Pros and Cons -- GH1 vs Canon 7d

Rory_B said:
You have full manual control now with the 5D just like you do with either the 7D or GH1. They released a manual control firmware update earlier in the year.
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interesting!

would be nice if panny released as many firmware updates as canon did. I would like to be able to use 24p and 60i on my PAL GH-1.
 
So side by side you mean two compeltely different shots with 2 different cameras which makes it pretty hard to compare?
 
yeah.. side by side in a verbal way :-) , 7D on the left, and GH1 on the right.. i will make a test with same (equal) lens with same shot, i think i will use a manual 50mm f/1.4 nikon lens on both camera

but I do see on FCP, 720p GH1 have a less moire..

well.. more test will come on my next project.. with 1080 on GH1 & 7D
 
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matt9b said:
interesting!

would be nice if panny released as many firmware updates as canon did. I would like to be able to use 24p and 60i on my PAL GH-1.
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unfortunate the 720p on the 7D is pretty horrendous in certain circumstances. At first I thought the 7d wasn't too bad, but that opinion is changing the more I try it out. As for firmware updates i agree adding some framerates shouldn't be so hard considering what canon is doing.
 
I have always known I made the right choice getting the GH1. The 7D looks so much more like video to me than the GH1.
 
Nitsuj said:
I have always known I made the right choice getting the GH1. The 7D looks so much more like video to me than the GH1.
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The gh1 is definitely a solid all around camera. I have a 7d as well as a gh1 right now. The gh1 reminds me of using my hvx200 in many ways now that I've had more time with it. 7d can really shine in some situations but there's some definite give and take and head scratching at times.
 
I chose the 7D after planning on buying the GH1 since it was announced. It's not an easy decision and I did agonize as I also considered a HMC40 (I had $2000 to spend and had to replace my still AND video cams (K10d and HV30).

But as soon as put a 50MM Canon F1.4 on the 7d at ISO 800 in a room with one 40 Watt bulb shooting 23.976 1080p, the agony vanished. At that point, the only real advantage the GH1 seems to have to me is ergonomics.

But it loses completely as a still camera and that was the killer for me as I actually needed a hybrid as I shoot a lot of stills as well.

For video - it's ergonomics vs codec and sensor.

The final factor was the 1D Mk IV piece Stu and Vincent did as Canon announced 24/25p for 5D MkII. That pointed to Canon's huge committment and the camera I would love to have is the ID Mk IV, so I'm buying glass with that in mind.
 
Nitsuj said:
I have always known I made the right choice getting the GH1. The 7D looks so much more like video to me than the GH1.
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I fully agree that the 7D looks more videoish. Infact Canon cameras have always looked more videoish than Panasonic.

Panasonic is the filmmakers brand it seems. They have been very consistent on delivering the most filmic image, from the good old S-VHS Panasonic MS4/MS5 to DVX100, HVX200 and now the GH1.
 
editman said:
They make a great combo. Use either one and the other as a backup. This is the way I'm doing it.
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I am tempted to keep my GH1 now, and just sell the kit lens to get some money back, because they do work well as a combo. (Well, GH1 and 5D in my case)

The GH1 fills the gaps left by the 7D and 5D in terms of a moire free image and usability, while the 5D fills the gaps left by the GH1 in terms of lens usage and overall image quality (esp. in low light) quite nicely.

So now I use my GH1 for 720p 60p slow mo. 60 divded by 2 gives 50% reduction in speed and matches the 30p footage from the 5D (or 7D) on a Final Cut Pro timeline.

It's an essential tool in the armoury of any film maker to have slow mo ability!! :) The GH1's 720p image is more robust than on the 7D IMO.
 
Okay guys I'm the guy that started this thread. I purchased the GH1. And I LOVE it!!

Granted we all know the downfalls compared to the 7D and I wont list them.

All I can say is this camera has so many advantages in usability. Ergonomics is what really makes this camera shine for me. I've been doing a lot of shooting with it and shooting everywhere. This camera makes life so easy for me. The LCD screen is brilliant, I can point the camera everywhere and anywhere and I can spin that LCD and set up my shot. Its great! And the screen is very accurate! What you see is what you get. I've come home, dumped footage and I got exactly what I saw when I was out shooting.

When shooting indoors with the kit lens, once the camera starts to reach it's threshold in low light the dreaded lines show up. I cant wait to get my nikon mount to start using my primes.

All I can say is I made the right purchase. It has a pretty good balance. I do wish the codec was closer to the HMC150.

Any luck on that petition for the firmware upgrade?
 
Congratulations Eastsnax, you made the right decision. Have fun with your Nikon primes when the adapter arrives.

Don't worry too much about firmware upgraades, once that adapter arrives the camera will shine. I'm quite certain though that we will see some kind of updgrade before a GH2 arrives.
 
All of them are really good cameras and considering the price of the 7d and gh1 having both is a smart idea if you canaffors both anyways.
 
I've owned a GH1 for 6 weeks and I owned a 7D for 72 hours. As a fan of Canon lenses (I have 11) I fully intended to replace the GH1 with the 7D. I even had a buyer for my GH1.

After several hours of shooting 1080P with the 7D in daylight then again the following morning before dawn, I returned the camera for credit.

Analyzing the 7D's video files on broadcast monitors showed a resolution that I sincerely believe is less than 600 horizontal lines. On any scene element that is horizontal or near to horizontal, the camera exhibits the worst aliasing that I've ever seen in any camera... and I've worked with a lot of cameras. In addition to all this, the 7D adds a moire rainbow pattern to areas of horizontal detail.

There is no question in my mind that the 7D is a better still camera than the GH1, but it simply doesn't produce acceptable 1080P video that can be cut into programming that was shot on broadcast HD cameras. With proper setup (smooth setting, contrast -2, color 0, sharpness 0, NR -2) we've shot scenes with the GH1 that are perfectly acceptable for integration into broadcast projects.

Forum members (and Canon) have indicated problems with the 7D's 720 setting. If you're sincerely concerned about the visual quality and potential marketability of your projects, forget 720P. As bad as the GH1's AVCHD codec is, the camera simply looks better at 1080 than it does at 720. It's not that hard to remove the 3-2 pulldown and edit on a 23.976 timeline. If you want to release for the web or whatever in 720, 1080P down-samples to a great looking 720P. 720P (from these DSLR's) doesn't hold up when up-sampled to 1080. I don't want to stir up a hornets' nest, but 720P is rarely (if ever) the format of choice for major TV spot production or post-production.

Here's an example of 2 minutes of "B-Roll" footage from the GH1. Some of these scenes will be used as transition elements for an upcoming episode of a comedy TV series and as the BG behind closing credits. I down-sampled the 1080P to quarter size 960x540 H264. There is no storyline, just a series of shots that the editor will use. I shot the scenes at ISO 800, 400, & 200 using Canon 85mm F1.2, 135mm F2, 50mm F1.4, and a Nikon 35mm F2 lenses. The only "filters" used were Final Cut's 3 way color corrector and broadcast safe filter. I put it on our server for a couple days so you won't be looking at crappy, re-compressed, Flash video.

http://www.przyborski.com/HD_movies/B-Roll_GH1-960x540_H264b.mov
 
Beautiful low-light shots, Glenn. How did you find the advantage of higher ISO's on the 7D? That's the one feature (besides stills) where I feel the 7D outpaces the GH1.
 
JMG100 said:
Beautiful low-light shots, Glenn. How did you find the advantage of higher ISO's on the 7D? That's the one feature (besides stills) where I feel the 7D outpaces the GH1.
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Thanks for your kind comments... The 7D seems to be twice as sensitive to light (1 f-stop) than the GH1. The 7D's form factor also feels better in your hand when shooting stills. I just felt that the negative video artifacts which I didn't expect, rendered the camera un-useable for my applications in commercial television. Remember, you can't remove moire patterns and aliasing. Also, 1080P should look like real HD, not blown-up 720P. If you notice 7D video on other websites, it's always tight depth-of-field close-ups with blurred backgrounds.

I'm kinda from the old school and 800 ASA is as sensitive to light as I need based on what I'm shooting. As I mentioned, you need at least F2 or ideally F1.4 lenses for available light night scenes. The GH1 with its supplied F4 to F5.6 zoom won't cut it at night. It is however, a very sharp lens with a good image stabilizer in daylight.

If only there was an inexpensive place where forum readers could rent each of these cameras for a day before they made their purchase!
 
Some very nice footage in there Glenn. There is no doubt that the 7D produces better stills, but as far as video goes there really is no competition to the GH1 as far as I am concerned.

When I made my choice it was between the 5D and the GH1 and although the 5D has the full frame censor I opted for the GH1 in the end and I'm really really glad I did. I have never had so much fun with a camera as I have with this little beast.
 
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Soroush Shahrokni said:
I fully agree that the 7D looks more videoish. Infact Canon cameras have always looked more videoish than Panasonic.

Panasonic is the filmmakers brand it seems. They have been very consistent on delivering the most filmic image, from the good old S-VHS Panasonic MS4/MS5 to DVX100, HVX200 and now the GH1.
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DING! DING! DING!! You hit the nail right on the head here! Panasonic seems to have the 24p thing down pretty good.
 
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