GH2 Thinking About Selling My Canon 60d for a Panasonic Gh2 = Opinions Please

The Stock battery lasts hours... I'm quite happy covering a short wedding with 2 batteries.
I'm am making a DIY battery grip, but I doubt I will ever use it past what my 2 batteries already do. (Ill probably use it for extra weight on my glide cam)
There are Chinese grips for the GH1.. and im sure GH2 to come along soon.
I worked with Canon's mostly in my previous job, the quality was great and we had a huge lens selection... but now that I work freelance, affording all that high end/expensive gear for what I already do with my GH2 + the fact that I can shoot longer, use my Nikon and C-Mount lenses, Run and Gun style shooting, and have the power of V injection of awesomeness... I'm much happier I have a GH2.

But just going over to the GH2..cuz you want to be different is not a convincing reason.
The GH2 is NOT a fashion or style, all these cameras are high-end SPECIFIC tools.
Gotta know what your getting and gonna do with it.
 
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ethan cooper said:
My biggest complaints with the GH2 come from it's stills which I find to be average at best & frustratingly hard to get right.
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The GH-2 has a lousy JPEG engine, so you have to shoot in RAW mode for good image quality. I was very unhappy with GH-2 still photos until I bought LightRoom 3 and switched over to only shooting RAW.
 
Yes replace your 60D by a GH2. Too many reasons to mention here. The GH2 might be the last video camera you'll ever buy.
 
TheDingo said:
The GH-2 has a lousy JPEG engine, so you have to shoot in RAW mode for good image quality. I was very unhappy with GH-2 still photos until I bought LightRoom 3 and switched over to only shooting RAW.
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The truth. It is not the easiest camera to shoot stills with but I like it and have pulled great images from my gh2.

6004396408_d20d714904_z.jpg
 
People should shoot in RAW only anyway, for so many reasons. Honestly I never shot stills with the GH2, but I should, it's just another way to get to know this camera better.

TheDingo said:
The GH-2 has a lousy JPEG engine, so you have to shoot in RAW mode for good image quality. I was very unhappy with GH-2 still photos until I bought LightRoom 3 and switched over to only shooting RAW.
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RieniO said:
Are you saying that the GH3 will only come out next year? :undecided
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just saying there's always something better just around the corner.

I'm very very happy with my GH2 as a video camera but wouldn't think twice about jumping ship if something better came along especially since these things are so cheap to buy into. I've probably got less than $1,600 sunk in the body, batteries, converters and M43 specific lenses. It not like the old days where you'd drop $5k - $10k in a camera system that you'd have to use for 3 years before feeling like you could switch to something new.
 
I totally agree... the GH2 is my cheapest camera ever (apart from the GH1) but also my best camera ever. I sold my AF101 because IMO it doesn't beat the GH2, the noise alone is so much better dealt with inside the GH2 and image is sharper too. Show me AF101 and GH2 footage side by side and I'll tell you which is which instantly. I found the improvements of the GH2 compared to the GH1 huge (better image quality, proper push auto focus, cropped sensor function) and if the GH3 makes the same big step ahead it has to be a very exciting camera. In the meantime other producers aren't sitting still either of course. I must say though that one year ago I couldn't wait for a "video-camera" like the GH2 to come out (which was the AF101) but I am now so used to DSLR filming that I really can't be bothered anymore. I got used to working with this camera format and I love it. So tiny, so light weight. Holding a big video camcorder feels strange now.
Some things I would like to see in the GH3:
- distance indicator when focussing manually using Lumix lenses (distance in meters or feet, like in the AF101). Would make using a follow focus so much easier. Was using a follow focus last week and couldn't see the marker disk because the lcd screen was in front of it. Am considering drawing a distance scale on the LCD screen myself.
- Indication of aperture and ISO when shooting in AE or SP and auto-ISO mode

Well can't think of anything else right now :-)
 
ethan cooper said:
Someone with actual technical knowledge can correct me if I'm wrong but I was under the impression that to get equivalent DOF from 4/3 as APS-C you have to cut the f-stop in half. So a 7D set to f 4 has the same apparent dof as a GH2 set to f 2. If I'm wrong just pretend I never said anything.
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BTW guys, I just did a test with my D90 and the GH2 with the same lens at the same f-stop pointed at a tape measure & it looks like I was wrong. I thought sensor size would have an effect on dof but it sure doesn't look like it from what I just shot.
 
It does have an effect... the 4/3 and APS-C might simply not have that great a difference to make the difference plain.

Try the same test with a 5D vs. a 1/4" sensor palmcorder, for instance.
 
ethan cooper said:
I was under the impression that to get equivalent DOF from 4/3 as APS-C you have to cut the f-stop in half. So a 7D set to f 4 has the same apparent dof as a GH2 set to f 2
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Completely Wrong.

To match the DOF of a Micro 4/3 sensor camera like the GH-2 say at f 2.0, you have use f 4.0 when shooting with a Full Frame sensor camera like the Canon 5D MK2.

When shooting 16x19 formatted video the Full Frame crop factor of the Canon 7D is about 1.8 which makes it a little bit bigger than the Full Frame crop factor of the GH-2 which is 2.0, this means that to obtain the same DOF with a Canon 7D you would have to stop down about 0.5 stop more. So shooting with a GH-2 at f 2.0 is same as shooting with a Canon 7D at f 2.4, not much of a difference at all.

...One thing that people rarely mention is that shooting with a Full Frame sensor like the Canon 5D MK2, means that you have to stop down 2 additional f stops or live with paper-thin DOF for most of your shots. I've seen lots of 5D MK2 videos where the DOF is way too thin, virtually nothing is in focus except for a tiny slice of image. ( close-up shots at night are the worst for this )
 
TheDingo said:
I've seen lots of 5D MK2 videos where the DOF is way too thin, virtually nothing is in focus except for a tiny slice of image. ( close-up shots at night are the worst for this )
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It's like smash zooms in 60's movies... they could suddenly do it, so they did it... constantly.
 
mcbob said:
It's like smash zooms in 60's movies... they could suddenly do it, so they did it... constantly.
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...What would all those Hy-Kwality KunFu action movies be without those delicate smash-zoom shots? ( 1972 "Five Fingers of Death" is one of my all time favorites )
 
vision_filmz said:
Just tired of seeing everyone with a Canon camera that I want to use something different.

My only real concern for the Gh2 is lack of a battery grip and finding a good wide angle lens. If this is possible I am ready to sell my 60d. Please help me out

Thanks

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Also due to the smaller size of the camera + more cropped compared to the Canon it seems that it is a lot harder to stabilize making handheld work more difficult?
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Vision...i've decided to go with 2 cams. 1 dedicated for stills and the other video.
I'm really happy with the results on the GH2. I came back from a recent trip to film first time and the results were great. Make sure you get
good lenses like 14-140. The stabilizing, AF, electronics is nice in comparison to Canon. I also have a 550D. I would sell your 60D and get a GH2...and then pick up
the next full-frame dSLR 2.0 next. Either 5DMkIII, Alpha77, or D800 for stills. I have been hit/miss with stills on the GH2. I have some that are better then my Sigma 30/Canon
and others not. If you only had a GH2, it doesn't mean you can't take solid stills imo. At least not from the tests/shots i've taken in comparison to Canon but i lean on the
Canon cause it seems to resolve better after post. For stabilizing use AE. That takes care of most of the handheld/jitter (but not extreme) or you have Matrix-like warp happening.
 
TheDingo said:
When shooting 16x19 formatted video the Full Frame crop factor of the Canon 7D is about 1.8 which makes it a little bit bigger than the Full Frame crop factor of the GH-2 which is 2.0, this means that to obtain the same DOF with a Canon 7D you would have to stop down about 0.5 stop more. So shooting with a GH-2 at f 2.0 is same as shooting with a Canon 7D at f 2.4, not much of a difference at all.
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I think it should probably read more like this: When shooting 16x19 formatted video the Full Frame crop factor of the Canon 7D is about 1.6 which makes it a little bit bigger than the Full Frame crop factor of the GH-2 which is 1.85,
 
If you want to stand out, focus on your vision instead of your camera. If you think a camera will make your work better ...you should take some time to think about that. Far more has been done with much less.
 
Ian-T said:
I think it should probably read more like this: When shooting 16x19 formatted video the Full Frame crop factor of the Canon 7D is about 1.6 which makes it a little bit bigger than the Full Frame crop factor of the GH-2 which is 1.85,
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Yes, you're right. I knew I was in the ballpark, but not certain of the exact numbers.

5D MK2 16:9 format sensor size = 35.8mm x 20.1mm

7D 16:9 format sensor size = 22.2mm x 12.5mm = 1.61 Full Frame crop factor

GH-2 16:9 format sensor size = 18.8mm x 10.6mm = 1.90 Full Frame crop factor
 
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