GH2 Gh3 full specs now posted

While I'm excited to use the GH3 I will say I was expecting 14-bit RAW stills at this point in the game.

I love the GH for B-Roll in no small part because of the 16x9 stills capability & the extra two bits would make a difference.
 
Panasonic has just delivered a knockout combination of features in an amazingly compact GH3 two-lens zoom kit. No other manufacturer can match the following list of features at anywhere near the Lumix system's size, weight, and price:

  • 24-70mm & 70-200mm full-frame equivalent zooms
  • 3x zoom ratio @ constant f2.8
  • Optical Image Stabilization
  • Large sensor 16Mpixel 12-bit RAW still photo resolution
  • 1080p video @ 24, 25, 30, 50, & 60 fps
  • Weather sealed lens & magnesium alloy body
  • iPhone & Android remote control and download
  • HDMI & headphone monitor outputs
  • Fold-out LCD screen
  • Full-time Live View
  • Add-on battery grip

Of all the specs in this list, the only case where Nikon and Canon enjoy a competitive advantage is in offering cameras with >20Mpixel full-frame sensors and/or 14-bit RAW resolution. In addition, it's not yet known how well the GH3 will measure up in dynamic range and noise levels. But regardless of performance specs, Panasonic has hit the prosumer's bullseye with the most versatile hybrid camera yet, armed with the most compact f2.8 3X zooms available.
 
Last edited:
Specs are specs, and that's cool. But now I'm interested in what the GH3 can do. I've seen the promos, but it would be nice to get this into end users hands, so we can get some decent tests run - what IS the DR in fact, in video; how does it perform in low light; how do the various motion speeds come across; how is the rolling shutter effect, and moire and other artifacts; how is the overall image and so on. And for this, I'm afraid there will be a long wait - November at the earliest before it's supposed to be out for sale, assuming nothing gets delayed (China - Japan trouble?).

So for now, we can speculate, but pouring over the specs is not very satisfying, if we can't have independent feedback; otherwise we can only wonder how all that "noise control" bragging from Pana actually looks. It's gonna be a long hard wait. But go ahead and speculate, since nobody will be able to stop you anyway :)
 
freezeframereality said:
I don't know if it was mentioned before but slashcam.de (german website about video technology) reports that the GH3 records 4:2:0 8 bit, same for HDMI out.

Source: http://www.slashcam.de/news/single/Nachtrag--Panasonic-GH3-gibt-nur-4-2-0-aus-10154.html
Click to expand...

I don't speak German but my wife does and it kind of looks like it says 4:2:2 via external recorder. I need to have her read it but she always says no. I did read a comment on another article that mentioned clean uncompressed HDMI out which came from a Panasonic rep. Not sure if that is true or what that really means yet because everybody has their own interpretation of clean uncompressed.
 
Thomas Smet said:
everybody has their own interpretation of clean uncompressed.
Click to expand...

I see that a lot. I haven't tried using it yet but what's so 'dirty' about the HDMI output of the GH2? I mean, I know it's 30i only, but I'd expect people to be calling for 'native' output to handle that, not 'clean'.
 
Jim Simon said:
I see that a lot. I haven't tried using it yet but what's so 'dirty' about the HDMI output of the GH2?
Click to expand...
The GH2's HDMI output is awful. It's inaccurate in color, it's wildly off when you're in pause mode (it's much more accurate when you're recording, but only when you're recording), and it doesn't output 4:2:2 or even a clean 4:2:0, it has a "broken" 4:2:0 output. Plus its cadence is wrong, it doesn't output the video standard of 59.94i, it outputs 60.00i, so there's a duplicated field repeated every 17th field.
 
Jim Simon said:
I see that a lot. I haven't tried using it yet but what's so 'dirty' about the HDMI output of the GH2? I mean, I know it's 30i only, but I'd expect people to be calling for 'native' output to handle that, not 'clean'.
Click to expand...

The GH2's HDMI output has a non-standard cadence that makes recording the signal trickier that it should be. There is apparently also a problem where the colors from the HDMI output are not accurate which makes faithful monitoring impossible.

It sounds like Panasonic probably have fixed the inaccurate colors and cadence on the GH3, but this news about the HDMI signal still being 4:2:0 is a bit disappointing. It would be especially unfortunate if it was 4:2:0 interlaced chroma. Maybe it will turn out to be incorrect info? We'll find out once more folks have them in their hands.

Edit: Whoops, Barry beat me to it.
 
cant seem to find the cine gamma. it has Standard / Vivid / Natural / Monochrome / Scenery / Portrait / Custom. but no cine or nostalgic :[
 
Last edited:
dcloud said:
cant seem to find the cine gamma. it has Standard / Vivid / Natural / Monochrome / Scenery / Portrait / Custom. but no cine or nostalgic :[
Click to expand...

Maybe it's in one of these....somewhere:

Clear Portrait / Silky Skin / Backlit Softness / Clear in Backlight / Relaxing Tone /
Sweet Child's Face / Distinct Scenery / Bright Blue Sky / Romantic Sunset Glow / Vivid
Sunset Glow / Clear Nightscape / Cool Night Sky / Warm Glowing Nightscape / Artistic
Nightscape / Clear Night Portrait / Appetizing Food / Cute Dessert / Freeze Animal
Motion / Clear Sports Shot / Monochrome


or more likely in the following Motion picture functions:

Expressive / Retro / High Key / Low Key / Sepia / Dynamic Monochrome / Impressive Art /
High Dynamic / Cross Process / Toy Effect / Miniature Effect / One Point Color
 
Wesley Byram said:
The GH2's HDMI output has a non-standard cadence that makes recording the signal trickier that it should be. There is apparently also a problem where the colors from the HDMI output are not accurate which makes faithful monitoring impossible.

It sounds like Panasonic probably have fixed the inaccurate colors and cadence on the GH3, but this news about the HDMI signal still being 4:2:0 is a bit disappointing. It would be especially unfortunate if it was 4:2:0 interlaced chroma. Maybe it will turn out to be incorrect info? We'll find out once more folks have them in their hands.

Edit: Whoops, Barry beat me to it.
Click to expand...

To me HDMI will always be a compromise due to almost every HDMI port on a camera I know of packages 24p in 60i stream. Not that this is a bad thing in terms of quality but it is a PITA. So much so that I would rather hack and shoot high bitrate in camera and be done with it.

The 4:2:0 thing really has me scratching my head however. It seems like they would have to go out of their way to dumb that down but still keep the video uncompressed. Even the cheapest Canon camcorders have 4:2:2 out of the HDMI port. I would hardly call that a pro only feature since the stupid HDV cameras back then even had it. It isnt as big of a deal to me anymore but it just seems like an odd position for Panasonic to have. They seem to be hard against anybody getting better then 4:2:0 out of these cameras.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top