situation but then not even Sony's are perfect.
I pre ordered the GH6.

[DLD]

In the hybrid camera world only Canon has dual pixel auto focus (beginning with 70D in 2013). In the smartphone cameras, a lot of brands have had it, including Google Pixel series, Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, etc.

But Panasonic's problem is different. It's not having a phase detect auto focus on Sony sensors that do have it (Nikon and Fuji has phase detect and only phase detect). So, the technology is there and Olympus/OMD has both phase detect and contrast detect on their MFT models. To me, not having it on a 2022 model is a giant #1 to buyers/users. And the explanation for it is even worse. And all the YouTube reviewers either know it or should know it. And they still skip the proper explanation for it. Because their 2%-5% commission check beckons.

PS. LiDar, as NorBro linked to for DJI, has been around a while as well. When Samsung's top of the line camera had a 108 MPX sensor without a combined phase and contrast detect - only contrast - and experienced similar problems, Samsung immediately added LiDar, which solved most but not all of them. LiDar works on the first-to-the-camera subject only and has a range limit of about 20 feet. But it is an easy feature to install because LiDar sensors are made by a lot of automotive brands. In that sense, Panasonic could have easily added that too. But because it holds in customers in such a high regard ...

[NorBro]

That sounds like an expensive L-mount feature.

[filmguy123]

I think Panasonic might have a patent on photo site level dimming which is essential a VND baked into the image sensor