GH3 Why Does G6 have Focus Peaking but not the GH3?

...over at eoshd, the member julian, who is the one responsible for the gh2 vs. g6 comparisons, says peaking on the g6 "works fine"....I assume that means it doesn't quit working when you start recording.

...and I really don't get gh3 owners being angry that the g6 has peaking and the gh3 doesn't. The gh3 didn't have peaking when you bought it and as I remember Pany only said they'd look in to the possibility ....after it was released. New cameras are always coming out that surpass the feature set on older cameras....even within 6 months. If you're a gh3 owners, buying the g6 body seems a nobrainer. And then we should all write pany about any problems the g6 has, so they'll release a firmware upgrade as soon as possible...i.e giving a hack a chance. And most future g6 owners would gladly trade peaking for the advanced codecs . If you go to dpreview, all of the m43 fanboys are crying foul that the g6 uses the gh2 sensor, as if that's a limitation. And we love that pany decided to retrofit the gh2 sensor into the g6. They all wanted it to have the gh3 sensor . No ones happy. Me.... I'm still using the gh1 running reliable playback ...and it's great....so the g6 looks like a winner....so far....but I'll wait out the early reviews before jumping on the bandwagon....if I can delay gratification.
 
Gary Huff said:
Everybody is an armchair engineer on what their cameras are or are not capable of, or how the big camera manufacturers are "hobbling" these cameras, blah blah blah.

Considering the level of technical expertise demonstrated by many of these, I find the fact that they so dogmatically state what is or isn't possible to be rather laughable.
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Well that's rather presumptuous isn't it? Is it really all that dogmatic to suggest that a company who's been putting peaking in three chip, 28mbps, 1080-60p cams since 2010 can't do it in a two chip Venus engine cam today?
 
kurth said:
...and I really don't get gh3 owners being angry that the g6 has peaking and the gh3 doesn't
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I don't know if anybody is angry, but for myself I have big doubts about peaking being functional while the G6 camera is recording. Looking at the focus-assist features of the GH2/GH3 cameras, the focus assist doesn't function while recording, so all of us are wondering if this is the same with peaking on the G6 camera.

Peaking while recording is a big deal, but everything we write is pure speculation until somebody with a G6 can actually confirm this.
 
I'm sure they will....if they can...i.e if the tech permits , or maybe they won't , just to be difficult. They obviously know there's a desire. Whether that translates is another matter. And truthfully, this is just one among many of the downsides to being an early adopter. Technology is supplanted by new, quicker, more, faster. Now I just have to apply my new adopter learning curve lessons towards waiting out the initial rush for the g6 ! And I've been applying it on the hero 3 and it appears now it might be well cooked just about right. Then there's the BMCC, and then there's the....and so on and so on !

And speaking of the joys of waiting.....last week someone , a total stranger, just up and gave me a g4 1.67ghz tower. Loaded it with 10.4 and fcp 5 . Runs like a vw bug ! Ain't that a kicker ?? So that means if I wait long enough, someone might give me a gh3 ? Enjoy what you've got is my only thought .
 
I'm one of those who is pissed off by gh3 not having focus peaking while g6 do.
When i bough gh3, there was a hope that this feature will be added (panasonic reps were about to look at this issues if there is enough demand), but now
they claim it's not possible in a flagship camera, but it is possible in the one they release in just about 6 months.

Anyway, i propose to be a bit more constructive. How can we, users, let panasonic know that this is indeed a highly demanded feature? Look, there are 11 pages in this thread. And that's only those who are vocal about what they do not like or do want. I can imagine that many more are just silent about it. Maybe there are some web-servises to file a firmware request, one can then draw attention of Panasonic representatives to it via social networks (facebook, twitter, etc). If EOSHD and Philip Bloom post a link to something like this in their blogs, i guess we can easily get some thousands of people who sing the request.
And then Panasonic should be deadly sure that it's is NOT possible to implement in GH3 via investing some engenerr-power.
At least, we would have some definite answer, not just some bits here and there from interviews.

Not being a native speaker i would not start this request myself, but i guess it does not hurt to try this?
 
As I've said before, I find it hard to believe that the 4 year old EOS 550D and other very low end Canon DSLR's can have on screen peaking, Histogram, waveforms and Zebras overlaid (all at the same time via Magic Lantern) with their low end prosessors and the GH3 with it's much newer Venus engine can't.

Is the Venus engine really that rubbish?
 
vtwiz said:
Is the Venus engine really that rubbish?
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You nailed it. Absolute useless rubbish. What were the engineers and designers at Panasonic thinking.

Perhaps they though they could hoodwink us all - as if we wouldn't notice.

Great IQ? Bollocks.

Great hybrid performance? You're kidding, right?

Timecode, weather sealing, fabulous video? Irrelevent. NO FOCUS PEAKING!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're being cheated!

Off with their collective heads.......
 
vtwiz said:
Is the Venus engine really that rubbish?
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and adding to stoneinapond: What if an engine was designed for certain purposes and that one feature we dearly miss is just not in the "wiring" of an otherwise very good device? Honestly I do think that some people at Panasonic may very discreetly kick themselves (rightfully, btw) in their behinds for having missed a point so dear to a lot of us - but I doubt that has anything to do with something being "rubbish".
 
It can be done with software only. The Olympus cameras have an art filter (Key Line) that works very close to focus peaking, and if they can do it, the GH3 can do it. Think of it this way, all it does is find the area of a picture with the highest contrast...and since these cameras are made to use "Contrast Detect" auto focus, they are already doing 95% of the job.
 
Panasonic are very much aware that there's a huge demand for this feature. I attended a GH3 workshop at Panny HQ in the UK a couple of months ago and they're representatives said themselves that this (and zebras) are features they'd like to add, provided the existing software/hardware of the camera can handle it; which mostly like it can. It's probably just a matter of time.

I really don't get why some of you are angry that the G6 has this feature and the GH3 doesn't yet. The G6 is a newer camera, and as somebody else said, new cameras will continue to surpass older cameras in terms of specs. That's the whole point of technological advancement. All this talk of 'intentional crippling' or whatever is laughable; all tech companies do this; it's called different products for different markets. Let's not forget that at least Panasonic listens to us filmmakers in regards to what we want out of a camera. Canon, on the other hand...well we all know how much they value our opinion...
 
The G6 may be a newer camera but only by 6 months. A bit strange that a consumer camera of half the price of the GH3 has a feature to aid manual focusing when the people more likely to need it are the more professional Gh3 shooters.

it makes no sense at all. It's not a new invention that was discovered within the last 6 months either. Peaking has been on many cameras including the Sony NEX series for a long time. Why Panasonic thinks video shooters using the GH3 don't need any focusing aids is beyond me. The feature has been requested for years.

Yes, the GH3 has great picture quality but with a brand new engine, shouldn't it? @Stoneinapond: Weather sealing and Timecode have nothing to do with the Venus engine.

Technology is always evolving but a camera only 6 months newer and half the price shouldn't really have features that the still relatively new (in its life cycle) flagship model doesn't.

I still think my GH3 is a great camera, but Panasonic are completely illogical in their thinking and workings.

PS: the Magic Lantern team figured out years ago that video shooters wanted Peaking and Zebras. They added the features to old technology stills cameras for free. How did Panasonic, who designed the GH3 targeting video users as well as stills users miss the fact that we want peaking?
 
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This whole discussion is nonsense. Peaking is a simple overlay and can be added in software on virtually any camera. It takes next to nothing in processing power to do it. The fact that it is not available in the GH3 is purely a managerial decision by Panasonic.

Cheers,
Pete
 
If they added Peaking now, why would anyone buy the GH4?

Peaking should be a no-brainer, and they have brains at Panasonic. It's about marketing for future iterations of the camera, not any ability of the coders or processor. It's just evil marketing. I'll probably still get the GH3, but it does really bother me that there is no peaking. My nex-5n is a dream to use walking around a party, grabbing manual focus quickly thanks to peaking. I don't want to have to carry a rig with a monitor at all my gigs, and even at family birthday parties.
 
GH4? But the GH3 has only been out for just over 6 months. The GH2 was around for 2 years before it was was replaced by the GH3. You think Panasonic deliberately thought 'lets not put this old feature in the GH3 so we can add it to the GH4 and get people to buy that" ? Remember, peaking is nothing new!

And by 'saving a feature' for a future release, a company is risking having people buy a competitors product to get the features they need if they refuse to add simple features. pretty much all cameras now have peaking, panasonic risk not selling many GH3's for 16 months if they don't refresh a product to keep it desirable. Considering the GH3 is also aimed at video shooters, the Black Magic Pocket Cam is a serious threat to the GH3's video market share. Panasonic should want to keep up.

You people are all thinking in an archaic way if you think that new features should only be released with a new model. Hardware can outlast features that can be added via firmware. What a wasteful society we live in if I need to get rid of a perfectly working piece of hardware to gain something that CAN be added via firmware. We really are the throw away generation and its disgusting! My PS3 didn't have ANY 3D playback capability when it was released but Sony added it via a firmware update. Computers are frequently given new features via firmware updates, phones, TV's, etc.
I find it strange that the GH3 can shoot video with all these creative effects (Expressive / Retro / High Key / Low Key / Sepia / Dynamic Monochrome / Impressive Art / High Dynamic / Cross Process / Toy Effect / Miniature Effect / One Point Color) but it can't overlay any peaking!?

I call BS.
 
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