GH1 thinking of getting GH1 to replace GF1..

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booggerg2

Well-known member
With the price of new GH1 bodies down to $399.. I'm thinking of replacing my GF1 with it... sure it can't be hacked, but I assume even at stock 17mbps + manual controls + 24p it's better than the GF1 + hacked.

I don't need to project onto a large screen.. mostly web viewing, so the 17mbps is probably fine.. Even GF1 when hacked is still 30fps..

What say you?
 
I bought 5 of the new unhackable ones. Like you my delivery is primarily web. Those I am shooting for, wouldn't know 24P from a RED. All they see is really nice footage, which is why I bought 5. If Vitaliy hacks the unhackables, for me, it's just going to be the cream on the cake.
 
Plus I think the 17mbps AVCHD only breaks down when there's a lot of detail going on like moving leafs on a tree?

Also I value # of minutes per card since I mostly use it for travel... the hacked bitrates eat up significant storage eh?
 
I went out and shot a waterfalls near me and it did great on the water going over the falls. But the rocks on each side of the water just blew the codec apart. I also shot the stream leading up to the falls, that looked fine. On the other end I shot the more shallow portion of the stream, and again, the rocks and gurgling water, blew the codec apart. This disappointed me, but it is a known issue. I have used it to shoot in some low light, and the darks in those situations stayed glued together for me, just fine.

Before I got to buying the 5th one, I tried a GF2. I wasn't anywhere near impressed enough to keep it though.

I had 2GH2s on order when the GH1 deal was announced on Panny's Facebook page. I had owned GH1s already but had sold them and was waiting for the new and improved. When Panny offered the $349 price I had to step back then and seriously consider it. I was very torn in the decision, until I went out and read the reviews from when the camera was introduced. Those were done months or longer before the discussion of any hack. If you go read them, they all say great things about the GH1. Today we know all the issues and all the limitations of the camera. The GH1 is no RED, but now at $349 it doesn't have to be. If Panasonic had offered the camera body only at $499, IMO they would have doubled the number of units sold. Instead they coupled it with a $600-ish lens, functionally doubling the price.

Card life and battery life / price are two other side benefits. Amazon right now is blowing out the aftermarket battery for the 1.34 firmware cams for just under $10.

Late last summer I began disposing of my SD cams. I had a collection of this and that, totalizing 5 units in all. I wanted DSLR and wanted to ultimately get back to owning 5 cams again. I started with one GH1 kit, and with what I had gotten for my SD stuff, I was going to be limited to 3 kits. Then the GH2 talk, and when pricing was announced, I wasn't going to be able to get to three. At $371 with tax and shipping, 5 were the same price as 2 GH2s. When I read the reviews, it became a no brainer. One last aspect I considered, tossed in the pile was what will my depreciation be? I had just finished taking some serious lumps selling off SD gear at it's then, current value. I had just sold Panasonic GS500s where I lost more in depreciation than these GH1s cost!

I am not going to shoot any epic with these. But I wouldn't know how to shoot an epic in the first place. :-) There are a lot of people on these boards who NEED more than what this cam is capable of. IMO, I think there are also an awful lot of "the rest of us" who won't come close to testing the camera's limits. So in the mean time we have a decent piece of DSLR gear that costs about what a good point and shoot does.
 
thanks for the info..

where did you find them for $350? I just ordered from BH from $399 and thought i got a good deal lol.

and you're saying aftermarket batteries now work with the unhacked GH1 firmware?

One thing I was concerned about was the added weight of the GH1. .but I guess the extra weight is only about the weight 4x AA batteries... the GF1 doesn't handle very well.. the bump for the hand hold is too shallow, as a result I'm palming the back of the camera all the time.. I would assume the GH1 will hold better in my hand..

Going to use the GH1 + 20mm + 14-42 for my upcoming China trip.. first trip that will be m4/3 only! Tired of dragging my 5D2 + heavy lenses...
 
For video the GH1 (hacked or not) is going to give you more options than the GF1. However, if I could and I had the money, I'd keep the GF1, as its RAW performance (for photos) is arguably better than the GH1.

The GF1 and panny 20mm F1.7 are a sweet combo that I'd miss if I had to let it go...
 
The GF1 is a great little camera, and the hack makes it equivalent in manual functionality to the MJPEG and AVCHD 720p30 video patches on the GH1. However, the GF1's low-light noise is noticeably worse than GH1's, making it best-suited as a daylight point-and-shoot compact. As booggerg2 points out, the Lumix pancake 20mm and compact 14-45mm zoom fit beautifully on the GF1, as does the Olympus M43 9-18mm super wide-angle zoom.
 
I own both and can say that for general use i prefer using the GF1...cant explain why...its just a joy to use.
My GH is used for filmaking
My GF is for all other times
 
variable101 said:
For video the GH1 (hacked or not) is going to give you more options than the GF1. However, if I could and I had the money, I'd keep the GF1, as its RAW performance (for photos) is arguably better than the GH1.

The GF1 and panny 20mm F1.7 are a sweet combo that I'd miss if I had to let it go...
Click to expand...

Huh? GF1 has better RAW stills performance than GH1? They should be equal right? same sensor.. same processing for stills.. unless i'm completely wrong and not aware of it..

Also the GF1's hand grip is just too small for my hand.. I think I'll like the handgrip on the GH1 much more
 
damn I don't see it there anymore.. is the deal still on? are those $350 refurbs or brand new?

Cool I'll check out that battery.. how much filming time are you getting out of those after market batteries and can you charge them in the Panny charger? thx
 
As much as the OEM, or close enough that it doesn't matter. The cameras were new with full warranty and as of last night, were still listed. They are on backorder now, but with the quake Panny has everything listed that way.
 
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