Lumix GH2 Review
Quick n dirty review of the Lumix GH2 that came out last Friday in Japan. Why go for the GH2 when I've been a Lumix GF1 user for the past year and not wait for the GF2?
For starters we needed a more economical solution for hardware - up until now, we would rent a camera for the day for each shoot that we done. Also wanted something more light weight - the big video camera weighed a ton and so did the tripod too which always took ages to set up. Saw many clips taken on the GH1 which looked awesome so we decided to go for the GH2 - so this is not really a camera upgrade to my GF1 but purchased mainly for TV production of Culture Japan.
Videos look great even in low light and are recorded in full HD 1920 x 1020.
Have not uploaded any footage yet but you can check out some that have been uploaded to the Internets below.
More footage taken on the GH2 below.
Also, unlike the GF1, the GH2 auto focuses in 0.01 seconds - a video review below.
Comes with a load of knobs n buttons to press when one is feeling bored. The GH2 comes with a built in electronic view finder which is useful when its bright outside.
The GF1 which comes with only a monaural mic - GH2 comes with stereo mics located on the top of the built in flash. Also comes with a stereo mic socket.
All the focus tools are located on the left side.
Built in flash which is seldom used.
The AV out and HDMI sockets. Am looking for an economical solution to live view through the HDMI when out n about. The standard portable displays used in the TV industry cost an arm and 3 legs.
Unlike the GF1, the SD card slot has its separate compartment.
Battery is different than the GF1. For the GF1 I bought compatible batteries which cost a third of what the official batteries cost. Compatible batteries were not out for the GH2 yet though.
The GH2 comes with a touch sensor screen which also allows you to flip photos left n right when previewing. Found the flipping of photos to be laggy and not incredibly useful. The previews of the photos don't have sharp edges either making it difficult to see whether you've managed to take sharp shots or not.
As you can see from this shot, the ISO goes up to 12800 which would be useful when one is taking pictures of sand in the dark - photos start to become blotchy and grainy on the ISO 3200 setting.
Becoming a standard on many SLR's now is the flippable swing display panel which is necessary when filming.
The GH2 body cost 89820 yen which we picked up from Amazon.
GH2 without the lens.
Wanted to mention this NH-WM75 Wide Converter lens a while ago. Combined with the LUMIX G 20mm/F1.7 ASPH. H-H020, you get to keep the lovely bokeh that the lens produces and also get a wider angle. The lens is from Nikon and you would also need a 46 > 52 Stepup Ring.
And this is what the NH-WM75 looks like attached to the pancake lens. Its 0.75x which gives you about 13.5mm - a great all rounder to have but a few things to note:-
1.Its heavy!
2.When asking folks to take photos for you, set the focus point to auto or it always focuses in the distance.
Comparison of the current imaging armory. From the left its:-
Canon Kiss2, Lumix GH2, Lumix GF1, Lumix LX3.
The Lumix LX3 is still the best of the bunch when it comes to shooting in low light - a really incredible compact camera.
After getting used to using the Micro Four Thirds Lumix GF1, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get good results from the Canon Kiss that I've used for years.
Another thing I like about the Micro Four Thirds system is that everything is just much more compact than the standard SLR camera's and lenses - standard lenses on the left with roughly the same angle lenses on the right. Picked up the Panasonic LUMIX G VARIO 7-14mm F4.0 ASPH. H-F007014 after my M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 9-18mm F4.0-5.6 went walkies - high probability of it being stolen ><
I heard they were developing some sort of organic lens that covers all angles - need one of them please - hopefully in this lifetime.
Quick comparison of the displays - from the left its the Lumix LX3, Lumix GH2 and Lumix GF1.
And the rest of the post are photos taken with the Lumix GH2.
As with all the cameras that I've owned in the past, looks like I'll need a bit of time to get used to the camera - or the camera needs time to get used to me ^^;
At this moment in time, I'll probably still carry on using the GF1 as my main camera and have the GH2 exclusively for TV production. Will be able to give you more feedback as we start taking actual footage and start editing the clips.
What is your camera of choice and wondering how many of you own the Lumix GF1 or LX3?
