GH2 GH3 on the way

Consumer products don't always get better in model upgrades. Sometimes there is one special one that gets close to professional quality and then gets dumbed down for the next iteration. Hope this doesn't happen with Gh3. I still hope for a crop mode that is closer to 2/3" or 16mm than the current version.
 
dop16mm said:
Consumer products don't always get better in model upgrades. Sometimes there is one special one that gets close to professional quality and then gets dumbed down for the next iteration.
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The Canon HF10/HF11 camcorders from 2008 had that "special" quality where everyone was raving about the IQ and were the must-haves back then, much like the GH1/GH2 are now.
Then in 2009, Canon released the HF20 with a smaller sensor that did poorly in low light.

Everyone was left scratching their heads on that one.
 
zigizigi said:
I'm not expecting any revolution in DSLR area next season. Panasonic and Sony already have AF and FX series, seriously packed and targeted to professional audience. Canon is developing their answer. So put yourself in Pana marketologist's shoes. What else would you add to the video side of GH2 not to intrude AF's territory? It's quite a challenge. GH series is already much too close.

And Sony and Canon are in the same position. The market has been cut into niches and more pro features will most likely enhance the pro toys. I'm expecting cosmetic improvements rather than innovative steps in DSLR video. Companies are interested in enhancing features of their pro models targeted specifically to pro audience. And DSLR video is doomed to stay just a more or less serious bonus to the still camera targeted to casual video shooter. It'll be always a step behind. The times of video DSLR revolution are over. No free lunch anymore.
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I more or less agree with what you said. The day the af100 and fs-100 where announced I think we can't expect anything to come out from Sony or Panasonic that are going to beat those two from there dslr line. With Panasonic you could have a little chance but with Sony no way. I don't expect a 24p in any Sony Dslr for a foreseeable future. Now with the gh3 I see more a consolidation of its functionality and capabilities. A little better of this and a little better of that. A bit better low light, evf and even built quality with more metal. The core image quality (which is already very good) with only enhancement but nothing radical.

Where I disagree somehow is on Canon or eventually the ever for now disappointing Nikon. As been said many times by Barry and others, don't expect something from Canon video camera division for some time. It might be hard for many to gasp this but it is much more complicated market that it seems. Perhaps because Canon is one of the little few manufacturing lenses for the very high price broadcast division of Pana and Sony. But it does not mean that it can't continue to ride the dslr revolution, just by correcting the moire/aliasing, true hd resolution and some high bitrate codec and hdmi out it would still coast on that market. The gh2 proves that you can more or less cure all these with a high megapixel photo sensor. The technicolor profile, really shows that Canon is quite serious about its dslr video. Many don't care too much about dynamic Range compared to sharpness and low light. It is truly the pro that value it that high to at least the same level as the other two and it shows that they seeing the importance of it. We could have a truly baby alexa like log based 1080p output fro the next Canon 5d. On the outside a 12+ stop, true 1080p output camera with perhaps a stop better low light quality would be another revolution. Again just a little stop here and there but in the the end it would result in very high quality camera.

The gh2 is already very close to that. But Panasonic should be wary of their position because they have only a little window of opportunity. For now what for me has made the success (it seems so because they are talking about it like flagship etc) of the gh2 is not the photo but the video of it. Until now they have an edge but it can disappear very quickly should Canon bring a camera with the modification/enhancement cited above. With the reputation and lens lineup of Canon they would have a lot of difficulty competing. As a Nikon shooter, I always hope but they always fall short of expectation for there video capabilities. They are the one that are truly free in this market. So even if we don't see some radical technologies we might get constant upgrade that won't stall because they have to protect one prosumer or broadcast camera line. One thing for sure is that they are conscious of the market as all of their contest and advertising on the video part of their camera.
 
Peter J. DeCrescenzo said:
While we wait 6-12 months to be able to buy a "GH3" in the US ... :grin:

... check out the great results folks such as Glenn Przyborski and Sam Sielen are getting out of their GH2 cams today:
http://vimeo.com/24871175
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wko36vtmet4&feature=player_embedded

Gosh knows I can't wait until there's a weather-sealed pro GH2-like cam with a built-in headphone jack, but whatever cam you have access to today, just get out there and shoot!

Cheers.
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+1
 
Hi,
I currently own a HPX-170, and was thinking about buying the GH2 as a replacement for some situation (I would still keep the HPX for some specific situations)
I now see that the GH3 is supposed to come up. Do you think it is worth waiting, knowing that I can still work with the HPX, or is the GH2 so much cooler that I should not even wait.
In a few words, what should I do?

Thanks.
 
Phenixone said:
Hi,
I currently own a HPX-170, and was thinking about buying the GH2 as a replacement for some situation (I would still keep the HPX for some specific situations)
I now see that the GH3 is supposed to come up. Do you think it is worth waiting, knowing that I can still work with the HPX, or is the GH2 so much cooler that I should not even wait.
In a few words, what should I do?

Thanks.
Click to expand...


Who knows how long it will take for the GH3 to come out. I say, if you can find a GH2, go for it. I've been really enjoying mine.

You can probably sell it used a few years later and only take a few hundred dollar loss. In the meantime you'll have built up a small collection of lenses that you can use on future cameras.
 
Now if they release the GH3 that was basically a finer tuned GH1/2 in the metal body of the G3 (stop with the plastic panny!) with a few more buttons....then I'll buy one...oh and be white/black (not white /grey!)
My white/black GF1 is sooooo sexy along ith the voigtlander! lol

Or I can hope for a G3 hack...as thats been getting some good feedback.
 
The GH3 will not be a turbocharged version of the GH2. It will have some modifications and Panasonic has been very quiet about 1080p 30p or the dream 60p. I don't feel like they want to give that up just yet. Who knows what Canon and Nikon are working on right now. They could have something in the oven that makes the GH2 look like a can of tuna with a battery and glass bulb in it.

Two SDXC slots very easy to do.
1080p 30p,25p or Heaven send 60p
Full audio gain control with mini xlr or stereo jack.
Larger and faster memory buffer for capturing more full 16Mega pixel images. 20fps for sports
Better designed eye cup please.
Aluminium body
Higher ampere battery solution for those days in the jungle or road trip into nowhere.
Brighter and higher resolution LCD screen.
Better Menu layout with faster access to key camera settings. Yes copy the I-Pod
Fix the banding issue on the video and a touch more sensitivity would not go a miss.

This list is not unreasonable I feel and could be added at a reasonable price.

Oh and please get ride of the horrible strap in the box.
 
Phenixone said:
Hi,
I currently own a HPX-170, and was thinking about buying the GH2 as a replacement for some situation (I would still keep the HPX for some specific situations)
I now see that the GH3 is supposed to come up. Do you think it is worth waiting, knowing that I can still work with the HPX, or is the GH2 so much cooler that I should not even wait.
In a few words, what should I do?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Last year I bought a GH1 in May -- quite a while after it was announced, and a few extra batteries. I was pretty jazzed about it until I started reading all the speculations on the GH2. Sounded like it was coming out any day, too. So, being an idiot, I returned the GH1 knowing that in a few weeks, maybe a month, I'd be able to buy the GH2. I kept the extra batteries for the GH2 (yeah, a trend in brilliant decisions). Well, the fact of the matter is that the GH2 didn't actually come out for quite a while later and I wasn't able to get one until March of this year. That's 10-months I could have been shooting. Ten months of reading about and seeing the cool footage others were doing with their GH1s. Lesson learned and hindsight can suck!

I'd suggest that you buy now and learn to use it inside and out. If the GH3 offers something you want, you can get one of those, too, at your leisure. Maybe late in the cycle when people are speculating about the GH4 and the GH3 prices are a bit lower and there's actually a ready supply of them.

I now have two GH2's and if the GH3 comes out with something I gotta have, I'll probably get one. Won't be in a hurry and will be enjoying my GH2s in the interim.
 
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