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

I can't believe that focus peaking has created such a frenzy. With manual focus, continuous AF, full AF, touch screen focus, multi-spot focus settings and points and EVF's with focus peaking people still can't find focus with a touch of a button or a twist of the barrel.
 
malibudutchie said:
I can't believe that focus peaking has created such a frenzy. With manual focus, continuous AF, full AF, touch screen focus, multi-spot focus settings and points and EVF's with focus peaking people still can't find focus with a touch of a button or a twist of the barrel.
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Huh?
 
vtwiz said:
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" ?
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Absolutely.

vtwiz said:
You people are all thinking in an archaic way if you think that new features should only be released with a new model.
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You people? Who you callin' 'You people'? Just kidding.... To answer the question, yes. They want you to indeed buy the GH3, as it's frickin' awesome! Lots of great updates from the GH2. Amazing camera without a doubt. BUT - they also want you to buy the GH4 in 2 years. If the GH3 is prefect, there's no reason to buy the GH4.

vtwiz said:
I call BS.
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Indeed.
 
Is anyone considering the possibility that they put peaking in G6 to sell more of them?

Let's say the body-only G6 is roughly half that of the GH3. What if consumers buy twice or three times as many G6's as GH3? Money is money.

Sony Vegas makes an expensive pro version of their software and a much cheaper platinum version, which includes many of the pro features. Following the release cycles of the program, I have noticed that they sometimes include useful features in the cheaper version that is not in the pro version.

I think the same thing is in play here with the G6 vs. the GH3; they can sell more in volume. It appears they are even getting people who already own a GH2/GH3 to consider adding the G6 just for the peaking.
 
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TheDingo said:
Not being able to use an external monitor while shooting with the G6, makes the focus-peaking a necessary feature.
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Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

This is exactly right. The GH3 is the largest consumer camera they make - it's not meant to be super portable, like the G6 - therefore, it would not be unexpected for people to use it in 'non-portable' situations... which means, you can use an external monitor. And a good quality external monitor will always have more functions than whatever they can put on the camera itself. So, they are saying to you: for the GH3 use an external monitor.

Now, the G6 is meant to be small and very portable. It would be absurd to attach an external monitor to it. Not that people wouldn't want to do it - see the iPhone and all the crazy adapters and lenses people slap on it... but think about the function. You use the iPhone because it's super portable, always with you camera - it would defeat the purpose to add an external monitor to the iPhone. Now, imagine you have a more special-purpose bigger DSLR - if you pull that out, you are OK with carrying a bunch of lenses, and accessories including an external monitor.

The G6 has peaking, because Panasonic doesn't see most people attaching an external monitor to it. The GH3 doesn't have peaking, because Panasonic expects pros to use the best, which in this case is an external monitor as it would have the biggest impact. Note how many consumer devices have convenience features which pro devices don't, that's because you expect a different level of solutions to pro gear with additional functionality. The G6 is more consumer oriented, the GH3 more pro oriented.
 
TheDingo said:
Not being able to use an external monitor while shooting with the G6, makes the focus-peaking a necessary feature.
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Yes and they were the ones that crippled it. My point is they are marketing the G6 to the masses for volume sales and will be able to use the peaking as a selling point.
 
cut2052 said:
....they are marketing the G6 to the masses for volume sales and will be able to use the peaking as a selling point.
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I don't think the masses really care about focus peaking. Most will just set the camera to auto focus. They may appreciate it once they use the camera, but I think initially it's a low priority for many.
 
stoneinapond said:
I don't think the masses really care about focus peaking. Most will just set the camera to auto focus. They may appreciate it once they use the camera, but I think initially it's a low priority for many.
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It's one more thing in their marketing arsenal to get the camera sold, even if someone doesn't fully understand it when buying it. The peaking is listed in the features on retail websites, Panasonic website, talked about on forums, etc.

A retail salesman could say, "...and the G6 has focus peaking, not even the GH3 has this, which is a camera a lot of working pros use but cost twice as much."

"Peaking? What does it do?" After an explanation, the consumer is that much closer to buying.

I've seen many posts on camcorder forums about Canon's mid-range HF M camcorders (HF M40/HF M500, etc.) where newbies looking to purchase a camcorder get told by more experienced users that the HF M camcorders have the "HD CMOS Pro" sensor that is also used in Canon's professional line of camcorders.

Even though they may never understand the significance of what that means or even visually notice the difference from a smaller sensor camcorder, it sounds impressive. I'm not saying something like that isn't a worthy feature, but all those little features listed are getting people one step closer to buying it, that's all they care about.
 
cut2052 said:
....but all those little features listed are getting people one step closer to buying it, that's all they care about.
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I hear you, but I also don't see the following conversation happening:

Customer: I want a GH3 please.
Salesman: Nah, get the G6, it has focus peaking and the GH3 doesn't.
Customer: OK, sold. I'll take the G6.

:happy:
 
stoneinapond said:
I hear you, but I also don't see the following conversation happening:
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...Way back in my early twenties I worked for what was once the largest camera store in Toronto ( 3 floors of gear, everything from the tiny Minox camera to Sinar P2 8x10 inch view cameras, with Broncolor, ProPhoto, and Speedotron flash systems ), and we were always told to push whatever the store made the most profit on and whatever we had in stock. ( I got into a lot of trouble back then because I never followed either of these rules )

So I imagine camera stores will still try to push whatever makes the biggest profit, which might be the G6 camera if there's heavy price competition on the GH3 camera.
 
TheDingo said:
....So I imagine camera stores will still try to push whatever makes the biggest profit, which might be the G6 camera if there's heavy price competition on the GH3 camera.
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Yeah, I'm not under any illusions when it comes to some retailer's internal policies. :angry:

And in this instance, focus peaking could indeed steer people away from what they think they want.
 
There are so many unused set-up features on DSLR's. Focus peaking will just be another one on the G6. Most people who want this level of camera will switch to auto and leave it there or buy a Canon.
 
TheDingo said:
It would be less of a deal if the GH3 had a better EVF. The optics and display of the GH3 EVF are quite poor compared to the Olympus OM-D E-M5 or the GH2 cameras.
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The GH3 has an LCD screen. you need an EVF. But yes, it's really poor and if after using all the auto functions you still have trouble focussing, you need glasses not focus peaking.
 
malibudutchie said:
if after using all the auto functions you still have trouble focusing, you need glasses not focus peaking
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...The problem is that there are many times where you have to manually focus because the focus-tracking can't keep up or easily gets confused, the EVF is problematic ( I tried to use it for a live stage show and kept feeling like I was looking through a "key-hole" because of the poor optics of the EVF ), the LCD display requires a good loupe ( like Varavon or Zacuto ) because the HD details on the LCD are too small for accurate focus every time. ( you don't want to find out your focus was out after you've shot the wedding )

G6 focus peaking which works while recording, would be a big help for the GH3, but since this feature may never come to the GH3, I forked out $800 for a new Marshal monitor with multi-color focus peaking. ( the image is large and crisp so I don't need focus peaking, but it's there any time I want it )
 
TheDingo said:
..I forked out $800 for a new Marshal monitor with multi-color focus peaking. ( the image is large and crisp so I don't need focus peaking, but it's there any time I want it )
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To be honest, if you're serious that is the way to go. Even with focus peaking on a small LCD like the GH3 or G6, you are going to have trouble with moving subjects, particularly those moving away and towards you and particularly in bright daylight. Learning to focus is practice not just a simple function like focus peaking on a small screen. Marshall or a DP6 Small HD are the best solutions if you're having critical focus problems.
 
I've had a SmallHD DP6 monitor since I began shooting video with my old GH2. Now I use it with my GH3. It's a tremendous help for proper focus, exposure, and color balance and I recommend it to anyone shooting professional video on a DSLR.

Sure, it'd be nice to have focus peaking on the GH3 for home videos or personal stuff, but for paid work I'm always going to use my external monitor, peaking or no peaking. It leaves less room for error.
 
OldCorpse said:
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

This is exactly right. The GH3 is the largest consumer camera they make - it's not meant to be super portable, like the G6 - therefore, it would not be unexpected for people to use it in 'non-portable' situations... which means, you can use an external monitor. And a good quality external monitor will always have more functions than whatever they can put on the camera itself. So, they are saying to you: for the GH3 use an external monitor.

Now, the G6 is meant to be small and very portable. It would be absurd to attach an external monitor to it. Not that people wouldn't want to do it - see the iPhone and all the crazy adapters and lenses people slap on it... but think about the function. You use the iPhone because it's super portable, always with you camera - it would defeat the purpose to add an external monitor to the iPhone. Now, imagine you have a more special-purpose bigger DSLR - if you pull that out, you are OK with carrying a bunch of lenses, and accessories including an external monitor.

The G6 has peaking, because Panasonic doesn't see most people attaching an external monitor to it. The GH3 doesn't have peaking, because Panasonic expects pros to use the best, which in this case is an external monitor as it would have the biggest impact. Note how many consumer devices have convenience features which pro devices don't, that's because you expect a different level of solutions to pro gear with additional functionality. The G6 is more consumer oriented, the GH3 more pro oriented.
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False alarm, you can stop ringing your little bell!


I don't buy that one bit.


Pretty much all prosumer cameras these days have Peaking. The BMCC has peaking and most users will definitely use an external monitor with that cam as the built in one is not great in bright light. Did BM leave peaking off, no because pros shooting video want it.
The GH3 is a tiny camera compared to other decent VDSLRs or video cameras so it would be very understandable for users to not want to attach their small cameras to big rigs and monitors just for simple peaking function.
You also say pros using the GH3 will use the best monitoring solutions. I think Alexa, F55/65, Red etc shooters will use high end monitoring but generally GH3 users will not. Also, the peaking that can be performed in camera is generally more accurate than an external solution. An external monitor has to find sharp edges using the relatively low res and low colour space output of the HDMI output of the camera. In camera peaking can use the image data before it has been down sampled so its generally more accurate. I alway use a DP4 EVF but I still want in camera Peaking for this very reason. It's just more accurate.


Hey, us pros with high end monitors that the GH3 is supposedly aimed at might not have peaking but at least we can shoot video with the Toy Effect and Sweet Childs Face effect we've all be hankering for, woohoo!
 
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